Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing: Two Important Aspects of Internet Marketing

Two concepts have become unavoidable for a successful internet marketing campaign today: search engine optimization and social media marketing. Previously considered two separate concepts, the two have become intertwined and together make a powerful tool for making your business’s online presence more visible and bringing in relevant web traffic. SEO experts till now, used to concentrate on either search engine optimization or social media marketing as a tool for increasing relevant traffic. Now, however, onsite and offsite SEO as well as targeted promotional campaigns on social media sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube etc. are getting equal importance in internet marketing.

Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the process of driving maximum web traffic by making the website rank top on the search engine results. It deals with optimizing the website, its content, its meta tags with relevant keywords. Organic SEO is generally considered a passive resort to bringing in traffic, assuming that if one builds the right site, the right traffic will automatically come in. It basically aligns with the ‘pull’ strategy of internet marketing.

Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing, on the other hand, is active internet marketing, with companies proactively utilizing social media sites to mark their online presence. It includes promoting website and services or products through related forums and inviting people to link back to the website’s useful content. With social media marketing you can interact with targeted prospects and get them involved in talking about your business/brand so that they may recommend your company to friends and people around them. Such ‘snowball’ effect is what companies hope for when they use social media marketing. Active link building, blog promotion and new and interesting content for relevant topics builds up trust and draws in relevant traffic, through which popularity amongst online users increases and search rankings also improve.

A Combination of SEO and SMM
Neither search engine optimization nor social media marketing alone can become an effective internet marketing tool. Good SEO helps the website rank higher on the search engine results, but it does not make the website popular or generate personal recommendations from the users. Social media marketing, on the other hand, can popularize the company’s brand or products and services. But it may fail to get a good website rank in the search engine results, in which case the site will lose its visibility.

The goal of attracting relevant traffic to your site can be fulfilled only if both search engine optimization and social media marketing run concurrently. Both are the perfect partners for getting the site on top rankings as well as building up an informal community of visitors. The millions of online users make internet marketing a powerful and compelling tool to get prospective customers involved with your business and turn them into customers.

Plan out your SEO campaign with a professional SEO consultant and ensure that you include use search engine optimization as well as social media marketing for all your internet marketing efforts.

6 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Mistakes you Should Avoid

Having completed your website and seeing it live might make you heave a sigh of relief. But don’t relax just yet; search engine optimization of your site is required to make your site more visible on the web. Putting up your site without SEO is like putting up ad billboards at a place with no visitors; it doesn’t bring the focus on your business or attract visitors. So, while gearing up for your search engine optimization campaign, you need to be aware of some major mistakes which should be avoided at all costs:

1. No Links
   Search engines give a lot of importance to the relevant links to your site; it shows that other sites trust your site. If you do not have quality links in place, your site’s ranking will be affected. Relevant link building should be done as part of search engine optimization which can help get your site a better ranking on search results. Check with your SEO expert if he/she provides link building services along with SEO services.
   
   
2. Keyword Stuffing or Keywords Cloud
   This is a big ‘no-no’ for search engine optimization. Many SEO experts with half-baked skills, in their eagerness to increase keyword density, stuff website content with keywords. This is a big mistake. Ask your SEO expert to optimize your content sensibly. Make sure that your site has meaningful and original content. A keyword-stuffed site might turn up good on the search results, but visitors leave the site the moment they notice the keyword stuffing; they realize that the site will not give them any useful information. Give your SEO expert the responsibility not only of getting your site on a good rank in search results but also of maintaining it with sensible content that attracts visitors to your site. You need to research for optimum keyword density or get advise from the right SEO consultant.
   
   
3. Black Hat SEO Techniques
   Search engine crawlers or robots, as they are called, are smart enough to recognize Black Hat search engine optimization techniques, which are unethical means to get ahead in the search rankings. If you try to deceive the search engines by putting up copied content, invisible text stuffed with keywords or page cloaking, they will ban your site. Organic SEO is the only safe and sure method of gaining good rankings on search results. No qualified SEO expert will advise you to go for such unethical SEO tricks. And if they do, run in the opposite direction!
   
   
4. Shabby Site Structure
   Your website’s structure is important for search engine crawlers to index the content and relevant pages. So if your site’s structure is in disarray, your search ranking can get affected. Make sure that your site’s structure is clear and understandable so that the crawlers can cache relevant content and rank your site higher. Also keep in mind that a few search engines prefer xml sitemaps to html ones. So make both available.
   
   
5. Images or Flash Instead of Interesting Content
   Putting important content in flash or images is a big mistake for search engine optimization, and should be avoided. Search engines cannot read content in images or flash, so if you put keyword-optimized content or product information in an image or flash presentation, crawlers will be unable to judge relevancy of information. Instead of flashy presentations, try to keep your site up to date on the latest information about your industry. Relevant and fresh content is good for search engine optimization and can boost rankings. If you are interested in putting up images, go for static ones and give them relevant image tags.
   
   
6. Omitting Important Keywords from Title, Description and Meta Tags
   Don’t ignore the importance of keywords in the title, description and Meta tags of the site. SEO experts will tell you that search engine optimization without keywords in the backend is useless. Search engines sort through description, title and Meta tags to decide the relevancy of the website; the tags tell search engines what the website is all about. Including keywords in the Meta tags is the most important aspect of search engine optimization, without which search ranking will not improve.
   

A lot of people believe that search engine optimization is a do-it-yourself exercise but the fact remains that a professionally trained and experienced SEO expert can drive results faster and better than you. Consider the SEO expert as your marketing partner and see for yourself how your website is turned into an effective marketing tool for your business. A professionally managed site will be much more effective than the trial and error methodology for SEO you will undertake on your own.

5 Search Engine Optimization Myths

Despite the rising importance of search engine optimization for higher search rankings and increased targeted web traffic on your website, one finds many prevalent myths about SEO. If you are looking to hire a SEO consultant, being aware such myths will help you make an informed decision. Mentioned below are the most prominent myths related to search engine optimization:

Myth # 1 - Reputed SEO Consultants Can Guarantee # 1 Search Ranking

Let’s put this on record: No SEO consultant or company can guarantee # 1 ranking in any of the search engines. This is because the search engine algorithms are constantly changing and companies like Google and Yahoo also frequently change the techniques for rankings. The SEO consultant does not have any direct control over the results of the search engines and therefore the only thing he can do is update your site according to the constantly changing search algorithms. No one besides the search engine companies themselves can claim to know the complete algorithm; guarantees for # 1 position are hence impossible to give. Instead of looking for a guaranteed # 1 position, you should concentrate on search engine optimization for your website in the best possible way. Hiring an experienced SEO consultant, however, can improve your website ranking considerably. Checking out the previous projects of the SEO consultant may help you select the right one.

Myth # 2 - Only the Home Page needs to be optimized for Good Search Rankings

Many business owners believe that if they write keyword-optimized content for only their home page, their work is done. This is a big mistake for website optimization. In any search engine optimization campaign, each page of your website needs to be optimized for their respective keywords. Search engine crawlers or robots are likely to visit any page of your website randomly. Experienced SEO consultants will advise you that if all pages of your website are keyword-optimized, your search ranking will get a huge boost.

Myth # 3 - In-house SEO is Cheaper than a SEO Consultant

In-house SEO experts are actually a costlier option to hiring a SEO consultant. A company providing SEO services has a whole team to dedicate to your project. Rather than spend space, time and money on hiring one in house SEO help, a SEO consultant is cost-effective, efficient and experienced to handle all your search engine optimization requirements.

Myth # 4 - Once Top Search Rank is Achieved, Search Engine Optimization Can be Stopped

Search engine optimization is not a one-time process; it’s an ongoing one. Once top search ranking is achieved, time and effort should be spent to retain that ranking. There are thousands of websites competing for top ranking in major search engines and if you stop search engine optimization, they may overtake your website ranking. Your organic SEO efforts should also be bolstered through additional efforts like blogs, articles and newsletters and paid means like Pay Per Click etc.

Myth # 5 - PPC is More Effective than Organic SEO

If your search engine optimization is for a short period, say one to four months, Pay Per Click is a good option for you. However, if you want high visibility for a longer term than that, organic SEO is the way to go. Also remember that web users have long ago figured out the difference between sponsored ads and organic results. They trust organic searches and find them more useful for relevant content. So organic SEO efforts should never be replaced with paid means; they are the best way to grab the attention of users.

Having put all these SEO myths to rest will hopefully have cleared some of your doubts. If you are aware of these facts while hiring an SEO consultant, you will be able to hire the most suitable one and get ahead with your search engine optimization campaign.