• by Derek Gordon , August 8, 2011

Not long ago, talk of optimizing a website centered exclusively on search. A principal concern was making sure a new (or renovated) site ranked well in search results. No longer.

I'm helping a couple of my clients build new websites from scratch, and we've had lengthy discussions about optimization. Oddly, search was the last subject to come up in each instance.

Instead we talked about the merits of optimizing for Facebook Likes and Twitter Follows. We spoke about the need for a Google +1 and a Google+ strategy. We discussed the rapid rise of LinkedIn since its IPO, and the growing appearance of "in" buttons on sites all over the Web.

Only when all these subjects were exhausted did folks toss off a statement like "Oh, and search optimization is importance, of course."

Building websites used to be a simpler undertaking. But the proliferation of social gestures in websites that are tied to search results in a variety of locations has complicated both how whole sites are deployed, and the constituents bits of content published within them.

Consider a recent post by Danny Sullivan on the impact of Google+ on a search he did for cars. In his search results, he found a listing for Ford at the bottom of the first page of results that was shared with him via Ford because the car company is his "friend" on Google+. According to Sullivan, "Ford is one of the very few brands that Google has allowed to maintain a brand page on the new Google social network. That connection is allowing Ford to rank better in my search results."

Because Bing search results similarly bring in Facebook feeds and Twitter tweets in its real-time search results, you can also find feeds from brands that are your "friends." And, of course, LinkedIn profiles of all sorts routinely show up not only in standard search results, but frequently in image search results (those thumbnail photos of yourself or your brand have gone viral, like it or not.)

Keyword strategies and all the tips needed to ensure excellent organic search result ranking for your website are still as important as ever. Indeed, you can count on driving far more traffic from basic organic search results than you will from many or all of these other traffic drivers.

Still, I've worked with companies who are seeing rapid growth in refers from social sources. So optimizing for each of these is important.

One big problem is graphics. With so damn many buttons to slap all over a site, it's hard to design websites that are compelling, engaging -- and, dare I say it, beautiful. Don't just slap those buttons wherever it's convenient. Better to thoughtfully work them into a sensible, strategic UX/UI.

Another issue, of course, is ensuring each works well and fast every time so that people don't encounter a frustrating experience that gets associated with your site (fail whale, anyone?)

Finally, it's of paramount importance to ask "to what end." There's no point in slapping those chicklets all over a site if you aren't clear what outcomes you hope to effect when people start clicking on them. Do you hope all those buttons lead to more traffic? More engagement? Virality? How about sales? Or lead gen? Whatever your hopes or dreams for all those social buttons, be clear how you'll make them come true through a smart, integrated marketing strategy.

Building a great, well optimized website isn't as easy as it used be. But don't add complexity and a boatload of chicklets unless you've got a clear idea what you hope to achieve with your optimization activities.

In the meantime, don't give up on basic SEO. It's still the bread and the butter of website optimization.