Comments on: Poll: Integrating SEO & Social Media Marketing

By: Bill McIntosh

Bill McIntosh — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:00:03 +0000

Now that I think about it… I guess it’s not that funny when it actually costs me money in lost sales.

By: Bill McIntosh

Bill McIntosh — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:58:40 +0000

I’m facing one of these johnny come lately SEO, social media & marketing “experts” in my local area. He attended one of my free seminars and… BAM! He’s now an expert. The funniest part about it is that he’s become a competitor.

By: atommedia

atommedia — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:07:25 +0000

It’s what comes around goes around, it’s always been about relationship building, the only unique aspect of it today is that your relationships are measured in the zillions, and communicating with your peers is done in a multiple, instant manner.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:27:04 +0000

Thanks J.R. I appreciate the feedback. Relationships are a far more valuable currency than links and I think more marketers involved with organic search optimization are realizing that.

By: J.R. Farr

J.R. Farr — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:22:25 +0000

Lee,

Great post man. I was just talking with someone about the so-called “Social Media Experts” out there. It just cracked me up when you said “after 5 months of twittering and facebooking…”

You’re absolutely right about delivering value though. It’s hard for people to understand and determine that value. Bottom line is it all about the balance. Don’t focus too much in one area and too less in the other. Also, remember to use Social Media to build relationships not to just drive loads of traffic and backlinks.

I always enjoy your posts. Keep it up.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:25:30 +0000

It’s the best route to go in the long term and probably the biggest challenge in the short term.

By: Connie Reece

Connie Reece — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:46:33 +0000

Lots of good thoughts here, Lee, but I especially like this one: “but with social media, it’s best that the client themselves develop customer relationships.”

As a consultant, I can help clients with strategy and tactics, but m a firm believer that when it comes to actually building relationships, that can’t be outsourced. To be successful with social media, a client company will have to invest in the manpower necessary to do the ongoing work of relationship building.

By: Jack Zufelt

Jack Zufelt — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:52:31 +0000

Great article. Love the examples of how SEO and social media have become necessary in the marketing business.

By: ray

ray — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:12:04 +0000

yeah i found many good point with this article. I made some blog that one blog is included some product that i review. in first achieve goal, i made this blog for making an advertise product but in the end what i made up is just like i have been introduce this product not to give any more detail or making some advertising, you know what i mean..
so i decide to put a video review to proof what i have reviewed product. To make this more like giving a service i put my link email just for in case.

By: Diana Singleton

Diana Singleton — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:07:27 +0000

I hear people say all the time they don’t use either and I just think that it’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. When a trend change hits you in the face, you HAVE to oblige and jump right in or you’ll drown. These days, you have most definitely need to utilize every method you can. And it’s just going to continue online.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:26:24 +0000

This article is great in that it both explains and gives examples of how SEO and social media have become such a huge player in the marketing business. I highly agree with the part where you said "What’s important is that goals, strategy and tactics are accurately represented." Thanks for this article Lee, I look forward to reading more. - Sean C.

By: dhoy

dhoy — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:38:01 +0000

Social media is very useful in link building… most seo companys do.

By: Kaila S | Vertical Measures

Kaila S | Vertical Measures — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:58:07 +0000

@Sean Jackson, I def. agree with what you said, ’social media forms a great symbiotic relationship’ with what we utilize for SEO.
@Brett Borders (first comment)Your point reminds me of a post we did a while back http://www.verticalmeasures.com/link-building/an-seo-is-not-a-link-builder/ Look at the comments…a lil debate going there.

By: Sean Jackson

Sean Jackson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:44:07 +0000

Lee, I think you do a good job of outlining the issue. It would seem that “SEO” as a marketing concept is starting to evolve past the technical and to the pragmatic. As you point out it is about content and relationships. Social Media, which is in want of content and relationships forms a great symbiotic relationship with the tactics of SEO. I think your last point is right on…instead of focusing on the tactic, focus on someone who knows marketing, content and relationship building online. The tools will always change but the process stays the same.

By: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:39:14 +0000

I do both. I’ve been doing SEO now since Infoseek offered real-time indexing back in 1998. It’s always been a great tool for me; adding SMM to the mixture makes it even more effective.

Data points, Barbara

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:57:35 +0000

From a client perspective, proper agency management should take care of most "stepping on toes" situations. My agency, TopRankMarketing.com, has specialized on SEO and PR since 2001 and blogging/social media tactics since 2004. We've worked with clients as a PR agency and interfaced with their SEO firm. We've worked with clients as a SEO agency and worked with the 3rd party PR firm to help them extend the value of their efforts via SEO (to the benefit of our mutual client). There are agencies out there with high degrees of SEO, Social and PR expertise, but I agree, not many.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:43:27 +0000

Lee, when you say “SEO consultants for SEO and PR firms for PR” how do avoid the situation where you have link building SEO firm promoting your content via blogger outreach, and stepping on the toes of your PR firm’s existing relationships.

By the same token, if your PR firm is going to engage in social media on your behalf, how do you get them to think about the link building impact/potential of their outreach? How much emphasis should PR agencies put on helping a client get links?

I agree, the best case scenario is finding a marketing consultant adept at PR, SEO, and social media, but I have rarely seen this.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Good one Jason, I think I like “monkey” more than “charlatan”.

One of the things we’re working on with our company site and communicating value is to increase the “client” news signal substantially. Rather than tout speaking events and media coverage quite so much, the emphasis is shifting more towards client wins, renewals and definitely case studies. Nothing shows value more than measurable results.

Awesome seeing you at SXSW by the way

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:22:05 +0000

Thanks Tinu.

For various reasons, many companies want to handle tactics in-house. At the same time, many are engaging consultants for direction, strategy and oversight. It makes sense from a cost standpoint as well as allocation of resources.

The ORM example you give is a very good point. Long time reputation management efforts deliver excellent search visibility benefits, whether the client company acknowledges that or not, is up to the agency’s communication skills.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:18:22 +0000

It’s a moving target and at best, I think practitioners are students with varying degrees of expertise and experience.