This week Google added Social Reports to Google Analytics, giving brands a more sophisticated tool for measuring their social footprint and effectiveness.

Social Reports is divided into four categories: Sources, Conversions, Pages and Social Plugins.

Sources



Sources show which social media sites refer visitors to a website, and how these visitors interact with that site's content.

This data is important in understanding how, for example, visitors coming from Facebook differ in browsing behaviours from Twitter or Google+ users.

Conversions

Google defines a conversion as the completion of an activity on your site that is important to the success of your business. Examples include signing up for a newsletter or a purchase.

The Conversions report measures the total number of conversions that can be attributed to referrals from social media sites, giving an insight into which channels are producing the greatest monetary impact.

Pages


Pages show which pages and content on a website are being shared and discussed on different social networks.

Social Plugins

Social Plugins are the buttons on a website such as Facebook “Like” or Google “+1” that encourage social sharing. This report shows which content is being shared from these plugins, and on which networks.

One social voice does not fit all

The metrics offered by Social Reports gives brands a clearer insight into the behaviour and habits of visitors from different social media sites.

By identifying these trends brands have the option to further refine the messages being broadcast over these channels.

To start using Social Reports visit www.google.com/analytics.