A future where . . . → Read More: Social Media Optimization Becoming More Important Than Search Engine Optimization]]> The rapid growth of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, is bringing about a shift in focus for the online presence of businesses.  The new focus is being dubbed as social media optimization (SMO) by industry experts.  Some feel that SMO may become more important to businesses than SEO (search engine optimization).

A future where the number of hits on a website is less important than the size of the network an organization has built on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn may not be that far off.

That is not to say that SEO strategies will not be important as well.  People are still going to go to Google and search for products and services they want or need.  However, there are some distinct advantages that SMO holds over SEO.

The use of social media gives organizations a chance to change interactions online from having mostly a transactional nature with no personal touch, to ones that build a relationship between a business and their clients or prospects.

People are more likely to buy from someone they know, like, and trust.

With so many people using sites like Facebook and Twitter, people are almost expecting that a company has a presence on these sites.  The advantage for a business owner is that those who do use social media sites tend to use them on a very frequent basis.

For example, statistics show that of the more than 140 million users of Facebook, over half of them use it on a daily basis.  With the creation of applications that allow people to log on to these sites right from their cell phone, users today have such easy and convenient access to these sites that it seems unlikely that those trends will decline anytime soon.

Video marketing sites like YouTube and Vimeo can give an organization a chance to put a face with a name.  Many business owners today are recording short messages about their products and services to share on these sites.  These videos give them all the benefits of a television commercial without the high cost.  In fact, some research is showing that many people trust a simple video shot with a handheld camera even more than a corporately produced, high priced advertisement.  There is something about simplicity that people like and trust.

The use of these social media sites can easily be intertwined.  A video shot on YouTube can then be embedded into a Facebook page.  A Twitter account can be used to broadcast a message to followers and let them know about the new video on the Facebook page.  All of the sites will have links pointing visitors to the organization’s main website.  In this way, organizations can stretch their reach farther than ever before.

Another advantage to business owners is the viral nature of social media.  A user of Twitter may “retweet” the broadcast of a business they are following.  Now instead of a business just reaching its followers, it is reaching the followers of their followers.  Some of them may pick up the message and decide to send it on to their followers.  A message on a Facebook page may attract comments from the “fans” of the page or they may choose to share the message with all of their friends.  The activity of those fans will be broadcast on the news feed of each of their connections.  It may attract interest from those connections.  They may choose to visit the organization’s fan page and become a fan as well.  Their activity might then peak the curiosity of their friends, and so on.

In this way, social media can give a business organization a super-charged version of word-of-mouth advertising.  There is no more powerful form of advertising than hearing an endorsement from someone you trust.  People may not talk to all of their friends and family on a weekly, monthly, or even yearly basis.  However, if they post something on a social media site that they are a member of, chances are all of their friends and family who are one of their connections on the site will see it within a day or two.

The business organizations who embrace this change and start to really invest in their social media presence will find themselves far ahead of their competitors who jump in much later.

What is anchor text? It is simply the visible text of a hyperlink.

For example, if I was linking to a . . . → Read More: The Power Of Anchor Text In Your SEO Strategy]]> Anchor text is one of the most overlooked elements in a solid SEO link building strategy. However, it might be the single most important element in achieving high rankings in the search engine result pages.

What is anchor text? It is simply the visible text of a hyperlink.

For example, if I was linking to a site such as the UFC’s homepage, I might use the name UFC for the link like this.

However, I could also give it a more descriptive link such as ’The World’s Premiere Mixed Martial Arts Organization .

Anchor text is a very powerful tool. There are tons of examples of this. A simple one is to go to Google and search for the term “click here”. Adobe Reader’s website is number one on the search engine result page out of over 1 BILLION LISTINGS!!!

Did Adobe optimize their site for the term “click here” in the search engines? Absolutely not. Nowhere on the page will you find the phrase “click here”. It is not listed in the meta keywords or the domain name. How is this possible? The answer is simply anchor text. There are thousands of links from all over the internet pointing back to this page with the phrase “click here” in their anchor text. In this case, it is anchor text alone that is resulting in Adobe claiming the top spot in search engines.

How can your SEO strategy benefit from using anchor text? All good SEO strategies should begin with keyword research. Lots of it. This research will help you to identify the best keywords or keyword phrases to try to increase your rank for. Your links should include these keywords and phrases in their text. When many links are pointing back to your site with a particular word or phrase in their anchor text, Google feels this shows authority on the topic.

There are many different methods to use for link building. You might exchange links with other webmasters, use article marketing, submit your site to social bookmarking sites and online directories, or even buy links. Whatever methods you are using, it is vitally important that you are getting the full benefit of each of your links by utilizing the best anchor text.

When implementing your SEO plan, be mindful that using the same exact text for each and every one of your links is probably not the best method. This may be looked upon by Google and other search engines as suspicious or unnatural. Try targeting multiple keywords with your links. You will want to use both singular and plural of terms that potential visitors might be searching for. Try to use closely related variations of words, such as “coach” and “coaching”.

A well planned out linking strategy for search engine optimization begins and ends with keyword research. From there you use the power of anchor text to achieve high rankings in the SERP’s.