When it comes to online marketing, it can be hard to determine which approach is best for your business. But if you’re not sure where to start, consider search engine optimization (SEO) and social media optimization (SMO).
SEO is the practice of improving a website’s ranking on search engines. This allows people who are looking for information about your business to find you more easily.
SMO is the practice of improving a website’s visibility on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. By increasing the number of followers and likes your site has, you’re showing that your content is worth following and interacting with.
What is SEO and SMO?
SEO is the process of optimizing a website for the search engines. It involves making sure the website is well-written, organized, and optimized for key words and phrases. Additionally, SEO can involve creating social media accounts and promoting content on those platforms.
Social media optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a site’s content on major social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.). This can be done by creating compelling posts that are shareable, promoting relevant hashtags, and monitoring social media analytics to see which posts are generating the most engagement.
Just as with SEO, social media optimization should be done in conjunction with other marketing efforts to ensure a consistent reach and message across all platforms.
Things to Remember while optimizing Social Media Optimization for website.
Social media optimization is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or blog on social networking websites like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Social media optimization is often used in conjunction with search engine optimization (SEO).
There are a few key things to remember when optimizing your website for social media:
- Make sure your website content is optimized for search engines as well as social media sites. The same keywords should be used in both places, but make sure the emphasis is different. For example, if you’re optimizing your website for Google, use keywords that are related to your topic (e.g. “web design”) but avoid using keywords that are commonly associated with social media (e.g. “Facebook”).
If you’re optimizing your website for social media, make sure your posts are interesting and engaging enough to be shared. - Choose the right social media platforms to target. Social media sites are becoming more and more specialized, so it’s important to choose the right one for your business or brand. For example, if you sell products online, go for Facebook instead of Twitter.
- Make sure your social media posts are optimized for SEO. This means including keywords, using the correct formatting (e.g. titles, tags), and including links to your website.
- Monitor your social media posts regularly to make sure they’re being shared and seen by the right people.
- Set up a social media monitoring account so you can see what’s being said about your company and products on social media, and respond quickly to any comments or questions.
- Create a social media marketing plan and track your progress regularly. This will help you to understand how your social media campaigns are performing and make any necessary adjustments.
- Maintain a positive and professional image on social media. People are quick to judge companies and brands they don’t know, so it’s important to be proactive and respectful when interacting with customers and followers.
- Monitor your website’s analytics regularly to see how social media optimization is affecting traffic and conversions.
Social media optimization is a complex process that requires careful planning and execution. Unlike SEO, social media requires constant monitoring. If you have decided to outsource to a digital marketing agency, ensure you have an in-house representative whose job is to constantly monitor social media activity.
Why do you need SMO?
There are a number of reasons why you might want to consider implementing SMO for your website. For one, social media can be a great way to drive traffic to your site. If your content is shareable and easy to find on social media, you’re more likely to get people coming to your site from these platforms.
In addition, SMO can also help you build up your brand’s presence on social media. If you have a strong presence on social media, you’re more likely to be seen as a credible and trustworthy source of information. This can go a long way in building up your brand equity and making sure that people keep coming back to your site.
Finally, SMO can also help improve your search engine rankings. Social signals are increasingly being used by search engines as a ranking factor, so if you have a strong social media presence, you’re more likely to rank higher in search results.
I have listed 13 Simple Tips For Driving Traffic To Your Social Media Page. Do give it a read!
How SEO and SMO compliment each other?
SEO is the process of optimizing a website for the search engines. This includes improving the site’s title, meta data, and content to make it more visible to users of Google, Yahoo! and other search engines. Social media optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a site or brand on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
This is how they compliment one another and boost brand visibility, sales and retention.
Increased Visibility – Increased visibility leads to increased traffic and website revenue. While SEO drives in traffic (organic) who are people searching for a product or service, social media drives in traffic (social/referral) who are people who’ve discovered your product or service.
Improved CTR – Gaining followers on Social Media platforms creates a pool of users who are paying attention to your brand. You can always cross promote a blog or a product/service on social media to gain immediate traffic to your website which increases your sales as well as CTR rate and is a positive ranking signal.
Feedback – Customers are likely to voice out their opinion of your product or service on Social Media. This instills trust amongst potential customers who are likely to take an action based on the positive reviews. On the other hand, social media is also a platform where they will voice out their grievances. This presents an opportunity for a brand to showcase that they care and are listening to their customers.
Hence, Social Media and Search Engine optimization can help reduce costs, increase brand awareness and increase sales. This means that you’re less likely to spend a lot of money on advertising campaigns, which is why it’s important to start with optimizing your website for free!
Here are 6 Tips To Create An Awesome Social Media Campaign and 5 Ways To Engage With Your Audience On Social Media that should help you get started.
How do you choose the right provider for your needs? (Outsourcing)
There are many providers of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media optimization (SMO) services on the market. The decision of which provider to use can be tricky because there is no clear consensus on what constitutes good SEO or SMO.
To make the right decision, you need to understand your business and the goals you hope to achieve. Here are some guidelines to help you choose the best provider for your needs:
1. Consider your company’s size and location. Large companies with a global presence should consider using a provider with a global reach, while smaller businesses with a limited audience can get by with local providers.
2. Think about your website’s current level of optimization. If your website is not well optimized, you will likely not see any significant improvements from using a provider.
3. Assess your website’s traffic sources. If most of your visitors come from Google, Yahoo! or Bing, then an SEO provider that uses those search engines is likely to be most effective for you. However, if most of your traffic comes from social media platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook, then a provider that specializes in social media optimization may be more appropriate.
4. Evaluate the quality of the provider’s work. Make sure that the provider you choose has a good reputation and is reliable.
5. Get a proposal before signing a contract. Be sure to review the proposal carefully and ask questions if you don’t understand any parts of it. Once you have reviewed the proposal, decide whether you want to hire the provider and sign a contract.
SEO and SMO are different techniques
Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media optimization (SMO) are two very different techniques that can be used to improve the visibility of a website or blog. Implementing either technique can help to raise brand awareness, attract new visitors, and boost website or blog traffic. Let’s take a closer look at each approach:
Search engine optimization: SEO is a broad term that refers to techniques that can be used to improve the ranking of a website or blog on search engines. These techniques can include creating high-quality content, placing links within the content of the website or blog, and using keywords in the domain name and website title.
Social media optimization: SMO is a subset of SEO that refers to optimizing a website or blog for social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. This includes creating tailored content, developing relationships with influential bloggers and social media users, and promoting content through social media channels.
Both SEO and SMO can be effective methods for improving website or blog visibility and traffic.
However, they have different advantages and disadvantages.
Social Media Optimization is more effective when it comes to improving brand awareness and attracting new visitors; however, it can be more time-consuming to implement, where as, SEO is more effective when it comes to driving traffic to a website or blog, but can be more challenging to optimize.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your SEO and Social Media Optimization Programs
Since the Internet is a global medium, it is important to consider optimization for both search engines and social media platforms. SEO and SMO are related but are not the same thing. SEO is the process of improving your website so that it appears higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Social media optimization (SMO) is the process of improving the visibility, reach, and engagement of your social media channels.
There’s no one answer to whether or not SEO or SMO is more effective. It depends on the goals of your organization and the available resources. However, there are some key metrics you can use to measure the effectiveness of your programs.
How to measure the effectiveness of your programs.
Engagement: What percentage of your followers engage with your content? This includes shares, comments, likes, and other forms of engagement. If you’re not seeing an increase in engagement over time, it may be because you’re not providing good enough content.
Visibility: How visible are your site and social media pages in search engine results pages (SERPs)? A high ranking means more people will find your site and social media posts.
Reach: How many people are seeing your content on social media? This includes followers, likes, shares, and other engagement metrics.
Pageviews: How many people are visiting your website each month? This is a good indicator of overall traffic.
Return on Investment (ROI): How much did you spend on SEO and SMO services, and what was the resulting increase in traffic and engagement?
There are many other factors to consider when measuring the effectiveness of your SEO and social media optimization programs. It’s important to have a clear strategy and track progress regularly to see if your efforts are paying off.
What to choose Search Engine and Social Media optimization?
There are several differences between the 2 platforms. I have listed 10 below which should be able to help you decide where you should invest your time and money, depending on what stage your business is as of today.
| Search Engine Optimization | Social Media Optimization | |
| Website Required | Yes | No |
| Targeting Format | Keywords | Hashtags |
| Downtime Issues | Depends on your hosting | Almost Never |
| Development and Maintenance Cost | High | FREE and ready-to-use! |
| Business Involvement | Minimal (Once a month) | Frequent (Once or twice a week) |
| Profitable | Choose SEO for long term gains | Choose SMO for short term gains |
| Discovery | Search Engines | Search Engines and Social Media Platforms |
| Traffic | Constant when you rank on SERP | Dies quickly if content isn’t engaging enough |
| Advertising/Promotion Restrictions | NO | Yes, you must comply with their advertising policies. |
| Personnel Required | A developer and SEO executive | Copywriter, Graphic Designer and Social Media Executive |
Conclusion
Both platforms are powerful in driving traffic or engagement. Depending on your business goals you may choose to go ahead with either one of them or maybe both. I personally recommend to focus more on SEO as over time it has the potential to generate massive revenue for a fraction of the cost of Social Media Marketing.
