In a recent blog post, we discussed the growing need for optimizing social media and how this trend is driving a growing overlap of the disciplines of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media (SM).

Google+ is changing things
Prior to the introduction of Google+ the lines between search engine optimization and social media were blurred. As an example, blogs are considered social media yet they drive fresh content to a website which, if indexed, contributes powerfully to SEO. Facebook pages for business are indexed by search engines and LinkedIn is indexed by search engines and the list goes on. SM encourages linking to websites and blogs, which is an important part of the voting process for website content. It is increasingly difficult search engine optimization or social media as standalone offerings.

The recent introduction of Google+ will forever change both the SEO and SM landscape regardless of its ultimate success or failure. Google+ is their latest entry into the social media marketplace.

SEO continues to evolve
What Google+ will foster is a change over time from robotic interpretation of website content towards actual voting by users as to the desirability of a website’s contents. This will certainly accelerate the blending of search engine optimization and social media; the only question will be the speed of that change.
This is why an integrated inbound marketing strategy is more important than ever. Viewing SEO, SM and pay per click advertising holistically makes understanding and managing the changing dynamics simpler easier and more profitable.

What next?
Regardless of what happens with Google+ and other social media evolution, now is the time to build your SEO and get started with social media. The business implications of Google+ are months away, and the “Big 4” of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your blog) aren’t going anywhere for a long time. Maybe this time next year, we will be talking about the “Big 5”?