And although the personal handshake still carries a lot of grip (not as much as a foot massage, but…), the virtual or web handshake can, well, provide even a tighter grip while reaching millions of potential clients and supporters.

What exactly is a virtual handshake? Simple. It’s a positive review/recommendation on a social network, a Google, Bing (beta) or Yahoo business listing, or even a blog.

I contend the power of this virtual greeting, however, lies in Google. Although positive reviews are ALWAYS welcome on any of our social networks, it’s no secret that they hold the keys to the virtual door with their powerful search engine capabilities. You type in what you’re looking for and in seconds, you have way more than 31 flavors to choose from. BUT, in order for Google to know you exist, you must have a Google business listing.

Already have one? Great! Have you checked your reviews? What do they say about your company or organization? Are they positive? Are they negative? Do you even have any reviews? The more reviews — or handshakes (or punches) — you have, the easier it is for prospective clients to find you.

Herein lies the power of that virtual handshake. Sure, you might have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a Yelp presence — all powerful social media tools — but you might consider asking your rabid fans and followers to extend that hand a bit further and write a positive review on Google.

This will do wonders for your search engine optimization (SEO), and those spry little interweb spiders will sniff out a review (positive or negative) and climb a stair or two –increasing your ranking (again, it’s VERY important to know these spiders will do the same for a negative review). The more reviews you have, the more stairs those spiders will climb.

So, next time you post something in your social networks, you may want to consider asking your most trusted and loyal court to write a Google review. Their virtual handshake will inevitably reach millions. Remember, ALL handshakes mean something — make yours mean more.

For more information, contact Vice President of Client Relations Theresa Hong at theresa@effitt.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @youbiquicast and Facebook. And of course, we LOVE positive reviews and recommendations on our Google Business Listing, so go ahead, shake our hand!

Check out my recent interview (February 1, 2012) about using Pinterest in a corporate setting with social media guru Carol McManus on her show The LinkedIn Lady.

And choosing a public relations agency to accomplish your wildest dreams – dreams that shatter Warhol’s mere 15 minutes – can be complicated in this day of 140 character or less information overload.

Although SEO has become a buzzword, what’s lacking is heart. Yes, keywords and phrases are an important part of your online presence, but adding heart and soul — your story — is imperative in creating a story that backs your online presence. Build that and your clients will come.

By fencing the power of the virtual world using search engine optimization (SEO), social media and web presence with the charm of front porch mentality, developing strong personal relationships with key influencers and customers, effitt helps individuals and organizations of all shapes and sizes build and establish their identity, leading to a fatter wallet – locally, nationally and globally

The Grow Merced campaign is a perfect example of combining the power of the web with the old front-porch mentality. The message was simple — buy local.

Using traditional media, Grow Merced was able to gain local attention to this call to action, and in fact, local Merced, CA merchants are now reaping the benefits. More Mercedians are patroning the once floundering Main Street storefronts, and the growing vitality and successes are evident — and contagious.

It was exactly the shot in the arm Merced needed.

But what about national attention?

This simple, but powerful video aligned with the overall Grow Merced campaign on a traditional media level reached new heights — all because of social media and SEO. Sure, the campaign could have just focused on local buy-in. By using social media, online presence and SEO, the Grow Merced campaign is spreading on a national level with more and more small economic development departments and cities interested in similar campaigns.

What are you waiting for?

Congratulations! That’s more than most organization’s do.

But, it’s important to remember just because you’ve completed your website doesn’t mean you can simply wait for the SEO fairy to come, magically improving your ranking on the Internet.

It takes some work to improve and maintain SEO rankings. And in order to increase your SEO ranking, you MUST feed your website a constant source of content — content that complements your keywords, key phrases and meta description.

Here are a few suggestions on how to nourish your website with fresh, relevant content:

Create a blog — Many organizations are beginning to tap into the power of the blog. Although a bit unconventional, I’ve created my homepage as my blog, which not only acts as a daily headline of sorts, announcing my newest ponderings, but also a reminder to me that content, is in fact, king, and I MUST keep it current. I recommend every organization to invest in a blog, and once you do, make a commitment to write something relevant about your organization at least a couple of times a week.

Link your social media network feeds to your site — This is a no-brainer, and although the majority of companies do this today, pay attention to what exactly it is your posting. Make sure at least one or two keywords or phrases are included in each post.

Write press releases — Even if you don’t have the resources to widely distribute press releases through a wire, it IS fresh content and Google loves content. Again, make sure your keywords and phrases are included in your release, as well as links back to your site and other sites you cite in your release. For an extra dose of vitamin C, include appropriately tagged photos and embed videos — this definitely makes a difference with SEO.

Remember, Google is hungry for content. If you feed and nourish on a regular basis, Google is happy. If you don’t, Google will find someone else to feed it.