As 2009 approaches search engine optimization strategies have increasingly incorporated social networks and media. The new (and improved) tread in SEO is about, “creating personal relationships with others”. The old fashion word of mouth, grass-roots doing business with friends mentality is back, and better than ever.
In the past, SEO stressed code, site structure and links. However today, SEO is changing. Optimizing is not only about good HTML, site structure, and links, but SEO now includes online social networks and the opportunities they provide. It is not about asking for business or clicking on Adsense links, it is about community and helping others first.
Networking is nothing new, only the medium has changed. For years businesses have joined clubs and organizations where they network and meet others in the community with similar interest. Today, the internet has it’s own set of clubs and organization that provide similar relationships, only online. There are a number of sites that exist: Blogcatalog, Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and FriendFeed …etc, each of these provide interesting tools that when used together create both personal and professional benefits that translate into friendships and traffic to your website or blog.
Excluding the trend setters, I don’t think there are not a lot of companies doing this right now. That is why, getting creative and incorporating social media and networking into search engine optimization (seo) is so important.
The important thing is to be in front of the trend. The popularity of social media is already evident, but incorporating sites like Twitter, Blogcatalog or FriendFeed into your professional campaign is not as common. In this regard, you don’t want to chase social media after it takes off. If you are playing catch up you will only be wishing you had pushed the limits. Don’t wait for the masses, keep learning and testing what works, and what doesn’t work.
