Key to traffic remains
elusive for most

The Search Marketing Expo in Seattle reveals a growing sentiment among search engine optimization (SEO) experts that the key to user traffic may lie in social networking, InfoWorld reports.

Speakers at the Expo on Monday included Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of SEOmoz, an SEO consulting firm.

Among others, he professed that SEO experts today do, and should, utilize the power of social networking sites, not merely to build brand equity among a certain demographic, but also to garner more links and strategic traffic. These are two components to improving search rankings.

"Our job is now extended into this new realm," Fishkin declared.

Collective SEO pros noted appearances on sites like Digg, TechCrunch, Reddit and Del.icio.us can compound the impact of viral marketing for a brand. Other social networking sites on the SEO hit list include YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, Flickr, Yelp and Technorati.

A genuine desire to contribute to the community is necessary before diving in, Fishkin warned.

Neil Patel, author of the Pronet Advertising blog and CTO of ACS, confirms: "If you break these rules, users get nasty […] They'll keep pestering you and really ruin your life."

Community faux-pas include large submissions of company content, building multiple accounts to cast repeated votes, adding biased commentary, and otherwise attempting to boost the popularity of information in an inorganic way.

Marketers are admonished to seek users that may actually be interested in their offerings, and to build the integrity of their own names on sites like Digg, where Patel himself is well-known.

"Do what is ethical, don't jeopardize your brand, think long term," Patel admonished.