SMO is Effective for SEO

social media optimization (SMO) strategies, is quickly becoming a serious consideration for SEO. Social bookmarking is provided by services such as de.icio.us, Digg, Technorati, and Furl.net,
which are taking the Internet by storm. They’re often referred to as Web 2.0 services, because they
involve a high level of social interaction, which is the fastest growing element of the Internet today.
In social bookmarking, people create their own topics and lists for places on the Internet that they
like or dislike. Those people can then give the places they choose a category (or tag) and a rank.
Once they’ve ranked a site, they have the option to send that ranking out to anyone who is subscribed
to their RSS feed.

The implications this can have on SEO are dramatic. For example, let’s say that one person visits
your site during a web search and finds that it’s easy to use, and contains all the information they
were looking for. That person could very well tag your site. The tag is then distributed to the people
who are subscribed to his or her RSS feed.


Listening to your audience before you join the conversation. This time
allows you to gain an understanding of the language, the tone, and the expectations of
conversations.

As you begin to participate in social networks, monitor what effect your participation is
having. Watch closely at how you’re received, and track your site metrics at the same time.
Sudden jumps or dips in your metrics can point to participation that works, or doesn’t.

Use what you learn to craft your social-media optimization strategy. You have to have one.
Use the information that you gather as you’re watching and listening on a social network
to ensure that your strategy is targeted properly.

Measure how many readers are actually subscribing to your RSS feeds. The number of subscribers
you have on your RSS feeds will be a good indicator of how well you’re doing in your SMO efforts.
The more subscribers you have, the more popular your site is.