Social SEM – Tips for Succeeding Online with Web 2.0
Nov 30th, 2009Post written by Dana Prince
Many online businesses do a number of different things to try to get traffic and increase their sales. Tactics such as SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing) through pay per click campaigns, and working on getting high quality backlinks to your website will help you get found on search engines by potential customers. But web 2.0 is about collaboration and the social aspects of the internet and if you’re not using the free social tools that exist online to help your business, you are leaving potential profit on the table.
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from social SEM (social search engine marketing) and SMO (social media optimization). Large corporations use it, online businesses use it, local pizzerias and barbershops even use it. And guess who else is using it? Your potential customers and your competitor’s customers are using it, too.
If you’re a budding entrepreneur or are looking to enhance your marketing skills so that they’re applicable for the 21st century, you need to learn about various aspects of SEM and you should also take full advantage of what social media optimization can do for you.
There are many facets of SEM, such as SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click campaigns) and the latest emerging type of marketing is social marketing. Using social marketing to is a great way to learn to unleash the power of the Internet in a viral way. People and search engines read social marketing sites and many will use the information in them to make indexing and buying decisions. Here are some tips to help you use it to your advantage in internet marketing:
Social Bookmarking
Many sites exist that enable users to sign up and add links to them. Some of these sites are very social in nature and by sharing helpful links and socializing in those communities, you can get people visiting your links, get search engines indexing them for your desired keywords, and they can also go viral and be seen by a lot of people.
Tip:
Be a helpful community member and bookmark for others. They may bookmark for you in return. Write a great profile and be professional at all times. Social bookmarking site examples include: Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Mixx, and Delicious. Don’t forget to use keyword phrases that relate to your business in your social bookmarking efforts.
Microblogging
Microblogging sites such as Twitter, Friendfeed, and others can be amazing for helping you to: build online popularity, get website traffic, and to help you make money online. In a short update (usually 140 characters or fewer), you can share a link, share information, and get the attention of potential customers at their desks, at their homes, and while on the go with their handheld devices as well.
Some internet marketers use Twitter to build a following and for their search engine optimization efforts. Businesses can communicate with their customers and prospects with these tools and they can also find out what’s being said about them, too. One hundred and forty characters isn’t a lot of room so learning to be succinct in your updates will maximize the potential of microblogging for you.
Data Mining
Managing your online reputation is an important part of social SEM or SMO. Just like pay per click campaigns require keyword research, social media optimization requires data mining as well. Luckily, there are many free tools that you can learn to use in order to help you gather business intelligence for your online optimization efforts.
Don’t forget to analyze your competition! Competitive analysis is another area that can help you increase your market share if you’re an established company and help you start to build a business if you’re new to the world of e-commerce. Mining social sites can help you figure out: what people are talking about (you can use this to appeal to your audience), what people say about you, and what strategies you can use to help you find more potential customers.
How can you begin using social search engine marketing today?
- Add bookmarking tools to your website or blog. Then, your readers can help you with your marketing efforts.
- Bookmark your best articles.
- Start profiles on sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and Google Wave. Start getting involved in conversations and watching what experienced internet marketers do and then you can begin to create your own strategy.
Marketing for search engines is an essential way to increase your presence online. And due to the popularity of social media, social search engines are emerging and being used by people to make their buying decisions. Learning about various aspects of SEM and SMO will help you create strategies that can help make you knowledgeable and successful in all areas of internet marketing.
