Search Marketers tap Social to Boost SEO.

The majority of search marketers have recognized the importance of social media to their search engine optimization efforts, according to a November 2010 study from search marketing software provider SEOmoz.

Nearly 71% of respondents said they use social media as part of their SEO strategy. Social media marketing can be an excellent driver of content visibility, by helping to keep content fresh and abundant, and also by increasing the number of inbound links a site receives.

Improving visibility was the primary reason nearly a fifth of respondents gave for doing social media marketing at all, and link building was behind the efforts of another 13.5% of them.

While search marketers also use plenty of nonsocial techniques to gain stature on engines like Google and Bing, several popular tactics have a social basis. Nearly 53% of respondents had started or grown a blog with SEO goals.

In addition, almost three in 10 search marketers had used badges, widgets or embeddable content to build links, all of which are typically used to help socialize content and make it easier for users to share with their networks. About the same number had attempted to create viral content, which relies heavily on the social web for distribution.

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