Search engine optimization, or SEO, or Internet marketing or whatever you call it, is lately being written off, especially by Web 2.0 gurus. Forming and executing online marketing strategies to try and rank in the top 10 or top 20 of the search engine result pages seems to have declined in importance. But is that really a fact or a bubble waiting to burst, and burst loud?!

As far as SEO is concerned, trying to hoist your website to the #1 spot on any SERP for the targeted key-phrase or keyword is still the primary concern for most online entrepreneurs. However, proponents of Web 2.0 seem to differ and are partially right too! The advent of Web 2.0 sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc (social networking) as well as YouTube (video-sharing) and Digg (social bookmarking) have forced the most expert internet marketers re-think their strategies.

This is because online marketing in the era of Web 2.0 feeds and survives on viral marketing. However, this does not mean SEO is to die off. In fact, it is still the more potent tool for lead generation and online marketing strategies than Web 2.0.

Picture this - Google, logs 2 billion searches daily! Or, today, almost 90% of people use search engines to locate desired information online. Add to this the fact that you need SEO to boost your Web 2.0 articles, videos or news pieces in such heavy competition and you know why SEO is still the mainframe of online marketing strategies everywhere!

But can you use SEO to boost lead generation, while executing a successful Web 2.0 campaign in parallel? Of course you can! Read on to know more:

• Content – Post the Web 2.0 revolution, content is not king anymore. It is ‘The Emperor’! For viral marketing, you need to have great yet unique content which will help hook leads from your Web 2.0 campaign. And again, this content should also be keyword-rich and heavily optimized for the search engines!

o Link Bait – Link baits are great forms of lead generation, especially with social networking tools, social bookmarking and video sharing sites being the staple of online marketers today.

o Blogging & RSS – Continuous RSS feeds and blog post updates can not only help optimize your site for the search engines and indexing, but also help make it interesting for Web 2.0 marketers online.

• Merging usability with Search Engine optimized content – Search engine optimized content can also be made usable, such as videos or podcasts, which then make a greater impact on the targeted traffic inflow.

o Share and solicit one-way links from high-profile webmasters and sites through Web 2.0 sites social networking and community sites. This way, you build a better brand image and rank higher simultaneously.

• Optimizing Videos – Sites like YouTube have become massively popular, and optimizing your videos before sharing the same will improve your chances for lead generation or brand building. Use keyword-rich and optimized Title Tags, definitions and comments. Remember Google features YouTube videos high on its SERPs, which makes it easier for you to gain online visibility quickly – only if you can weld SEO seamlessly with Web 2.0!

Conclusion? No matter how user-interactive or collaborative the internet might become, search engine optimization was and will always be THE tool to achieve greater lead generation online! So it is wiser to use SEO to compliment and boost your Web 2.0 internet marketing efforts rather than discarding the former for the latest strategies.