One of the latest buzz phrases floating around the blogosphere these days is “Digital Asset Optimization.”  People hail Digital Asset Optimization as SEO 2.0, or the next step in the evolution of Search Engine Optimization.  This new practice is an integral part of developing a complete online presence.

So, what is Digital Asset Optimization? 

In short, Digital Asset Optimization is the holistic optimization of your online content - from videos and images to regular text and PDFs.  Everything, from optimized file names to meta tags, is an important part of Digital Asset Optimization. Targeted alt text for images, clear descriptions of video and audio files, and specific widget titles all influence the search engines.

What does it do?

Once all these pieces of media are optimized, they can be picked up by the search engines and used in specific media searches as well as blended search results.  The inclusion of brand names and targeted keywords will help the search engines index and categorize your multimedia content.  This multimedia indexing increases your online presence, and can result in increased traffic, a targeted audience, and an increased backlink profile.

How can we take this a step further?

We can take Digital Asset Optimization a step further by promoting multimedia content with Social Media.  Earn a greater presence on the web by uploading your optimized videos to websites like YouTube, and upload and tag your optimized photos on Flickr.  Articles can be distributed to social news sites, and blogs can be promoted with Technorati.

Why is this important?

Multimedia and blended search results pages are becoming more and more common, and consumers are increasingly turning to Social Media for communication and research.  By reaching out to consumers with multiple channels, we are able to finely target and attract qualified customers in the manner that they would like to be reached.

Everything from your file names to meta tags are an important part of Digital Asset Optimization. Include alternative text for your images, clear descriptions of video and audio files, animation lead-ins, and precise widget titles. For example, instead of naming your video, “How We Can Help,” change it to specific search terms such as “How Company Helps New Home Owners.”