- The Karcher Group
- Web Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Types of Social Media
- Social Networking
Social Networking
Don’t like to play golf or hang out at chamber of commerce-sponsored happy hours? We’ve got good news: business networking has gone online! Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn offer great ways to make new business contacts and stay connected online. They’re also ideal for getting more online exposure for your business, more traffic to your website, and can even can help boost your search engine visibility. Sounds good to us!
Top Social Networking Sites
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Facebook – this site started as a networking site exclusively for college students, but was made open to the public a few years ago. It now gets heavily utilized in the under 50 demographic by businesses that set up “fan pages” or groups.
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LinkedIn – this site is geared toward professionals interested in online networking. Users can build profiles, add events, join groups, and even search for jobs.
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Myspace – this site is geared mostly towards people under 25, and presents marketing opportunities for certain businesses, especially those that appeal to a younger demographic.
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Bebo – this site’s advantage is that it lets you manage all your social networks from one place, so it’s a one-stop shop for social media and even email.
How to leverage social networking sites
Build a strong profile – Don’t leave your profile a quarter of the way completed. You want to complete all the “About Us” information on your profile page, as well as make sure your profile is as interesting and unique as possible. If you’re able to upload avatars, photos, video, links, etc, then you should definitely do that. It’s also important not to let your profile go stale; you need to regularly add content to keep your presence interesting.
Network with others – It’s called social networking for a reason! If you just put up a profile and never update it or engage others, then you’re missing the networking part of the equation. By making “friends”, you’re showing that you’re willing to engage others and are excited about being part of the community. It’s all about give and take.
Promote/Interact – Facebook and LinkedIn both offer easy ways to interact with others. You can update your status to let people know what you’re doing at any moment of the day. You can comment on what others are doing, and you can even join groups and network with like-minded people. On the promotion side, these sites are ideal for pushing users to your website. So, for instance, if you’ve written a new blog post or want to announce an upcoming event, you can notify your contacts through these sites.
If you think you’re ready to dive into the world of social networking, give us a call. We know how to use social networking tools to actually iprove your search engine visibility and drive more traffic to your website. You can reach us at 888.485.4932, or drop us a line using the form on this page.
