Some Comparisons and Similarities of SEO and SMO

Link Building: SEO – Inbound links are a large determining factor in rankings. SMO – Links are a result of success, which means that SEO benefits from good SMO.

On Page Elements: SEO – Title tags, headers, image title, bold text and use of keywords are all influential on search engine rankings. SMO – Coding and tags are not so important, while visual attention grabbers make a bigger impact.

Titles: SEO – The title tag of a page tells the search engines what a page is about and carries a lot of weight in the rankings. SMO – Titles and headlines are extremely important for grabbing attention and getting users to click-through.

Content Must be Easily Readable… SEO – By search engine spiders. SMO – By human readers.

Content: SEO – Quality content is important in order to rank well. SMO – Quality content is important in order to hold the readers’ attention and win their approval.

Content Plus: SEO – Content alone will not produce high rankings. The structure of the site must also be sound. SMO – While quality content is essential, visual presentation can also make a big difference.

Analysis: SEO – Analysis is necessary in order to know which changes have made an impact (positive or negative) on the site’s rankings.

SMO – Analysis is necessary to know what types of content draws interest.

Predictability / the Benefit of Experience: SEO – Experts are able to reproduce success with new sites (although it’s not as easy as it sounds), as the same elements can be applied. SMO – Those who know the social media audience can recreate success by publishing posts and headlines specifically for this purpose.

Success Breeds More Success: SEO – Trusted domains will have a positive effect on all pages, including new pages. SMO – Power profiles on sites like Digg can keep traffic flowing with new submissions.