Social networking sites are among the fastest growing areas of the Web. Internet users flock to social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn by the millions, making these sites a virtual gold mine for identifying, targeting, and attracting prospective customers. If you aren't using social-networking to promote your product or site, you could be missing valuable opportunities to direct targeted traffic to your page.
Benefits of Social-Networking Sites
- Direct traffic. When you post valuable information on a social networking site, you will direct traffic directly to the page. With such a vast and varied audience, someone is certain to be interested in what you have to say.
- Inbound link building. Creating a profile on a social networking site enables you to post links back to your site. You can post links to your site on your home page, in groups, and on other people's "walls." Beware: some of the social networking sites have begun attaching no-follow language to links. Facebook, for instance, adds no follow to any link that isn't posted using the "link" feature in the comment.
- High page rank for competitive terms. Social-networking sites have a great deal of weight with the search engines. So much so, in fact, that a keyword dense profile with a few inbound links can easily rank in the search engines for top keywords. Social networking profiles are especially effective at ranking for hot keyword trends (such as breaking news) and long-tail keywords.
- Branding and relationship building. Developing a presence on the social networks allows you to begin branding your website or product into prospective customer's minds. Even if a "friend" or "follower" on the site doesn't visit your page immediately, they are still exposed to your brand. When a need for your product, service, or site arises, they are
...
Continue reading »»