Search engine optimization is a critical weapon in today's marketing arsenal. With this in mind, you have already incorporated meta-tags, optimized your website content for your best keywords, and launched article marketing campaigns. However, are you missing out on the SEO benefits of social media penetration?

Although the use of social media has exploded, search engines have not fully integrated social media postings into their indexing - yet. Social media will take a more prominent role in 2010, with both Bing and Google Caffeine declaring their intentions to fully index Facebook updates and Twitter feeds.

In the interim, you can begin to fully prepare for the SEO benefits of your social media campaigns, while simultaneously enjoying increased traffic to your website and encouraging the viral aspect of sharing links.

Where is Your Audience Socializing?
Like any form of marketing, your social media SEO efforts must be targeted to people who are interested in what your business offers. Simply forming a business presence on Twitter or Facebook won't benefit your bottom line if you do not connect with the right people.

Therefore, you must understand the behaviors, likes, and motivations of the people who participate on certain social media sites. For example, if you are using Twitter, how can you best connect with your target audience and encourage them to share your website and links with others? Are your potential followers looking for great holiday deals, such as the ones offered on the successful Twitter accounts of Target and Toys 'R Us? Or are they looking to find resources and interesting articles on the latest health news?

Understanding your target audience and what they are hoping to gain from social media is the critical first step. When you provide true value to your social media audience, this further increases your viral influence, which builds backlinks and traffic to your website.

Create a Social Media Strategy
Choose the social media sites that would serve your endeavors best. If your intended audience is more visual, you might use Flickr or YouTube to post photos and videos of your products and services. If you have frequent updates to share, Twitter may be best.

You do not have to choose just one or two social media sites. Create a good mix of potential social media sites that may work for your business.

Implement Your Tactical Mix
With your social media sites targeted, it's time to implement your social media SEO plan. Here are some key strategies:

• Post regular updates - Keep your business presence alive. Give your fans and followers valuable content (infused with your best keywords, of course) to read often. Include links to your website occasionally to generate both traffic and backlinks.
• Upload or link to pictures and videos - You might provide links to interesting photos or videos that are related to your business. Or make your own, post them on YouTube or Flickr, and link to them from other social media sites.
• Encourage sharing and discussion - You will get the greatest search engine optimization results by encouraging your fans and followers to share your links and posts with others. For example, if you are hosting a giveaway, then encourage followers to blog or post about your giveaway to enjoy extra entries.

Social media can work towards improving your total search engine optimization ranking. Choose your sites wisely, make a plan, and enjoy getting your business noticed by the search engines and potential customers on social media sites.

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