The array of tools available to maximize one’s search engine optimization (SEO) constantly expands, and social media platforms increasingly emerge as a simple and cost-effective solution to enhance internet visibility. Social Media Optimization (SMO) involves publishing content optimized for SEO on various social media platforms. Not long ago, a company only needed to focus on its SEO (natural referencing on major search engines) to achieve good online visibility. Today, a company’s social media profile can sometimes be more beneficial in terms of SEO than the company’s website itself! Could the trend be reversing?
Reasons to Use SMO:
There are numerous reasons, all of which are fundamental principles of communication. These include:
- Connecting with prospects
- Further developing your online reputation
- Stimulating your community’s interest so they share your information with others
- Showcasing your web content
- Obtaining backlinks, and most importantly, enhancing your web referencing.
However, this requires rigor and the establishment of a schedule. You’ll need to take actions on your website (share buttons, links, etc.) as well as on social networks (communicating with your community, content curation, etc.).
To optimize your SMO strategy, here are five essential actions:
- Creating shareable content
- Encouraging social media sharing (share buttons, etc.)
- Facilitating the sharing of your content across various platforms (Slideshare, YouTube, etc.)
- Becoming a recognized expert
- Constantly communicating with your community
SMO’s Growing Importance:
The significance of SMO in recent years cannot be underestimated, as numerous viral advertising campaigns launched on the web have demonstrated. However, it’s essential to differentiate between the two approaches. SMO relies primarily on the goodwill of the customer. If the customer is impressed by the company’s commercial operation, they will spontaneously “share,” “like,” or “retweet” the campaign on various social networks. Furthermore, search engines use social networks not only as providers of simple links to a web page but also as sources of analysis and detection. SMO has thus become a full-fledged relevance criterion.
SMO Does Not Replace SEO:
However, this new concept does not replace SEO; it complements it! While SEO means optimizing one’s positioning on Google, SMO means optimizing visibility on media and, above all, on social networks. It is crucial to distinguish between SEO and SMO: being highly visible on social networks does not necessarily mean being well-referenced on Google, and vice versa. Therefore, SEO and SMO complement each other but do not overlap.
Facebook and Twitter are good traffic routers but remain poor sources in terms of direct SEO. Indeed, a majority of content is restricted. However, an increasing number of users are signing up for these social networks and therefore have access to these platforms without going through traditional search engines. Is a revolution underway?
