5 Reasons Why Social Media Optimization Matters for SEO

2014 is going to be a big year for Social Media Optimization. Changes in how technology functions are now more closely correlated with how users search for information. This synthesis between users and computers is going to impact how websites should be optimized with social media moving forward. Here are five reasons why social media optimization matters. 

1.  Content

Content has always been a key, but with significant changes to how the Google algorithm functions, and Google's announcement at the end of last year that it will no longer announce updates, content is going to bear more importance in website optimization. Sites that previously focused on brief, keyword laden content to generate rank may now be usurped for longer, more in-depth content with similar keyword densities. A site's ability to allow its users to post an entry or article on Facebook, or tweet it on Twitter, is going to be pivotal in terms of social media optimization. 

2. Mobility

From smart phones to tablets, social media consumes a majority of most data plans nowadays. Optimization efforts that fail to integrate a social media bridge over former, more traditional optimization methods will, in many cases, be completely missing a vast majority of their target audience. 

3. Utilization

In addition to a shift in what users are searching for, there has been a shift in how users are searching for them. Voice searches in everyday language are exceeding well thought-out, typed keyword searches at a remarkably increasing rate. Now that technology has reached a point where it can process these changes, sites need to be able to reflect and meet that need. 

4. Community

It has been observed recently that there is more cache in building a locally-based community rather than mechanizing keyword automation. Local reviews on Yelp, re-posts on Facebook, and re-Tweets on Twitter are becoming the new gold standard for website promotion. With the previously mentioned Google changes in place, websites may find that they are getting more focused lead generation from their home-spun community endorsements than they are from their bigger budget advertising. 

5. Interactivity

Once a site has been optimized for the preceding factors, it becomes obvious that the site also needs to be an entertaining, interactive place for its community to visit over and over again. The experiences of its community become paramount in the site's overall attractiveness. While content was once the sole focus of website optimization, it is imperative to have a broader reach into how websites are optimized in accordance to what the new social media demands. A more holistic approach to optimization, and more specifically, social media optimization, needs to been reflected.