You probably already know that search engine optimization (SEO) involves primarily two elements: keywords and backlinks. The combined effect of these two elements when applied correctly to your web site, article, or other online media should be a steady climb up the results list at your favorite search engine.

What you may not have known is how useful social networking can be in boosting this effect. If you haven’t used any of the networking sites yet, now is the time to sign up for them and start promoting your content! Mixx.com, for example, is one of the easiest to use. After you sign up as a member, install the handy button on your search engine toolbar. Now visit the page or article you need to promote and click the button. The site automatically grabs the URL and even starts the submission process for you. It’s quick, painless, and effective.

Of course there’s also Twitter which is a different type of social networking site. Here you’ve got to keep things short and simple, but you’ll always be able to fit in a URL in your post, despite the maximum 140 characters per post limitation. Increasing your exposure through Twitter is simple, too. Just as you have “followers,” you can also become a follower of someone else’s profile. That increases your exposure and encourages more people to follow your profile.

The key to effective social networking is frequency. The more you add the better off you’re going to be. If you’re not actively adding content to your own site, start a blog or get involved in article submission. You need to have something every day or two that you can submit to these channels. Just make sure what you have to contribute is going to be interesting. That’s the best way to gain followers, fans, or readers . . . give them something they want to enjoy regularly.