I've written many times about the intense dependency of social media on your SEO strategy. Since I probably sound like a broken record, I’ll let some other folks (very solid experts) say it for your benefit and better than I ever could.

The following articles were each published in the last few weeks and include commentary by Fast Company and other SEO experts. While optimizing specific product pages might have passed for a good SEO strategy three years ago, this is no longer the case. VC’s, CEO’s, CMO’s, IT groups and especially your prospects know this already.

Creating an SEO strategy without incorporating the “social media” term is nothing short of a flawed marketing strategy.

• You Can't Separate Social Media and SEO
• SEO & Social Media: The PB&J of Web Marketing
• Where Social Media Fits Into the SEO Equation
• Using SEO and Social Media Marketing Together
  

Consumer and market analysis giant Nielsen released a summary report on the state of the social media landscape as of last month.

Highlights:

• People are spending more time on social media and blog sites than ever before.
• Twitter.com was the fastest growing web brand but growth has begun to slow.
• Average time spent on Twitter is up nearly 300% in the past 12 months.
• Facebook remains the largest social media destination.
• Myspace.com remains the top social media video stream provider.

Download Nielsen's May 2009 report on social networks (PDF)

Do you have a comprehensive online content strategy that includes social media and blogging?  We can help you develop and execute an effective content strategy.  Contact us to learn more.

Many years ago we discussed [internally] a seemingly smart idea and likely trend that’s best described by this question – If blogs inherently create better visibility and serendipitous opportunities for discovery, why not build an entire website on a blog platform?

This is a timely question as businesses of many types and sizes have begun to realize the dividends of publishing in more discoverable content formats such as XML and RSS, as well as the general participation in social media and conversational web environments. The trend to integrate blog and social media content into website experiences, and even explicitly merge website and blog content, has already begun.

Value Networks, a 2008 startup specializing in the integration of people processes into business processes, launched their website and blog as a combined entity on the MyST Social Media Platform.

Nupolis, a consulting company that advises communities in matters of social innovation, designed a unified solution with guidance from Nuance Intelligence to manage their web, blog, conversations, and whitepaper knowledgebase on one publishing platform, MyST.

Overture Corp, a mortgage management and decisioning systems provider, determined that a single platform which possess advanced blogging and social media integration capabilities would be far more successful in reducing SEO costs.

The term “blogsite” was chosen as our core product namesake for very good reason; a “blogsite” is far greater in scope than a “blog”. MyST Blogsite is the foundation of a comprehensive platform for integrated social media management. In addition to fundamental features such as blog publishing, automated pinging, and integrated quality assurance, the platform is designed to recognize advanced business requirements that are typically discovered once a company has a “blog”.

An online marketing strategy that unifies blog and website content, requires a publishing platform that can effortlessly incorporate processes such as integrated document resources, ecommerce integration, and automated pressroom and PR awareness. But the requirements and complexities of tomorrows’ web experience are increasing. Customer expectations are fragmenting across many content delivery modes – some expect RSS (for all content), some expect a strong presence in Twitter, many expect email newsletters, and some want content access on their smartphones. Addressing all these interests (and many more) requires an agile publishing foundation based on XML.

The future publishing platform must also embrace the emerging role of the chief social media officer (CSMO). This role requires the ability to deliver online content in congruence with activities that cut across many moving parts of an enterprise including (but not limited to) marketing, communications, sales, customer/supplier support, investor relations, R&D, and product management.

Evidence continues to mount that the trend to embrace web and blog content under one roof, is expanding. Entrepreneur.com recently published Build a Website in Blog’s Clothing with the number one goal – providing fresh content. MyST Blogsite provides three means for business to meet this goal – (i) advanced integrated RSS services, (ii) automated content briefing services, and (iii) streamlined authored blog channels.

If you’d like to explore the idea of a simplified, yet more powerful, social media publishing model for your website, drop me a note.

See Also

• Anatomy of a Blogsite
  A blogsite is comprised of many components not commonly found in any website or weblog. The definition of a blogsite expands upon the basic idea of 'weblog' to include features that provide additional ways to create visibility and enhance brand awareness and reputation for your company.
• Yes, It's Time for a Chief Social Media Officer
  In my mind, the answer is "absolutely", although I would suggest they're more of a priority for companies that have active and ambitious social media strategies (e.g. Dell, IBM, Comcast).
• Build a Website in Blog's Clothing - Entrepreneur.com- msnbc.com
  Todays blog platforms have turned into so much more than journals, and they're a great way to create and maintain a powerful, user-friendly website for your business. Here's how you can use them to address your site's needs.