When it comes to online marketing, most business owners think SEO and social media are two totally different strategies that don’t really work together.

The truth is, combining these two effective online marketing methods can help dramatically increase your authority and rankings — and even your revenues.

Social Media Links

Everyone knows the more links that point to your website the more authority your website has with the search engines. And guess what high authority results in — higher rankings.

In the past, social media links didn’t have much SEO value because the search engines didn’t pay attention to them, they were usually no follow links, and sharing hadn’t caught on yet.

The ‘text book’ definition of Social Media is “Internet platforms which allow individuals and groups to share, create, co-create, discuss, and modify user generated content”. The big kid on the Social Media Block right now is the Facebook, but YouTube, Twitters, Pinterest, Tumblr, and MySpace all meet the definition of Social Media. Virtual world like Second Life and World of Warcraft do as well.

Today the search engines value social media and look at Twitter tweets, Facebook shares, and other social media sites to add popularity to the mix when determining search engine rankings, even when these actual social media posts don’t appear in the search engine rankings.

Keyword Research

The best way to get the most out of your social media SEO links is to include keywords in them. Head over to the Google Keyword Tool and choose keywords to use in your social media posts.

Whether it’s a Facebook update or Twitter tweet, using keywords in your posts and titles is an easy way to influence your rankings.

Sharing Buttons

You can increase the link power of your social media posts, blog posts, website content, and more by making it simple for others to share your content on their social networks by adding sharing buttons.

In addition to adding sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, and more, consider adding embeds and widgets so other people can build links that directly point to your page or website by sharing them on other social media websites. (Check out the retweet and share buttons at the top and bottom of this post.)

Social Media SEO

Seattle social media SEO is a great way to attract new customers to your business while also attracting the search engines if you take the time to do a little keyword research.

Not only can you achieve higher rankings with search engine optimized social media posts, but by making it easy for others to share your content with their social media networks, you also open up your website to a whole new world of customers — people relying on the search engines to give them the best recommendations AND people relying on the recommendations of friends and family.

Not sure how to get started in social media SEO? Seattle SEO Consultant can help. Click for your free half-hour consultation with Chad Morgan today, and learn how we can help boost your business with the power of Seattle social media.