Posts Tagged ‘Search Engine Optimisation’

“Word of mouth” is the strategy behind marketing on social media. 2009 saw much hype over the emergence of this new form of marketing and now that the dust has settled, it is time to come to terms with the challenges of social media marketing. No longer a fringe benefit or additional service, online marketing sees social networking, blogs and bookmarking sites as the latest thing, picking up from search engine optimisation.

Apart from the upswing in popularity that social media has seen, there are advantages that remain untapped by many SEO firms that provide social media marketing services as well.Online communities have had a profound effect on popular culture evident from the widespread use of sites like YouTube, Flickr and other media outlets. Organisations that do not realise the business development potential of this cultural phenomenon will find themselves struggling in the marketing world of 2009.

The recession caused by the meltdown of financial institutions worldwide is now prompting a new wave of media marketing that is driven by smaller staff and tighter budgets. For conformists, holding on to traditional marketing avenues will probably spell PR doom. There is a demand for open, transparent and direct conversation between customer and merchandiser that only the social web can fulfil.

Adapt, evolve or perish has been the principle guiding success within every industry and the marketing world has seen the advent and decline of other media in the past. The first to embrace new forms of marketing have always been most successful and in this transitory period the question of when rather than why is now significant. The advantages of social media marketing are manifold. Enabling your customers to act as spokespersons, targeting relevant bloggers to endorse your services and initiating discussions between employees and customers are some of the many ways in which marketing is revolutionising online business.Very often social media marketing is confused with social media optimisation.

The two terms while similar, have taken a more definitive meaning in this new year. 2008 was the year of SMO – where websites were encouraged to be more social media friendly, add social bookmarking links and create user friendly content. Social media marketing, on the other hand, is an extensive field that finally aims at promoting content via social networking websites. As SMM makes its way to the forefront of online marketing, there is a compelling need to embrace this new medium to survive in the cutthroat world of online retailing.

All those of you who are still stuck up with search engine optimization, in order to see your website on the top ranks with free flowing traffic. It is time now to switch your attention to a more beneficial concept of social media optimization.

You can call SMO or social media optimization, the latest fad of web 2.0. Like SEO this too is a time consuming yet profitable technique. Social networking is all about being social and engaging yourself in communities Online, which will give you and your website a wide exposure. Before beginning your SMO operation, make sure you have studied your website performance properly. Evaluate your website traffic and the nature of your target audience, so that you know whom to focus at once you are into social media optimization.

Once you have studied your website report, prepare your a rough SMO plan for your website and then begin the process. Your plan must contain a few important aspects like, targeted visitors and their movement in the website, keyword study, and SMO prospects.

Several websites like Digg, Stumbleupon, twitter are great sources to begin with your social media optimization. Use blogs and forums, community discussions and open chats too to popularize yourself on social media platform. Videos, audios and images are also a part of SMO. Podcast, bookmarks and weblogs too help in Smo techniques.

The more number of people reading your web page or accessing your e-commerce website likes, the better is your social media optimization program including web 2.0 techniques. The simple idea of SMO is to reach out to as many people as possible in order to make your website popular.

Know more about search engine marketing and search engine optimization techniques here.

Social Media Optimisation is not coming…it has arrived. Just when website owners think that they are finally coming to grips with the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’, they are suddenly introduced to the all new ‘Social Media’ or ‘Consumer Generated media’. Companies will need to compete to get social and search engine preference if they want to succeed.

We have barely digested the term SEO and already we’re hearing new jargon such as SMO (Social Media Optimisation) creeping in. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is simply a preview of things to come on the web. It’s already here and pioneering companies have already grasped the concept and are ensuring that their internet marketing strategy extends beyond traditional e-Marketing and into the area of Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Optimisation.

Pioneering companies will win: Sadly, few South African companies realise the significance of optimising their websites for top search engine rankings and social popularity. There are many extraordinary looking websites being launched onto the Internet daily, yet their splashy entry pages and dazzling creative’s seldom does the company any good. These websites occupy space on the web; however they are by no means optimised to attract the correct target audiences. Few web designers are taught the skill of optimising the websites that they design for search engine rankings. From the start of the web development project, companies should commission experienced search engine marketers or analysts to be involved in preparing the website brief for the developer by defining the essential elements that should be incorporated, if the website is to be positioned anywhere of significance on search engine results pages.

There are more than a hundred varying criteria that search engines include as part of their ranking algorithm. Website owners, web designers and marketers should take cognisance of the fact that it is simply not good enough to publish a fancy looking website onto the Internet and expect it to start attracting and converting customers in the hope of producing income from its online presence. It takes skill and careful planning to create a website that will be recognised by search engines as relevant enough to rank in the top ten results, and then to take this one step further by ensuring that the user experience is one that will convert a researcher into a customer. Today’s consumer has a lot of power.

Today’s consumer is in control: The new consumer is actively participating in social networks, they are bookmarking websites on social search engines and they are blogging about you. Ensure that your website is optimised to generate publicity through social media, online communities and social networks. There are websites that consist of user generated ranking systems. Make sure that your website can be bookmarked, linked to and tagged easily enough by the user. Create a company blog or user community within your own website. If you create something that allows your user to engage with you, and it is compelling enough for them to spread the word and to bookmark you then you are half way there.

You can’t fake it until you make it: Getting ranked highly on search engine results is not a quick fix. It is a process that requires a great deal of planning, editing and monitoring in order to first climb into the top ranking positions and then to try to remain there. With the algorithms changing at will, there is no one technique

SMM) and (SMO) are two new catch phrases that have appeared across web marketing sites over the last year. These seemingly interchangeable terms are used to define marketing through social media and social networking sites. However there appears to be much confusion over the precise meaning and as a result, the exact definition of these terms. The problem in making a distinction appears to be a result of confusion with viewing them as two different emerging marketing techniques.Social Media OptimisationSocial media optimisation is the process of refining a website i.e. optimising it, so that brand/site awareness and content are spread with little effort through social media and online communities. Rather than a banner ad or search ranking, users and visitors of the website act as carriers. Optimising can thus include any on-page techniques used such as improvements to the design and usability of the website which would help it become more compelling to users. This makes it more likely for them spread it through social media sites. A simple example of SMO is represented by adding social bookmarking links like “digg this”, “add to delicious” or “stumble upon” that are all over the web today.Social Media MarketingSMM in contrast, is representative of a creative perspective on marketing over social networking websites. It refers to crating and then distributing content and similar messages through the social web network using some form of viral marketing. The “viral marketing” content specified here could be a funny blog post that gets bookmarked and possibly makes its way to digg’s homepage or spreading a viral video by placing it on YouTube and other social media websites. The main difference is that the work here is off-site and involves engaging your potential customer base on territory familiar to them.To a certain extent, the two terms can be contrasted similar to push and pull marketing. With SMM, advertisers push their message out into the social media. However, once out there the message should not require any more pushing. A true viral marketing campaign must generate its own momentum so that it spreads on its own, creates a buzz and people actually want to spread it. Thus with SMM the campaign starts with creation and ends shortly with planting of this campaign. SMO, on the other hand, focuses on pulling people in with an “optimised” site. Visitors are then expected to spread content present with minimal effort on your part. SMO is at some levels a second stage of the SMM process.These two new phenomena cannot be ignored in the web marketing world. SEO firms are now looking to social media with more intensity to provide the added exposure for their marketing campaigns.

Among the biggest problems is the owner of the internet site is now to find out the right SEO company. Nowadays, almost all site owners realise  the importance of search engine optimization for successful business on the Internet. It also has  added to number of SEO firms in the industry, which is attempting to capture market. Of course, there are hundreds of companies, SEO, not all of them offering the best service.You must be taking into account the following factors, such as in choosing  your SEO company. The company you picked out should have plenty of experience in the right place for your web sites in the major search engines and, more importantly, it has the experience in dealing internet site* in your niche industry. Unlike other services, search engine optimisation field requires some very effective knowledge to get ood results.Secondly, they must be able to provide guarantees for the results of that they’ll be capable to assure  for your internet site. Most companies are not on the results, but they have only vague promises. You had better avoid these companies and don’t prefer them, The companies which are willing to guarantee the results. In addition, they offer a guarantee, it must be time limits, and should not be opened. Only if SEO companies  have Logic, their promise to the extent of these guarantees. If the SEO services. offer a refund, you’ve perfectly no risk.Thirdly, the company you  hire should work as your contribution to your company and be capable to do work with you closely and so as to get your useful input on your industry, because no one understands your business better than you. There should be an integral part of the action.Fourthly, SEO company, you rent for your internet site  had better provide you detailed and experts, reports on the activities and progress, they’ve made a good ranking of your site in search engines.They had better  have an first-class support team, you are able to use with ease. You had better be able to use your questions quickly and professionally fashion.Most importantly, it is suitable for affordable SEO packages for your budget. Today there are companies who are willing to pay enormous sums of money to get good rankings in search engines, but still pay a high price and not the desired results. It is your SEO companies offer their services at economical prices without conciliatory on result