As the internet landscape evolves toward a more social space, search marketers remind businesses it pays off to use SEO anywhere they publish content on the web.

Search marketers must think beyond traditional search portals when optimizing branded content, agree experts at ad:tech San Francisco. In a session on modern search engine optimization strategies, gurus advise marketers to take on a “holistic” approach to SEO, using keywords anywhere they put content on the web.

Lee Odden of TopRank explained that brands will see improved traffic with a “holisitic” SEO strategy, which requires all content – from site pages to Facebook posts or Tweets – to be optimized for searchers. Oddon's phrase mirrors Matt Cutts' explanation of a “holistic” search strategy, in which he advised marketers to use social media marketing to boost SEO.

SEO-conscious video marketing is proven to drive traffic, as well. Simon Heseltine, SEO director for AOL, advocates video content that is search-friendly because of the success his sites have seen. He explains that 84 percent of video searches are conducted on YouTube, so marketers should optimize for Google's video site.

Heseltine shares that one AOL video with an optimized title drove more than 8,000 organic clicks in a period of a few days. Moreover, this video was months old, but because the content proved relevant to a recent news development, its SEO-friendly headline brought in an engaged audience. (His anecdote also demonstrates the value of archived content attributed to your brand.)

It's important for businesses to have search-friendly content across their websites, video campaigns and social media pages – and then they must cross-promote this content. Odden urges marketers to add links to social pages on their sites and links to web content via their social outreach. Other panelists agree, encouraging marketers to prominently feature sharing buttons on their sites.

These session speakers confirm the idea that social media marketing boosts SEO, and other ad:tech attendees have taken this idea further, indicating that social search's moment is here. As Brafton has reported, Visa CMO Antonio Lucio indicates that word-of-web recommendations are critical to garnering clicks and conversions.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.