March 13th, 2010 by Nick

Many people have heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization, but not so many people are aware of Social Media Optimisation (SMO). SMO is a strategy used to help raise awareness of your business or website by actively promoting it on social media networks. Below are some of the basics of social media optimisation.  SMO is a strategy which is best learnt as you go, as once you get started, all will become clear. Generally, the more established you become online, the more relevant and visible your business will become.

How to get started?
Obviously, the first thing to do is to join a social media site such as LinkedIn or Facebook and look for the relevant groups where you will find an interested audience.  Look for a group that has a lot of members and open forums or discussions to join. Once you have joined, carefully set up your profile with information about your business, making sure that it contains your web address, business location, contact info and description of what you offer.

Get involved
Now it is time for you to get involved. Just having a profile is not enough to give you any social media marketing benefit. You need to mingle with your group, asking questions and having discussions. More often than not, there will be a discussion already in full swing that you can join.  You can also start your own discussion about anything relevant, ask for advice or endear yourself to your new colleagues by sharing business information that has been helpful to you.

“Spamming”
No forum or discussion area wants to be inundated with posts that are nothing more than business ads. The most acceptable way to advertise your business is by adding a signature with your name and website link at the end of any post. Some social media sites let you write about your business, so keep an eye out for an ‘About Your Business’ discussion or similar.

Blogs
Although everyone and their dog now have one, blogs can still be an effective way of raising awareness and reinforcing your business presence. Free blogs are available from blog hosts such as WordPress or Blogger and can be used in conjunction with social media sites too – a brilliant SEO tool.  Introduce your business in your very first blog and then use the sidebar to add links to your social media sites, business website and reciprocal links. Having reciprocal links with other bloggers is a successful way for your presence to reach a wider audience. Be sure to post regular, frequent entries to your blog as this will help to fill your blog with plenty of content as well as show others that you are consistent. When necessary, you can post about your business or website, highlighting a different product or service that you offer each time. Commenting on relevant news can be a great way to demonstrate your industry knowledge as well as contributing even more quality content. A good quality blog can soon become an authority in its particular field if it is consistently updated with relevant, interesting content.

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