From SEO to SMO to Second Life Optimization?

Jason Calacanis at SES: Are we moving beyond Search Marketing?

This Monday it was announced that Jason Calacanis of Netscape.com (previously of Weblogs Inc) will be the keynote speaker for Search Engine Strategies (SES) Chicago 2006.

This is not Jason’s first appearance on SES, but as the keynote speaker this has tremendous symbolism.The conference maybe called “Search Engine Strategies” but Jason Calacanis belongs in the world of online publishing and social media (Particularly, his Digg.com-like service at Netscape.com).

This maybe indicative of the fact that in recent times SES has become less and less about search marketing than emerging forms of online marketing. The area of SEO and PPC was one of the emerging areas, but now many of the SEM/SEO firms have moved to include link baiting, online PR, Reputation Monitoring, Blog Marketing etc. And so with it, SES has evolved along similar lines a swell.

Moving Beyond the “Search Engine” in “Search Engine Optimization”
As I’ve mentioned before, while SEO and PPC will continue to have a close relationship, SEO is quickly expanding to include any kind of “organic optimization” making the leap beyond search engines (SEO) to social media (SMO).

While I’m not saying this is what Jason’s speech will be about, his presence as the keynote speaker is indicative of the greater overall shift in the SEM landscape towards social media.

Expanding to “Second Life Optimization”
So how long before we start talking about Second Life Organic Optimization? Too late, MediaPost has the article (by David Berkowitz) here: “Second Life Optimization“. Here’s an excerpt:

Title Tags: The title of the virtual location should include a few important keywords, just like title tags for Web sites. Reebok, for instance, could choose the name “Reebok custom sneakers.”
Descriptions: Adding keywords to the description can help virtual stores come up for relevant searches, similar to how descriptions and meta tags work for Web sites….
Link Optimization: … In Second Life, if marketers own multiple properties, they can include billboards for visitors to teleport around to each one….
Advertising: …An advertising network for Second Life, MetaAdverse, allows property owners to post billboards, and marketers can advertise on them and track the visitors. As with link optimization, this won’t help the Second Life search visibility right now, but this will help the marketer’s general visibility there.

Multiple Engines: In Second Life, there is one dominant search engine, accessible for every user from a search box that resides at the bottom of the screen. There are also outside efforts to improve the Second Life search experience. For instance, Second411 allows Second Life store owners to list all their items for sale, and then invites consumers to access its search application….

Indeed, to say that online marketing has been rapidly evolving in the past few years seems like an understatement at this point.

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