Oh noes! More buzzwords! Do not fear. Captain Quality is here with some thoughts beyond the buzzwords. And stay tuned next week for a weekly Friday feature. More on that as it develops. For now, some more on the social intrawebs…

Social Media Defined

According to Wikipedia and many other sources, the term social media refers to technology that allows people to communicate. More and more, the social web experience is moving to portable devices – like smartphones and new tablets.

Netbooks and laptops are also still very popular. In fact, there are more ways to interact with others than ever before. This is both a good thing and a bad thing in some ways. There are also many different social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, etc.) and this adds another layer to the equation.

Because of the complexity, any social media marketing plan needs to understand the social web – how it works – in order to get the most from time spent focusing on this area of SEO. While some may say that social media has no place in SEO, there are many ways that it does fit, imho. In fact, in some ways I think it is going to become even more important in the months and years ahead.

This video is from 2008, but it’s still interesting and useful.

Social Network Marketing + SEO

The question at the end of 2011 and beyond is how social media marketing and SEO can work together. Here are some things to think about and consider.

• Changing Web – As has happened since the very beginning of the Internet, the web is constantly changing and evolving. Since social networks have made their appearance they have been evolving right along with search. Today (with Bing especially), Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are working with search engines, sharing data about their users to help the search engines find signals of quality amongst all the garbage on the Internet.
• Keeping on Top of It – Because the web is changing so quickly, when it comes to SEO it is important to keep up to date. This is especially true for social media. Does anyone remember the great migration or shift away from MySpace and to Facebook? Will such a shift happen again? If you still have MySpace buttons on your website, what good will it do when Twitter, Google+ and Facebook are the hot properties at the moment?
• Install the Buttons – From the Facebook “Like” button to the “Tweet this” from Twitter to the +1 button from Google, having the buttons on your website is important these days. If users have to go through a hassle to recommend a page to their friends on the social networks, most won’t go through the trouble! Some will, of course, but you are going to lose out on many people who are still active on the social web but may not have the technical knowledge to cut and paste or share a webpage. This is why having all the social network buttons easily available on all pages of your site is important.
• Knowing the Difference – On the other hand, when it comes to things like integrating Facebook for comments, I’m against this. While the share this buttons are a good idea, I think giving Facebook the comments section (people must have a Facebook account to comment) is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Sometimes you want to make sure you are working toward creating and constantly improving your own web property.  This means you must know when to say no when the big social networks offer to handle something on your site for you and your visitors/audience. Take heed before you cede control!
• Be All and End All – It is very important to remember at all times that the social networks are not the end goal – or shouldn’t be the end goal. Yes, it may be easier to just have a Facebook page rather than creating a website (or network of related niche websites), but it is not good in the long run. While social networks make a lot of things easier, it is not always a good idea to give them control over aspects of your website, business or even your visitors.

And these are just a few of the ways that social media and SEO go together. When you start to look at the benefits of the social networks, you can see why so many people are excited about the prospects. As with your main website, however, it is important to always remember that anything you put out on the social networks should be unique and interesting and engaging.

Whether it is funny, serious or a mix of both, you want to make sure you put your best material on the social networks rather than just automatically blasting every single post that is made on your site. When you make it more personal, you are going to see much more success for your SEO efforts.

Social Engagement and SEO

ProBlogger recently had a good write-up about social engagement and SEO which is definitely worth a read. In the post he goes over why social media is important for SEO then goes on to give three concrete (even if basic) ways to get on the social media bandwagon.

There is actually a lot more research that can and should be done on this topic if you are serious about SEO and want your websites to succeed – however you measure success.

If you have any questions or thoughts about social media and SEO, leave a comment below in true social fashion.