A NEW LEADER YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT: SMO JUST PASSED SEO ON THE SEARCH ENGINE HIGHWAY

The Glory Days of SEO (Are Over)

SEO (search engine optimization) was one of the first tactics that websites used to enhance search engine presence. Using title tags, meta tags, keyword density, inbound links, etc., could indeed move your site up on a search engine ranking.

Over time more and more importance was given to the power of inbound links. Translation: Search engines encouraged the tactic of getting other sites to mention you. When someone clicked on a link that led to you – voila – that’s an inbound link. Hard to get that kind of acknowledgement without a huge amount of personal contact. You almost had to call up someone and beg them to mention you on their site.

Later, inbound links became more easily recognized through the proliferation of blogs and a loose quid pro quo system, i.e., I mention you, you mention me. Reciprocal linking helped get more search engine attention. As time moved on and sites started to embrace Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, search engines started to rank that activity as being more significant than inbound links. Hence the advent of SMO (social media optimization).

SMO: The New Kid in Town

Search engines today are happy to embrace SMO; it gives them something new to shout about. And we know the public is all too ready to embrace the new. So now here we go down the social media route, happily motoring along. (Really – it’s all good.)

But how can I make SMO work for my company, you're wondering? Well, Bubba, glad you asked. That's what we’re here for – to help you navigate down the SMO highway.

Let's get started. First, relax: SMO ain't that hard. Most of you already have a FB page and probably a LinkedIn page as well. The other social media big hitters include Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, and Tumbler. In my humble opinion, I highly recommend you hop on your virtual Harley and go get a Google Plus page – asap. If you don’t face the fact that Google is ubiquitous, you stand the chance of getting stuck along Route 66 – when you should be smack dab in the middle of the internet interstate.

A Slick Trick: Managing Your Multiple Accounts

Now that you have three or four social media accounts, you’re probably wondering how to manage all of them at the same time. It’s hard enough to find the time to make entries on FB, let alone manage your presence on even more sites. Not to worry. There are plenty of aggregators that will post to all of your social media accounts at once: HootSuite, SocialOomph, Tweepi, Spredfast, to name just a few.

These aggregators manage multiple networks and profiles, track conversations, and measure campaign results. Some also offer a custom built-in analytics system and the capability to schedule posts on all platforms. I recommend Hootsuite because it’s generally recognized as the premiere program – and it’s free for up to three accounts.

So let's hop on the SMO bus and get on the road to building content that drives more traffic to your site. We can help you avoid those nasty cyber-potholes.