Getting Your Head Around SMO, SMM and SEO
Just when you had got your head around the terms SEO, SEM and PPC, those nerds inside the digital superhighway (whoever they are) have come up with two new acronyms for us all to get our heads around. SMM and SMO are the two new kids on the block, and with the importance of Twitter, Facebook, LinkdIn, Hi5 and other social networking platforms rising everyday, we need to be aware of what they mean.
SMO (Social Media Optimisation)
SMO (Social Media Optimisation) is the process of preparing a website for use by social media communities. This process includes places social bookmarking buttons on pages, embedding social media tools on pages and developing content specifically targeted at social media communities.
SMM (Social Media Marketing)
SMM (Social Media Marketing) is the process of entering into social media networks with a strategic plan to enhance your SEO. SMM seeks to increase your visibility within social networking communities by generating links, posts and articles etc with the purpose of driving traffic, increasing popularity and increasing brand awareness.
SMO, SMM, SEO, SEM….got that? Right, now to confuse things a little more…
What can make these two terms slightly confusing is that a web marketing expert may use them interchangeably. So be aware that SMO and SMM can be effectively one of the same thing depending on the web marketing expert you are speaking with.
The Benefits of Marketing Within Social Networking Communities
It is important you get to grips with these two acronyms because SMO and SMM will deliver a number of benefits to your overall SEO campaign, these include:
- Increased traffic from social media user
- Increased brand awareness
- Increased lead generation
- Increased visibility within the search engines
Be Subtle With Your Strategy
SMO and SMM sound like easy ways to market your business, but in fact social networking strategies are getting harder because users are all too aware that businesses are seeking to lure in customers. Many users see this as an invasion of their playground which originally was intended (in their eyes) purely for friendship networking. Your strategy needs to be subtle and not overly ‘sales like’. Mix up your interaction; don’t just focus on plugging products, services and links back to your site all day long.
