I recently got into a discussion with a blogger who stated that any kind of social media work was not considered seo. I for one have to disagree with him, rather than email him my complete thoughts I have decided to write about it here.

Search Engine Optimization is what it says. You are optimizing something for search engines, period. This obviously involves the following (in no particular order);

1. Site architecture
2. Code optimization
3. Appropriate tagging
4. Content optimization
5. Keyword research
6. URL structures
7. Internal link structure
8. Link building
9. Redirects
10. Domains
11. Analytics analysis
12. Benchmarking

Now I perform and promote the use of social media campaigns as part of my overall seo strategy because it gets results! The list below includes additions I consider to be social media but what should be considered in an seo strategy.

1. Blog setup (including bookmarking plugins etc)
2. Social Bookmarking
3. Social networks
4. Community activity
5. Link baiting

Basically these additions to an seo strategy would help with optimizing a site for search engines. The blog would provide regular content updates, and the others would provide opportunities to generate natural links that search engines love.

It seems to be that “link building” these days should be considered as “social media” as old link building methods have now become near useless for producing results!

As some of you may already know, Sphinn is the Digg equivalent for the SEO, SEM, and SMM (search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and social media marketing) industry. To many of us industry types, its really important.

Benefits of Sphinn:

For the most part, Sphinn serves many functions;

a) its a training ground for SMM, before we move up to Digg, Reddit, Propeller, Mixx, etc.

b) its a good tool for getting known in the industry, and for starting to brand yourself

c) its good for developing relationships with other industry types, many of which can be leveraged on other social media (hint, hint)

d) its a great tool to stay in touch with the latest news and opinions on industry matters.

Notice however, that 3 of the 4 identified benefits are heavily influenced by one’s ability to have posts ‘go hot’ and appear on the main page. This of course means, many people in our industry stand to benefit greatly by hitting the main page of Sphinn. As is typical too, a few account for a disproportionately high % of the ‘gone hots’.

So, as important as it is, how does someone new to the industry start to hit the homepage of Sphinn to experience all the above benefits and elevate their profile? Its a chicken vs egg dilemma really. Fortunely, Danny and crew have made some changes recently to make it easier for everyone to hit the homepage … if you just know how to use them to your benefit.

So What Has Sphinn Changed? Actually, Sphinn has made a number of changes, but the two biggest are:

1) The addition of the “Top 10 Most Sphunn in What’s New” table to each page

2) The “Latest Comments” table to each page

How Do These Changes Affect Front Page Tactics?:

Essentially, the above changes accomplish Sphinn’s goal, and do make it easier for everyone to make a story go hot. You still need to follow the standard practices (for a great post on these tactics … check out ‘How to Dominate Sphinn in 4 Easy Steps‘), forging friends, voting, commenting, submitting the stories of others, and in general being part of the community, but now there are more tools in your toolbelt. Specifically, here’s how the most recent changes at Sphinn can be used to your benefit.

1) if you’ve got 10 to say 15 votes for your story already and it seems to be lagging (remember you’ve only got 36 hours from time of submission to make your story go hot), call in a few favors to get the minimum number of votes needed to show your story in the “Top 10 Most Sphunn …” table. Once there, and assuming the piece is good quality, I’d suggest 95% of stories go hot. I’m not an advocate of calling in favors on Sphinn, but when you’re new, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do … just until your profile is elevated somewhat.

2) Use the comment section to your benefit. The first place I goto whenever I goto Sphinn is the Comment table, and I know others do too. Don’t know why, but I love to look at the comments. So … use that to your advantage. Comment more. By commenting more (obviously well thought out comments rather than generic one liners like “nice post”), you draw more attention to yourself and your submissions. At the same time, make certain your comment is catchy, and stands out from the rest of the comments. Ideally, the comment would begin with a catchy ‘sound bite’ that entices people to click on it (see screenprint below … which grab your attention? 2 are mine. Hint … one uses multiple ‘!’s, and the other talks about ‘magic beans’). If you comment on your own submission, you can then draw more attention to it once it begins to stagnate.

Summary:

In the end, these are only tactics, and are no substitute for being a valued and active member of the community. The fundamentals are still the same … participate and make friends. While trying to establish a name for yourself though, sometimes its necessary to resort to more agressive tactics such as those mentioned above.

Drop me a note and say ‘hi’ next time you’re on Sphinn. Happy Sphinning!

The preceding post was guest authored by Jeff Quipp of Search Engine People. Any guesses where I became acquainted with Jeff?