Combining Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media for Optimal Business Results.

Ever since the news hit that Facebook gets more traffic thanGoogle, the controversy has been raging about whether Social Media Marketing is more effective than Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s not surprising to find that there are fervent believers in each camp -- the web is full of opinionated blog posts supporting each side. But what most of those blogs posts miss is that comparing Facebook with Google is like comparing apples and oranges.

Yes, they’re both web giants. But at this point in web history, people use Facebook and Google differently. Facebook is the web’s largest social media experience. People use it to communicate with family and friends and post pictures of their recent vacations.

Google is the web’s largest information search engine. People use it to find information to compare everything from cell phones to solar panels to legal services, and then buy them online.

From a marketing standpoint, although Facebook is now bigger than Google in terms of shear numbers of users, they are looking to engage with friends. In terms of the sales cycle, buying a product or service is not on their minds when they log in.

However, Google searchers are often actively looking for information about products and services -- and for reasons to buy them. So for marketing purposes, the quality of traffic is higher on Google.

But does that mean businesses should only use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and forget about Social Media? Not at all. A much better approach is to use them both, because they’re both evolving. The challenge is to stay on top of their changes and adapt marketing strategies accordingly.

Keep in mind that all of the social media sites have their own search functions, which means each has its own internal search engine. And which site is the web’s largest search engine, and taught us all about optimizing for them? That’s right – Google.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is no longer limited to the relationship between a company’s main website and Google. It’s about optimizing everyplace a business has a presence online -- and having a presence as many places as possible. So rather than killing off Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media has expanded it. Every business profile, page or video on a social media site needs to be optimized.

The best strategy is to use Social Media SEO to dominate the search results (SERPs). For example, social media sites of all kinds are now showing up on the first page of Google’s search results – and not just Facebook pages. There are now LinkedIn profiles, Flickr photos, Twitter tweets and YouTube videos sharing Google’s first page with traditional websites.

A business that has a presence on each of those sites has the potential for showing up multiple times. Meanwhile, optimizing a company’s main website is still important. It will still show up in the SERPs, and it can function as a hub for all of the social media pages and profiles.

The main concept to understand here is that Social Media has changed the online marketing landscape -- it has made Search Engine Optimization (SEO) even more important.