For a step by step guide to creating a SEO Social Media Roadmap, check out the full article on Mashable, “Social Media and SEO: 5 Essential Steps to Success”.
From a marketing standpoint, you can look at the benefits of SEO and social media two different ways:

First, implementing a social media marketing program without optimizing content is leaving money on the table. Useful social content (blog, video, images, audio) that cannot be discovered via search is a lost opportunity to reach an audience that is looking.

For example, the popular blog about student loans and college financing from Wells Fargo identifies 29 keywords in its Keyword Meta Tag and doesn’t rank in Google’s first page for 26 of them. Those that do rank are variations of the blog’s name.

While there is a generous amount of cross linking within posts, a basic blog template optimization effort leveraging keywords and other minor adjustments could improve search traffic for this site substantially – without any compromise in content quality or user experience.

Social interactions and media sharing amongst social network participants create the kind of content that can improve a brand’s visibility within search results through profiles, videos, blog posts, or other media. A good example is Stormhoek wines’ first page Google rankings including blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

On the flip side, implementing SEO programs without leveraging the content distribution and linking benefits of social web participation makes link building for SEO an uphill battle. The nature of the social web encourages participation: sharing, voting, commenting & linking. Popular social content gets exposure, traffic and can result in a substantial number of relevant inbound links.

As an example, the famous Blendtec iPhone video which as received so much attention on social media sites, has attracted over 6,000 links resulting in a top ten ranking on Google for the word, “blender”.

Bottom line? Content + Links = Search Engine Success!

Throwing keywords at social media tactics isn’t quite the same thing as developing and implementing a plan to reach specific goals. Link drop social media tactics can have impact but are difficult to sustain. For long term value from effort, marketers should follow social media best practices as wel as the fundamentals:

1. Identify the specific audience they’re trying to reach – behaviors, preferences for content, sharing, media types, etc
2. Set specific goals and objectives that can be measured
3. Work out a strategy for reaching those goals with the intended audience
4. Figure out which mix of tactics will support and execute the game plan
5. Put proper measurement tools in place and identify what events and outcomes to analyze.

Traditionally, search engine optimization efforts have been managed by corporate marketing departments – either in-house or through an outside agency. However, will all the opportunities to create value in the form of increased online brand visibility, reputation management and internet based media coverage, public relations deserves a seat at the corporate SEO table.

To achieve that, it’s important that PR professionals understand the foundation of SEO tactics as well as the business benefits for PR efforts as well as to the larger organization. The upcoming series of posts will outline SEO and PR tactics with the most impact, how to choose the best keywords, on page SEO and link building best practices as well as measuring the value of SEO to public relations efforts. It will also cover when PPC is a better fit than SEO, how to combine SEO and social media promotions and the finer points of selling the benefits of SEO to decision makers.

Corporate web site optimization projects require an equal measure of search engine knowledge, understanding of corporate messaging and ability to appreciate and acquire links from credible sources. By learning the fundamentals of SEO and the possible impact on public relations effectiveness, PR departments can demonstrate their competitive advantage.

To that end, here is the schedule of SEO for Public Relations posts that I’ll be doing in the coming weeks:

1. SEO tactics – if I could only do one thing…

2. PR tactics that affect SEO

3. When is PPC better than SEO for PR?

4. How to choose the best keywords?

5. Basics of on-page SEO

6. Press release optimization tips

7. Newsroom optimization tactics

8. Link building fundamentals

9. SEO and social media promotions

10. Measuring & selling the value of SEO

People Who Read This Also Read:

1. Social Media Traffic Domino Effect Strategy
2. 6 SEO Advice For New Bloggers
3. 70 PR 6-9 dofollow social media sites
4. Use Social Bookmarking to Get More Traffic for your Blog
5. The 5 Social Media Celebrities Drop-Offs
6. Top Search Engine Ranking Tips