Nowadays, it is no longer enough to focus solely on SEO or SEA to succeed in your search marketing strategy. In fact, web referencing can take several forms. To discuss search engine optimization in a systematic way, we often use this small mathematical formula: SEM = SEO + SEA + SMO.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) refers to the marketing optimization strategy for its presence on search engines. According to the formula above, SEM represents the sum of natural or organic referencing (SEO), paid referencing (SEA), as well as social media optimization (SMO). We can therefore deduce that SMO is one of the traffic acquisition levers. Thus, this strategy should not be neglected. In this article, we will explore 7 points to successfully implement your SMO strategy to enhance your search ranking.
What is Social Media Optimization (SMO)?
SMO, or Social Media Optimization, involves using social networks (SN) optimally to establish your online presence. As previously mentioned, it is one of the three pillars of the search marketing strategy.
Social networks are an integral part of our daily lives. Producing high-quality content or content that attracts attention on these platforms can have a significant impact on your visibility and online reputation. However, social media can also negatively impact your business if poorly managed.
It is therefore essential to implement best practices to build a community and enable your business to have a strong online presence.
What are the benefits of an SMO strategy?
Having a solid SMO strategy offers numerous advantages:
Attracting traffic to your site
Natural SEO is good, but it’s not enough! Social media optimization allows you to generate traffic from sources other than search engines. There's nothing better for enhancing a website's visibility than diversifying its traffic sources. The power of social networks is such that a strong presence can significantly boost your daily number of visitors. An added benefit is that links directing back to your site (backlinks) provide valuable "juice" for SEO.
Building a Community
Being present on social networks offers the opportunity to interact more or less directly with your clients. By optimizing your SMO, you can create a group of individuals who share the same interests and values... Through this interaction, you’ll gain insights into the people who follow you and therefore offer them the best service.
Showcasing Your Content
The more your content is shared, the more it is viewed. This may seem like an obvious statement, but it remains true that distributing your content on social networks increases your audience. We will explore later in this article how to effectively share your content on these platforms.
Expanding Your Audience
This point goes hand in hand with the previous one. SMO is beneficial for increasing awareness of your business to a larger audience. The more people know about your solutions and the unique value you bring to the market, the greater your chances of generating leads.
Managing Your Online Reputation
Social networks have a major advantage: they allow you to understand what people think of you. On social media (often thanks to anonymity), there is little restraint or pretense; users candidly express their thoughts. Naturally, one must be discerning (due to trolls, spam, haters...), but overall you can learn a great deal. You can also engage on social media to establish a direct relationship with your target audience and to improve.
Having discussed the benefits of SMO, let's now look at how to optimize your social media channels to harness their full potential and thus enhance your search ranking.
How to Succeed in Your Social Media Optimization (SMO) Strategy?
SMO shares some similarities with SEO. To succeed:
- You must analyze and understand the market
- You must analyze trends
- It is essential to produce quality content
In addition to these three points, similar to natural referencing, results are observed gradually over time (unless there’s a viral moment).
1 - Study Your Target Audience
Before you start posting on social media, it’s crucial to know who you will be addressing. Consider that the audience on different networks may not (necessarily) be the same as the one you reach via natural or paid referencing.
Creating personas can help you segment your prospects. This gives you a global idea of who your target is, their interests, and the characteristics that will allow you to present relevant content. The goal is to attract qualified leads to your social networks.
2 - Analyze the Social Networks
Knowing your target audience is great, but it’s not everything! Each social network has its own codes, rules, and unique functioning. You cannot approach different networks in the same way. You can't communicate on Twitter as you would on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
The main point is to: Understand the workings of each social network (Atmosphere, type of content, types of users present on the platform…)
It would also be wise to examine how the algorithms for each social platform operate. Which types of content are prioritized and why? What hacks or tips can be used to enhance visibility?
This may seem like tedious work, but the more you understand the environment of these networks, the better you will be able to leverage them.
3 - Define Your KPIs
You know your audience, you’re slowly understanding the ecosystem, but you’re not sure if your strategy will work.
To address this, it’s useful to define KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). These key performance indicators are meant to give you objectives. But objectives for what? For social media, you can measure:
- The number of followers
- The engagement rate (Likes, comments, shares…)
- The number of posts
- The number of visits to your site
These objectives will allow you to track your progress. Obviously, it is important not to set goals that are too high (unattainable) or too low (easily achievable). Like any goal you set for yourself, your KPIs should be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound (with a deadline)
4 - Create or Update Your Social Media Profiles
Now that you have a better overview of social networks, you can start taking action.
The crucial step is to optimize your pages (business profile). You should fill out as much information as possible about your business while respecting the norms of each network and considering the type of audience you wish to attract.
You should also create your own universe and set your codes. Users must be able to easily identify you. You need to be a fully engaged player on social platforms, ensuring that your brand image is recognizable.
When a user clicks on your profile or sees one of your posts, they should easily understand who you are and what you do. Like your website, your social media profiles are showcases for your offerings. Therefore, they must not be neglected.
5 - Create Different Types of Content
Once your profiles are updated, you can start sharing your content. The strategy you have developed so far will help determine what needs to be created. Aim to draw customers to you through your content (Inbound Marketing). On the internet, there are all types of users, and you should contribute to their engagement.
Here are a few tips:
- Adapt your language according to your target audience
- Adjust your language based on the social media platform
- Stay informed about the latest news/trends/current events (keep your finger on the pulse)
- Listen to the feedback from your community
- Diversify the types of shared content (infographics, videos, articles…)
- Publish content regularly (establish a posting schedule)
- Use relevant keywords
- Share articles from your blog
If your content isn’t appealing or doesn’t perform well, don’t panic! Improvement comes over time, and building a community takes time. The essential quality for SMO is adaptability. Being willing to reassess and pivot will continually enhance your effectiveness.
6 - Build a Relationship with Your Community
Over the months, you'll notice a community emerging and growing. It is important to foster a connection with them. Having a relationship with your community will provide valuable feedback on what you do. The community also aims to improve and enhance your reputation. They will share their experiences and recommend you. Thus, it is crucial to foster engagement.
To stay close to your community, don't hesitate to respond to comments or private messages. Avoid "cold" sharing; your community should feel that you are listening.
The engagement rate is a significant factor in social media ranking, so it is important to be vigilant about this aspect of SMO. Communication is a primary component of social media SEO.
7 - Analyze the Data
Finally, to remain consistent with the objectives you've set, it's necessary to analyze the data. The KPIs that you established earlier will help determine if you’re on the right track.
With this data, you can gain perspective on what has worked and what hasn’t. Thus, you can decide to readjust your SMO strategy to improve your visibility. This information is essential for adapting and repositioning yourself.
Bonus - A Pro Tip
The more information you provide to Google, the more it appreciates you. One way to provide pertinent information to Google is by using structured data. This structured data is used by the search engine to display your information on its results pages. It’s a useful hack for SEO purposes.
Without going into overly technical details, you can request Google to display your social media information in its search engine. This will allow you to connect your SMO with your SEO and potentially your SEA, thus contributing to your SEM.
To indicate your social networks to Google, you need to use a schema.org markup. If you are a business, you can use the following markup with JSON-LD:
You will just need to replace:
- "name" with the name of your organization
- "url" with the URL of your site
- "logo" with the path to your logo
- In "Same As", include the various links to your social networks
Currently, Google only supports the following types of social profiles: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Myspace, Pinterest, SoundCloud, and Tumblr.
Don’t Rely Solely on Your SMO Strategy!
While social network optimization is one of the three pillars of referencing, it’s important not to rely solely on it. Indeed, social networks are a significant lever for web marketing, but they do not encompass everything. They contribute to your visibility, but they are merely aids to help grow your business. The goal is to use SMO alongside SEO and possibly SEA. It is not a replacement, but an effective complementary method to gain additional traffic.
For long-term visibility, it is crucial to focus on organic search. The SEO has many advantages over SEA. It is a way to generate quality traffic compared to SEA and SMO. For effective natural referencing, it is important to adhere to certain basic rules and to optimize your site. Being highlighted by Google is a true goldmine for business growth, but you must understand the best practices. Additionally, your site must meet certain standards.
To assist you in developing your visibility on search engines, Digidop can help you build your natural referencing strategy. Digidop can also assist you in developing a fast and optimized website to outperform competitors using nocode tools such as Webflow. Lastly, our SEO web agency offers a list of nocode tools (thus easy to use) to boost your digital strategy.
