What is Social Media?
If you were looking for information online over the last few years the only reliable way to find that information was to use a search engine. The advent of what we call Web 2.0 (interactive websites that operate as social networks) the way people find information has changed. People use these websites to find information and websites that have been recommended by other users.
One of the most recent instances of this are social bookmarking websites such as Digg and Del.icio.us, which allow users to share their personal bookmarks (favourite websites) with other users. Users of these sites tag each bookmarked website with keywords they feel are most relevant.
Other variations on the social networking scene include blogging social networks such as Technorati.com which indexes blogs based on the number of incoming links and the tags associated with their posts.
One of the most popular social network is Facebook, and now Twitter, that between them enjoy over 100 million unique visitors each month. Two other powerful new social networks that have revolutionised the audio and video market are: YouTube and blog Talk Radio. These major networks allow filmmakers and broadcasters to share their visions with the world. Few businesses have yet to realise the full potential these media networks have to offer.
How will Social Media Networking help my site traffic grow?
62% of adults worldwide use social media. Experienced social marketers can see the influence this has had and have statistics of 91% seeing an improvement in website traffic due to social media campaigns. With a staggering 79% generating quality leads.
How do I get involved in Social Media Networking?
Working with social sites is similar to working with the media. Give them a good enough story, secret, tip, or resource that they can sink their teeth into and you’ll have an army of talkers spreading the word about you and your business. This translates into referrals, which convert into sales. So even if you reach less people through social networking, your conversions will be far higher.
How does Social Media Networking dovetail with SEO?
As more and more internet users begin to use tags to find information (a tag is a keyword that a human associated with a website, vs. a keyword that a search engine attributes to a website), Search Marketing professionals cannot ignore the growing dominance of the social networks.
But the added, and perhaps more exciting bonus, is that while you grow in popularity with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, your search rankings will continue to increase as a result! Your popularity signals Google that you are an authority in your market according to your human audience.
