Social Media Optimization

Now a days we cannot rely only upon search engines to drive traffic to websites as there are lots more that we have discovered and lots are yet to be up. We have worked hard with search engines to get visibility, now we must peep into some broader perspectives that can prove as a revolution in website promotion and try for some new channels that can be more effective in driving traffic. One among them is social media optimization(SMO)

Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites.This Methods include adding RSS feeds, adding a "Digg This" button, blogging and incorporating third party community functionalities like Flickr photo slides and galleries or YouTube videos. Social media optimization is a form of search engine marketing.

Social media optimization is in many ways connected as a technique to viral marketing where word of mouth is created not through friends or family but through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites. Similarly, the engagement with blogs achieves and by sharing content through the use of RSS in the blogsphere and special blog search engines such as Technorati.

The concept behind SMO is simply to implement changes in optimizing a site so that it can more easily be linked to, more highly visible in social media searches on custom search engines (such as Technorati), and more frequently and widely included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and vlogs.

Keywords & Search Terms

There is a lot involved with search engine marketing.One among them is Keywords and Search terms.

Search terms are the words and phrases that people type into the search forms of search engines. Keywords and keyphrases are the words on your site that match these search terms.

Before you do any type of search engine marketing, you have to understand your target audience and know the search terms they are using. Once you know the search terms being used, these can be included in the content of your Web site as keywords and keyphrases.

Your keywords and keyphrases will also be used if you plan to promote your site with pay per click or keyword based pay per impression advertising.

Tools and Services That Will Help You Find Your Best Keywords

Word Tracker:http://www.wordtracker.com/
Wordtracker helps you choose the right Internet marketing keywords that will help your search engine placement and ranking. Use Wordtracker for keyword research to learn what keywords and keyphrases your customers are using to find the products or services you offer. Provides basic access for free and a much more robust paid version.

Keyword Discovery: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/
Discover the right keywords to target on your website and PPC campaigns. Identify common keyword misspellings, seasonal trends, related and industry terms. Run keyword permutations and even translate your keywords to and from various languages. KeywordDiscovery has the largest keyword database of around 30 billion searches compiled from close to 200 different search engines. Offers basic access for free and a much more robust paid version.

Overture Search Terms:http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Enter a term to find how many searches were performed using it the previous month on Overture. Free to use.

SEO Research Labs:http://www.seoresearchlabs.com/portal/affclicks.php?pid=8yng834
SEO Research Labs provides a very handy service that will identify the best keywords and search terms for your site. Their service is recommended for anyone that would rather have someone else handle the time intensive research work for them.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing is the process of getting targeted trafficto your site by getting exposure of your site through various channels.Here are some examples of getting exposure for your site:

*Press Releases
*Article Writing
*Blogs
*Engaging in a link campaign
*Directory Submission
*Purchasing Text Links
*PPC Campaigns
*Banner Advertising
*RSS/XML Feeds

A knowledgeable Search Marketer should be able to determine what would be the best process to market your site and get the most of your marketing budget.