Some people jokingly call it “Twitter Optimisation”, but the truth is that Social Media Optimisation (SMO) is quickly replacing search engine optimisation (SEO) as the preferred way to get your business blog or website noticed.
So, is Twitter the new Google? Along with other immensely popular social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, and FriendFeed, sharing links via micro-blog posts seems to be the modern way to drive traffic.
One reason is due to their popularity. With one Twitter post, you can reach lots of people – and they are all interested in your business, or at least your topic(s).
Why Is Social Media So Popular
There’s been some speculation about why Twitter has achieved such tremendous success in the internet world. After all, it’s certainly not the only social media site. MySpace was at the forefront when it first showed up in August of 2003, following closely on the heels of Friendster. And while it is still very popular with a young demographic, Facebook now enjoys the privilege of having the most users worldwide.
For the furthest reach into your target market, however, Twitter may be the best way to go. It has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings in 2006. Now, it is perhaps the most visited social media site on the internet.
Why? Some seem to think it is because of humans’ inherent laziness. There’s very little you have to do to set up a profile, and all of your “tweets” are limited to 140 characters or less. What could be easier, or quicker?
Is SEO Linking Dead
One of the best white hat optimisation techniques has traditionally been building links, both incoming and outgoing. High authority links got your blog or website to the top of SERPs quicker than many other methods of SEO. This link profile was the mainstay of SEO specialists for many years, ensuring that a URL would appear at the top of the three major search engines.
But in today’s World Wide Web, traffic is the name of the game. And the best way to gain a lot of traffic, far more than you could ever achieve with all the links you can build – is by socialising on sites like Twitter.
Of course, this premise is based on fewer people using Google for anything, and more people using their social networks to gain information, get advice, and give them recommendations for products and services. This, in fact, seems to be the case. Some sites claim that Twitter is actually mentioned on the internet more often than Google, iPhone, or Facebook and it is the premier source of information for a large percentage of consumers.
How To Utilise Social Media Optimisation
Unlike search engine optimisation, Social Media Optimisation means that you absolutely must create really good content. People are not fooled by meta tags or impressed by the number of links to your site. People are more interested in reading about, and viewing, content that is informational, relevant, and interesting.
In a way, this levels the playing field. Spammers are not tolerated on Twitter (at the very least they’ll quickly lose followers). Savvy internet marketers compete against each other to best provide what their followers are seeking.
You cannot discount the advantage of reaching the top of the SERPs with your website or blog, but neither can you discount the immense opportunity for the internet marketing and promotional benefits offered by Twitter and other social media sites. Both are key to success online.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hey Sean
Interesting point, and don’t let the following rant be misinterpreted as pointing at you.
I think the whole “Social Media Optimization” thing is catching on because;
its easy enough almost anyone can do
its easy to understand
its not expensive
There could also be the fact that too much snake oil has been distributed from some with little or no regard to what they are doing to the industry.
And you don’t have to wait months to see the traffic. But I for one am not a fan.
But you know what? SEO traffiic is the best converting traffic around. You get more bang for your buck with SEO. It’s unfortunate that you can’t “turn it on” like ppc. There was a time, but as more realize the value and how to monetize sites, it gets increasingly challenging.
I think social media is not a marketing function. I believe it is more of an extension to customer service. Coz if you try over marketing through social media, everyone sees through it.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Some great comments there. I am a huge fan of SEO traffic and enjoy a great deal of success from my rankings. In my opinion Social Media is also extremely worthwhile, however, I totally agree that over-marketing on social sites will do more harm than good. There is no harm in promoting your links occasionally, but social media is “social” so finding a good balance between socialising and marketing is imperative.
Regards – Sean
Its a continual game with Google isn’t it.
One minute I am right there and the next you can’t even find my blog in search. I dont know whether Social Media Optimisation is replacing SEO as I am yet to see any traffic from SM. However as it seems that I no longer exists in Google’s eyes, it may pay to dive into some SM why I wait.
Sean
I am seeing the benefit of social media. I am only using Facebook actively and are amazed at how popular it is.
A case in point. I have setup 2 fan pages and the fan base is growing at a great rate. A lot faster than I imagined. I can only presume the content I am providing is really in demand.
For me social media rocks and I will be expanding it further.
Now where’s my iphone…
Hi Sean,
I don’t see a great deal of traffic from social media. SEO is definitely easier for me to do. I think this is because with SEO there are a basic set of rules that you apply.
Social media is all about making content easy to share. I think the content has to really get the interest of the people to make it spread quickly. It’s usually funny and interesting. I think if you have the ability to be creative you can definitely get a lot of traffic to your site.
The more you get involved in social media, the more traffic you will see to your sites. Like anything, the more you become involved, the more you will get out of it
I am still challenged to keep all the balls up in the air (writing posts with good content and SEO, being active on Social Media etc) but I find that I do get quite a number of visitors back from Social Media I utilize. So it is definitely something I will keep at.
what I find rather difficult especially with Twitter is that the more people you follow, the harder it is to actually follow. At least if you intend to really pay attention. I have given up on reading all the messages and only look occasionally and whatever is there at that moment gets my attention. Assuming most other people do the same it seems that timing of my tweets etc becomes rather important. Something I still need to work out and where utilizing tools like Social Omph come into play.
Hi Sean,
I’m learning by your teaching in this article that social media is a great tool for networking and marketing. I’m not sure if social media will replace SEO techniques or become more popular in the future. I have experienced Twitter and Facebook to be excellent for social networking.
I’m inclined to agree with Jazz and say that SEO is easier to apply for optimisation. That is by having a set of rules to follow and that can product positive results.
Looking forward to the next article.
SMO or SEO – obviously both! Like some commenters here, I don’t see a lot if traffic coming from my Twitter or blogs, but that could also mean I use them incorrectly or don’t know how to look at tracking etc.
I wonder if people actually use Twitter to look for information – I know I still Google for it and cannot see how I could get better results from Twitter or FB for that matter, although they are great for getting a message out there.