subject: Using Facebook For Seo - Increased Web Presence [print this page] Although Facebook is a social networking website a growing number of businesses are utilising it to promote their company and blogs. The functions and features on Facebook enable a business to set up a group or company page and generate publicity. A planned and structured approach to gaining this kind of publicity is known as Social Media Optimisation which is a fast growing area of Search Engine Marketing.
Commonly used methods of SMO include adding RSS feeds, adding a link to Digg, blogging and also incorporating third party applications such as Flickr and YouTube. Simply put Social Media Optimisation is a 21st Century viral marketing strategy but instead of sharing information through word of mouth the information is shared via one or a number of linked-in social networking sites.
Although SMO is a relatively new marketing medium it is one of the fastest growing, this is amply illustrated by the way that Social Media sites such as Facebook are expanding their functions and increasing their users on a seemingly daily basis. There is an old saying that," Any publicity is good publicity" and this is especially true in regard to the social networking sites. The real advantage for any business is that this form of marketing is virtually free the only downside being the time it takes to set up and to create fresh relevant content regularly.
To achieve the best overall results from a Social Media Optimisation strategy it is recommended that it is carried out in conjunction with a comprehensive SEO campaign, these two separate online marketing services run in tandem will complement each other and ultimately achieve a higher level of web exposure and also higher rankings on Google.
An important thing to consider when setting up a social media page on Facebook is the style of language used. In order to relate to your target audience it is essential that the main intention is to generate publicity not sales. By all means promote the product or service but keep the sales pitch low key, people do not generally visit social networking sites to buy things. In any social environment it is important to engage people before trying to sell anything.
Although it is possible to do SMO and other search engine marketing independently the best results are attained by using a company who specialise in this kind of online marketing. Although the processes and methodologies used are not particularly complicated it is a time consuming and laborious process.
