Engaging in Social Media Optimization (SMO)

Finally we are seeing that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of websites is being taken seriously. Although many companies have been perfecting this for years, including our expert, Mike Keesling, today's best practices have been defined and now companies are competing for visibility within the organic search listings on the Internet. So much so, in fact, that while three years ago it took a couple of months to be optimized, today it is closer to six to eight months. Why? Because so many companies are finally trying to get optimized, and the search engines need time to put them in place.

As always, when it comes to new marketing practices, Social Media Optimization (SMO) is the latest new practice that is gaining visibility and ground. SMO is primarily a link building strategy providing links to a site from other sites so the search engines will give the site a higher ranking, and so people using search terms and phrases will be more likely to find your site. As SMO practitioners, we include links to your site in relevant blog posts, vlogs, forums, etc. Last, SMO is the tool by which Social Media Marketing (SMM) thrives. What is SMM? It is the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with one another.

What does all this mean? Many websites are static. In fact when MarCom posted our new Los Angeles SEO consultants website, our old website known as MarCom Broadband was static, rarely updated and nothing more than a portfolio of our work. So the first rule (after your site has been optimized) is that you want to increase your links, the most important priority for websites. In order to increase the likability of content on our new website, the first thing we did was to start this blog with links back to our website. And it is important to reward those who read your blog. Mention them, allow them to post comments, and send a quick note of appreciation to them. I also mention other bloggers or authors in our space. Note Paul Gillin, Expansion Plus, etc. in our blog roll on this blog.

Next, we started doing PRWeb or MarketWire releases, and then posted articles on the Internet each with a keyword strategy that includes three key words or phrases. Every blog, article, press release and newsletter links those three key phrases back to the MarCom New Media website. There are other strategies including white papers, form posts, and and bookmarking on social media networks, all of which provide linking opportunities.

Tagging or bookmarking means adding content via buttons, for example, to "add to del.icio.us." You can also submit white papers, or relevant articles to other relevant sites to get your content out there. What's more, if you have short videos, these can be added to YouTube, plus syndicated to hundreds of other video sites via RSS feeds. This way others can create what the industry has dubbed "mashups" to drive traffic back to your website. Wikipedia defines this as "a digital media file containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video, and animation, which recombines and modifies existing digital works to create a derivative work."

This new era of social media marketing is different than push marketing of the past. It is all about truth, and sharing of ideas. And more and more marketers are realizing the value of having a good social media marketing strategy in place.

Most important -- on the Internet -- it is critical to just be authentic.