janeth
11-01-2006, 10:13 AM
A member of WPW, JuniorOnline, posted a link earlier today to an article about SMO (Social Media Optimization). I wonder how many people are aware of the money that can be made with SMO as compared to SEO?
SMO is not about getting a number one ranking on the search engines but more about building a site worth talking about. The end goal is not only getting traffic from forums, blogs, Digg and other Social Media places but building a name for yourself as well.
Our site has some pretty good ranking in the search engines but we make more money from building websites for members of forums like WPW then we do anywhere else.
I'm going to try and explain whats worked for me.
1. I love helping people and have probably built over 100 websites for free, my intention was not to get anything in return but many of these people have posted links to my site as well as sent me family and friends as clients.
If I was making a how to list #1 would be always have your heart in the right place. Post on forums to help people and not to promote your own business.
2. I've learned more on forums then anywhere else. Everyone knows more about something then you do. Try and learn something from everyone you meet.
3. Always try and improve your website. You should not be making self promotional post on forums, you've got one shot to make the sell and that's through your website. Always try and improve your design, text, logo and images as well as the way your site operates.
One of the hardest things for me to learn was how to take criticism on my own website. Now I'm glad to have the opportunity to fix something I may not have seen before.
If your going to make money on forums your website needs to be the best, there is a lot of competition on forums.
4. Debates are good but never let them get personal. I had a lot of problems learning how to debate a topic with-out letting it get personal.
5. Bad information, I think a lot of people post bad information just to get people posting on a topic they started. I would never do this, it not only makes you look bad but also causes people to become confused about the topic being talked about.
At the end of the day you end up with links pointing to your site from forums, blogs and other websites talking about something you've said or done.
This helps your website rank in the search engines not because of link exchanges or submitting your site to directories but because you were out helping someone.
When your website does rank it's the best it can be, you've been improving it everyday to help sell your product or service, while your competition has been submitting there site to directories and doing link exchanges.
You've also been making money from day one instead of worrying about the search engines and were you rank.
People need to forget about the search engines and start learning how to make money online.
SMO is not about getting a number one ranking on the search engines but more about building a site worth talking about. The end goal is not only getting traffic from forums, blogs, Digg and other Social Media places but building a name for yourself as well.
Our site has some pretty good ranking in the search engines but we make more money from building websites for members of forums like WPW then we do anywhere else.
I'm going to try and explain whats worked for me.
1. I love helping people and have probably built over 100 websites for free, my intention was not to get anything in return but many of these people have posted links to my site as well as sent me family and friends as clients.
If I was making a how to list #1 would be always have your heart in the right place. Post on forums to help people and not to promote your own business.
2. I've learned more on forums then anywhere else. Everyone knows more about something then you do. Try and learn something from everyone you meet.
3. Always try and improve your website. You should not be making self promotional post on forums, you've got one shot to make the sell and that's through your website. Always try and improve your design, text, logo and images as well as the way your site operates.
One of the hardest things for me to learn was how to take criticism on my own website. Now I'm glad to have the opportunity to fix something I may not have seen before.
If your going to make money on forums your website needs to be the best, there is a lot of competition on forums.
4. Debates are good but never let them get personal. I had a lot of problems learning how to debate a topic with-out letting it get personal.
5. Bad information, I think a lot of people post bad information just to get people posting on a topic they started. I would never do this, it not only makes you look bad but also causes people to become confused about the topic being talked about.
At the end of the day you end up with links pointing to your site from forums, blogs and other websites talking about something you've said or done.
This helps your website rank in the search engines not because of link exchanges or submitting your site to directories but because you were out helping someone.
When your website does rank it's the best it can be, you've been improving it everyday to help sell your product or service, while your competition has been submitting there site to directories and doing link exchanges.
You've also been making money from day one instead of worrying about the search engines and were you rank.
People need to forget about the search engines and start learning how to make money online.