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Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for attracting visitors to website content by promoting and publicizing it through social media. SMO is a subset of social media marketing, which is promoting and publicizing products and services in general through social media. SMO is one of two online methods of optimizing (attracting visitors to) website content; the other method is search engine optimization (SEO).

There are two categories of SMO methods:

(a) Social media features added to the content itself, including: RSS feeds, social news and sharing buttons, and incorporating third-party community functionalities like images and videos

(b) Promotional activities in social media aside from the content being promoted, including: blogging, commenting on other blogs, participating in discussion groups, and posting status updates on social networking profiles

Social media optimization is related to search engine marketing, but differs in several ways, primarily the focus on driving traffic from sources other than search engines, though improved search ranking is also a benefit of successful SMO.

Social media optimization is in many ways connected as a technique to viral marketing where word of mouth is created not through friends or family but through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites. In a similar way the engagement with blogs achieves the same by sharing content through the use of RSS in the blogosphere and special blog search engines.

Social Media optimization is considered an integral part of an online reputation management (ORM) or Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM) strategy for organizations or individuals who care about their online presence.

Template:Business Strategy Social Media Optimisation (SMO), is not limited to marketing and brand building. Increasingly smart businesses are integrating social media participation as part of their knowledge management strategy (ie. product/service development, recruiting, employee engagement and turnover, brand building, customer satisfaction and relations, business development and more).

[edit] Origins

According to search engine expert Danny Sullivan, the term "social media optimization" was first used and described by Rohit Bhargava.^[1] Bhargava's original five (six?) rules for conducting social media optimization are:^[2]

1. Increase your linkability
2. Make tagging and bookmarking easy
3. Reward inbound links
4. Help your content travel
5. Encourage the mashup
6. Get communities connected

[edit] See also

• Customer engagement
• Search engine marketing
• Online Identity Management

[edit] References

1. ^ Danny Sullivan (August 29, 2006). "Social Media Optimization: It's Like SEO, For Social Sites". blog.searchenginewatch.com. http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060829-150053. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
2. ^ Rohit Bhargava (August 10, 2006). "5 Rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO)". rohitbhargava.typepad.com. http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2006/08/5_rules_of_soci.html. Retrieved 2007-09-06.