The value of the World Wide Web is increasing exponentially by the day as far as marketers are concerned. The ease and speed that it offers in connecting a company with customers, existing and potential, are tremendous. It is in this light that the two terms, SEO (search engine optimization) and SMO (social media optimization) have been the constant refrain of the marketing world.
While debates rage on as to which is better and more effective, the correct answer would be – a synergy of both SEO and SMO. This is because while SEO and SMO are totally different as concepts, they both strive for the same common goals – site ranking, popularity, traffic and success.
It becomes easy to build a synergy between the two once we recognize the similarities. Original and authentic content of high quality is a must for the success of both SMO and SEO. This is because either the crawling search bots and spiders or the liking and sharing friends recognize quality content. Thus, in both of them, having clear and apt keywords along with the headliners becomes necessary and vital.
They need to grab the attention of the readers and potential customers. Finally, it is essential that the site have user-friendly features like Meta tags, descriptions, images, videos, breadcrumb navigation etc. that will get good results from both SEO and SMO.
Here are a few tips to get the most of your SEO and SMO efforts:
Use the right Keywords
Make use of keywords in the headlines, text and tags. They should be both, relevant and attractive. This will also help to target certain audiences in social media and ensure that the conversion from casual onlookers to loyal customers is at a greater rate.
Structure of site
Structuring the site and coding it well makes it easy for the search spiders to find it and rank it higher. At the front end, the design of the site must reflect the attitudes, thoughts and fancies of the customer segments being targeted. Once this is done, a high virility can be ensured in the social networks via sharing and liking.
Add a blog
The site can have a blog of its own if necessary. Getting to know a ‘human face’ in a technology-filled virtual world is calming and encouraging for the customers. Thus, building an online community will also ensure that you have a loyal following. The chances of inbound and outbound links increase as the loyal followers are sure to share their experiences with family, friends and contacts. This enhances the SEO of the site too and the synergy builds.
Make it attractive
While images, videos and flash might not be visible to search spiders but they definitely play an important role in keeping the customers interested and engrossed. To make them friendly for the search spiders you could exhaustively tag them. This helps to achieve both SEO and SMO.
In conclusion, while SMO brings on instant success, it may not be long lasting and consistent. SEO, brings on long-lasting success but it takes time and works slowly. That is the reason why a synergy between SEO and SMO is the best and if done properly, it could ensure quick growth and long-lasting life for a site.
Hi Alyssa,
This is a concept that I agree with. I believe in adapting and combining methods that work and clearly your idea makes a lot of sense since they achieve the same goals and they are more effective than just focusing on one method.
SEO may have been the thing and focus before but social media has become stronger and more popular and business owners have realized that interacting and having meaningful relationships with their customers is essential for the success of their business.
So it would be very advantageous to have this synergy between SEO and SMO. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Hi Theresa,
Good to hear that you liked my post. Well my vote too goes for the fact that social media’s success is directly dependent on the audience. SEO is no doubt a significant part of this but we too cant ignore that an amalgam of both would be far more efficient than either of them individually.
Cheers
Hi Alyssa,
Those are excellent points to help a site rank higher. We want to be able to appeal to real people as well as the search engines and it can be a delicate balance between the two!
Stacy
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the appreciation. Yes, of course, As i have said that the synergy of both is always preferable over either of them individually to shoot up your rankings on the Google front.
Good Luck
Hi Alyssa, thank you for highlighting the importance of both SEO & SMO. I just know the new word SMO. SMO is contagious and SEO is long-lasting. We should have both if we can.
As a website and business owner, it is not a good idea to rely on any one source to generate traffic to your website — be that social media or search engines. If all of your eggs are in one basket and the rules suddenly change (as they do), you could lose all of your traffic over night. This is where a strategy that blends both SEO and SMO techniques to maximize traffic from multiple sources is the best long-term strategy as it reduces the reliance on any one traffic source or technique.
Great tips for anyone starting out. With each new day more and more people are turning to the internet for either a portion, or even all of their future income needs. I left my JOB 2 years ago, and haven’t looked back since. As long as we have an internet that is where I’ll be working! 🙂
Hello Alyssa!
I agree with you… more than I want to. It’s tempting to go exclusivity with one or the other, SEO or SMO, but both are necessary. For both are different ways of looking at the same thing: the quality and popularity of your content.
Hi Kostas, I totally agree there has to be a nice balanced blend between the two. I think practicing consistency and in both areas will definitely pay off big time.
There was a time when I did only SEO and to be frank, didn’t do too shabby. Once I started socializing and making friends, it added fuel to the fire.
Thanks for the great read.
Best
Jayne
Thanks for your comment Jayne, it’s much better if you have multiple sources of traffic and not depend in just one…
Your tip on adding a blog to a site is exactly what I think too, and I see more and more companies that are implementing this strategy. I totally believe that you need to find a way to implement both SEO and SMO strategies these days, and you need to find a way that they work in synergy without breaking your budget.
Thanks Alyssa:) Great tips on SEO. I recently started using Scribe SEO for my wordpress blog and have found that’s really helped me with my content and keywords and I’m already seeing results:)
Hi Alyssa,
I see alot of peole who dont put as much thought to SEO and that’s a big mistake.
I use plugins about SEO to optimize my blog. And they do work.
Thanks
Tosin
I have been leveraging social media and SEO for quite some time to drive traffic to my websites and offers. The best method that I have found was to ensure the the content on my site was timely, original, and most importantly unique. Then I use the social media sites to let everyone know about my new content. I also interact with my followers and those people in the same circles that I hang around in. I provide help and guidance whenever I can which in turn translates to more people to my website.
Hi Alyssa, I already left a comment. but I’m leaving one again to apologize.
I addressed the comment to Kostas earlier (Hi Kostas!!)… but I obviously had fingers in high gear, brain in neutral and didn’t pay attention to the fact that you wrote the post.
Very sorry, I have always thought ‘how rude’ when I’ve seen other people do that. I really did thoroughly enjoy the post… I’m just a dosy broad sometimes.
Wonderful post I really ‘did’ enjoy every word of it. 🙂
Best
Jayne
Hi Jayne,
Its Perfectly Ok. I am pleased that you liked the post. It feels good when what a writer wants to convey reaches the audience in full sense. An yes i completely agree with your first comment that SEO and SMO is truly a deadly combination.
Thanks for giving a read.
Well, having a blog section for your site contributes as it is one good source of traffic and prospects as well.