I for one cannot keep my mouth shut. If I enjoy a terrific meal at a restaurant I talk about for days to anyone who I can make listen to me. And if I hear someone within earshot discussing their plans to go out and eat, I stick my nose in the conversation and insist that they just have to eat at “such and such”.

And if I buy a new CD that I love? Forget about it. I will find any excuse to slip it into a conversation with my friends. “What deodorant do you use?” a friend or co-worker may ask. And my response will be “speaking of new deodorants, did I tell you about the new CD from “so and so” I just got? Man is it bangin’ “. I usually make them rush out to my car and listen to it.

And you know what? Most people are this way for the most part, aren’t they? Who doesn’t like to share a good experience or a great new product/service with others? Now while some may be more enthusiastic then others, the fact is “word of mouth” is probably the oldest and most reliable way to enhance a marketing campaign. So even in the Cyber world word of mouth marketing needs to be factored into the strategy.

First one would naturally ask: doesn’t word of mouth just sort of happen on its own? Of course it does. But don’t kid yourself, you can use it to your advantage and if you feed more into it you will thus empower and embolden the extent and impact of spreading the word about your web page.

Does word of mouth marketing help increase SEO activity? How can it not? The more buzz there is the more people are inclined to search for the talked about item. Think about how often you are not the primary direct recipient of a word of mouth endorsement. Many times you “hear” the glowing praise through a channel of mouths. So often by then the details are clouded. But you do remember some key elements. Then what do you do with that information? Well I know what I do. I get on-line and look for that item, place, or article I heard people spreading the word about. I type in the keywords I remember hearing. So right away there I am on the search engines. Now if the operators of their web site carried out the other parts of an SEO strategy then there is a great chance I will find the site.

And then there are other ways that word of mouth marketing puts a charge into an SEO plan. Let’s face it, nowadays especially, we have expanded the definition of “mouth” to a whole new level. You have the spoken word, the text/IM message, the email, and of course the cross-link invitations shared through Internet forums, chat rooms, comment boards, and so on. We have just discussed how the spoken word takes on a life of its own so let’s breakdown the other forms of word of mouth marketing.

The text message industry has exploded. It seems that younger people would rather type their conversations over their phone or IM each other more than they want to actually talk to one another. When it’s all said and done however, the text/IM messaging works basically the same way as the spoken word. In fact after a few layers of texts it usually opens the door for that to turn into verbal communication down the line. The word is getting out.

The email craze is very similar but also has an added contingency in that you can put the word out on the Cyber streets all with one click of a button. Type one message and send it to all of your contacts all at once. And when that is repeated by your circle and then by their circle……. well we see where that can lead. In the scenario we are talking about of advertising a web page this can simply be a matter of “dear friend, check out this web site http://I-Loved-This.com” Which thus segues us into cross-linking.

In essence the Internet community is connected or webbed together by a series of cross-links; thus the term World Wide Web. But as we all know there are various applications of using a cross-link to prime the SEO pump. One is the word of mouth method of course. Whenever you are on a forum put the link out there. Post bulletins, blogs, comments and posts of any form and include your link. Often people will do this for you thus the word of mouth practice is once again manifested in society.

So all of us can embrace these human phenomena and use it to our SEO advantage. The obvious way is to put the word out there ourselves in these various forms but how do we encourage others to do so instead of waiting for “nature” to take its word of mouth course?

Well we can request assistance in this manner but really we need to remember the examples we opened this discussion with. So for starters we can yap about our web accomplishments in a persuasive manner. Also, if people have a fun or pleasant visit to your site then the word of mouth machine will start on its own. The site and/or the content will motivate them to talk it up. So try and captivate people as best we can with stimulating content, whatever form that may take. It can be a well written fascinating and/or informative article, a funny engaging story, offering a valuable service, by selling wonderful product, or an inviting social forum. Make sure it is a rousing presentation. Perhaps behind a gripping story you can have select photos. And definitely have a web page that even the dumbest person alive can maneuver through and get something positive out of it.

Obviously an underlying lesson to be learned from the word of mouth process is we can initiate it by using the various forms of “talk” that are available to us. Send emails to your friends and hound them to pass it on to their friends and associates. Include your link when you text message your “peeps” or IM new people. And by all means post your link wherever possible. Heck, put it on a T-shirt and wear it everywhere! And give some of those Tee’s to your posse’. And on it goes.

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