Any site owner will tell you about the importance of tracking your site’s performance. By and large, people have come to rely on Google Analytics for this purpose, as well as other services for tracking affiliate marketing, advertising campaigns and so forth. Another option you may want to add to the mix is Social Metrics.

This WordPress plugin effectively works as a “social media analytics tool” for your blog. Using it, you can keep track of how your site (and its various pages) are performing on popular social networking websites and services. Currently, the plugin supports such networks as Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, StumbleUpon, Digg, LinkedIn, and the recently launched Google +1.

While in the administrative panel for Social Metrics, you can see exactly how many times each individual post or page has been “shared” across these networks. This is quite different from the public display option offered by other WordPress plugins. This is particularly useful for newer or growing sites, as you may not want to show these metrics publicly to your readers. You can also filter the results based on categories and month.

Find out more information about Social Metrics on Riyaz.net, including a useful FAQ and installation guide. You can then go to the WordPress Plugin Directory to find the free download link.