The best way to start all of this is to sign up to different Social Networking sites such as Myspace or Facebook. It is quick, easy and very painless in signing up and getting started with your profile.

There are many premade layouts, themes and skins for Myspace so if you are not the best with web design and CSS you can use one of these and edit it but be sure to include plenty of back links to your website all over the page using anchor text for keywords for your site.

Once you have built your profile / page you have to remember you need to keep up to date with other users and especially people who visit your page.

The best way to do this is to constantly add new content which is relevant to the people / audience who view your profile to keep them interesting and maybe adding you as a friend (There is a link to your profile, in return links to your site from there)

Relationships With Other Community Members

Just having a profile on these sites will help you with SEO slightly you can get involved with discussions and debates about certain things. If your website is based on say “Computer Repair” then take a look for articles, posts and forums within this niche. If somebody has a problem with their PC then try your best to help them out. This will not only get a back link to your site but it will also give a great representation of your services to other members and you can maybe sneak a few keywords in here or there along the way.

So I Have Many Friends, Now What?

Once you have built up relationships with other members you can start to advertise to them with things like Bulletins. I don’t suggest you go onto all of their profiles and leave comments with big pictures saying “Hey, have you seen our new site” as people will just get annoyed with you.

If you use press releases within Bulletins then it is a great way to let hundreds of people see your articles and content which will in turn persuade them to take a look at your site (You can also sneak another couple of backlinks in there)

Using Facebook for SEO

Facebook is great in the way that it sends out alerts everytime you make even the slightest change to your profile. If you add a picture, add a comment or do anything it will tell everybody about it.

This means when you update a link, everybody will be told about it and 95% of the time if they are your friend they will take a look at it to see what you have been up to (People are nosey like that)

As well as having school friends, work colleagues you can also do a search for people by interests etc. So if you run a band website you can do a search to see who likes the same band and keep them up to date with new articles on yoru site which they will be keen to read. This type of traffic is the best sort because it is genuine traffic and people have an interest in the content.

In order to start right out in integrating social marketing strategies with SEO, a plan must be developed first. Moreover, there should be detailed research regarding the target’s needs, most especially since the approach is customer-oriented. It may also be helpful to consult with firms specializing in Internet Marketing. These firms will provide invaluable information and insights on how different approaches work together in maximizing company results. Once you have a better understanding of the various strategies, you can now employ the ones suitable for your needs.

Social marketing involves creating a community where people with shared interests come together to state opinions and ask questions. This can be done by setting up forums or discussion boards on your website. The key here is to generate interaction among the members of your target audience. A vast majority of consumers do online research before making any purchases; forums are helpful in providing information regarding customer inquiries.

Also consider setting up a blog that contains relevant posts that discuss the services and products that your company offers. The information that you will provide may be very well appreciated by your readers. Place links to other websites and blogs that relate to your blog content. Social networking sites including Facebook, Myspace, Digg, and many others might also have useful and interesting content that you can link to. Feature and subscribe to appropriate RSS feeds, so that your readers have a reason to frequently visit your site.

Moreover, it is necessary to keep the forum and blog posts updated and fascinating for people to read. Also remember to use optimized keywords or phrases naturally in your content and titles. Do not let your online community become sedentary; encourage readers to engage in discussions and exchange of fresh ideas and opinions. This way, search engines are more likely to index your site’s content, thus, increasing traffic.
With an effective plan and strategies in place, integrating SEO and social marketing is not a difficult task.