SEO vs. SMO – What’s the Big Difference ?

SEO vs. SMO – What’s the Big Difference ?

While SEO is more commonly talked about than SMO, and while Google still tries to insist social media doesn’t play a huge role in ranking results, in reality, SMO is taking over.

SEO is search engine optimization. SMO is social media optimization. While SEO does focus on getting links back (including from social media shares), it also focuses on many other areas. SMO can be a part of SEO (and is increasingly becoming a more important part) and has to do with what you, your friends and your family have look at previously online.

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If your organization has no online presence, you’re going to have a hard time building a successful organization. Today there are three main ways people might find your business:

• Your company comes up early (on the first couple pages) in search engine results
• Someone recommends you to them, or
• They’ve heard of your company and seek you out

SEO	SMO
Process: Optimizing your website for search engines	Process: Sharing content off site
Goal: Increase traffic via search engines	Goal: Increase brand recognition and popularity among people
Method: Select and use keywords, optimize HTML and backend coding, add meta descriptions, alt tags, headers…	Method: Create quality content and spread it as widely as possible through social media channels
Results: Seen over the long term	Results: Short intervals of success

Why Focus on Both?

Search engine algorithms will continue to be updated as technology gets smarter, so both your SEO and SMO strategies will need to evolve over the years. Currently, SMO can bring you a large influx of customers in a short span, and quality SEO increases your search engine rankings and brings you more success in the long run.

The most important factor for both SEO and SMO is quality content. Original, informative, engaging content is valued both by search engines and real life customers. So in the end, it’s important to focus on both. SMO allows you to connect with customers and potential customers on a personal level, while SEO allows your site to remain high in search engine results.

How Do I Keep up with SEO and SMO Changes?




Many business owners and managers already feel stretched to the max just running their business, so they don’t have time to think about where they are currently ranking in search engine results. Some business owners also don’t care to keep up with technology changes, and others just don’t know how.