Are You Missing the Social Networking Boat?

Image via CrunchBase

If you have a website to promote or a service to market and you’re not using social media, it’s time to launch your presence in the social networks. Like many people, you may not realize that marketing your business and website through social media is about to become as important as marketing through search engines.

There are many social media sites, but the big ones are Facebook & Twitter. MySpace continues to be important for musicians, but even they need a presence on Facebook and Twitter. There are others such as LinkedIn for business networking and, of course, blogs with their interactive posts create social networking communities.

If you’re like many people who haven’t already sailed into the sunset with their friends on Facebook and Twitter, you may just not get it. “Why would anyone want to read what I have to say?” I hear it from my friends all the time.

For the same reasons, they like to get your email. They are interested in you, you have common interests and they care.

And while you might feel it’s not for you, as a business owner if you ignore social media you will find yourself behind your competitors much sooner than you think. The smart cookies who built websites early enjoy easier success online because they got in on the ground floor.

Search Engine Optimization experts – those folks who make website rise to the top of Google – recognize that social media will be as important as the web in the not too distant future. SEO will soon take a backseat to social media. It will be used to drive traffic as powerfully as search engines. Google understands the importance and immediacy of social media and is now offering real time search results culled from Twitter, blogs, press release sites and online news sites.

Facebook and Twitter are the big ones. You can show up any time and chat with your friends. “It’s like building relationships on steroids,” says Red Hot Social Maven, Lorrie Morgan Ferrero. Social networking is like “a big cocktail party. Only you don’t have to dress up.”

If you’re already on Facebook and Twitter then you just need to learn how to use them to your advantage.

Some tips:

• Do remember that you should treat people just as you would in person, and be respectful of their time and interest.
• Do find content to talk about that will interest people. Inspirational quotes are very popular.
• Post photos and videos. You know how much you like looking at them! Others do, too.
• Occasionally, maybe 1 out of 10 or so posts, tweet about something that promotes your website. Whenever you add new content or post to your blog, that’s a great time to let people know what you’re up to.

Still not convinced? Need one more reason to get into the Social Sail? The traffic you get to your website from social sites is far more loyal than that which arrives from search engines or advertising. After all, these people are already acquainted with you and know what you do. There is already some trust and that converts to loyalty and, often, sales.

M.-J. Taylor, SEO Designer and Copywriter
Optimized Copywriting for Social Media.

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