Five Tips to Boost Your Social Networking Appeal
1. Let Them Comment, Let Them Critique.
One of the most apparent characteristics of all social media sites -- Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, what have you -- is the sheer volume of comment features that appear on the site. Videos, blog posts, links, statuses, and photos that show up on a given Web pages allow visitors to post their points of view on them, affording visitors a feeling that their opinion is not only valued but sought after.
The "Like" feature on Facebook, for example, a seemingly minor inclusion, has resulted in a storm of goodwill and appreciation from those in the network. Ensure that even the smallest trinket on your Web pages gives those who come to your site the chance to leave their mark and voice their opinion.
2. Make a Networking Page, Establish a Networking Presence.
Firstly, we strongly advise you to develop a content-rich and comprehensive page for each of the primary social networking tools: Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace should be standard, and brownie points can be won with a presence on Tumblr and Digg. Once you've generated these pages however, do not fall into the trap of the lazy that many websites fall into. It's easy to ignore your social networking page and fail to consistently update it with the latest relevant and exciting news about the site. This is a huge mistake.
The more regularly you provide news updates to Facebook et al, the more your refresh your site's presence there with the page's fans, who'll be enticed to (Tip #1) "Like" and comment on the news feed. Vice versa, the more a news status appears, the more fans and page visitors it can attract.
3. Link A Lot With Short URLs.
When you do replenish your site's news appearances on all the social networking sites, don't forget to include links to the latest happenings on your site. This no-brainer can automatically translate into added traffic to your site. However, sometimes a given link can prove unwieldy and too long to post, for example, on Twitter (which restricts headlines to 140 characters). Enter the short URL.
Devise a miniaturized version of a link to a page on your site with URL shorteners like tinyURL or bit.ly. The latter link will actually allow you to track how many times that shortURL receives a click. This can, again, allow you further connection with your network database. You can gauge how attractive a certain status update is reading with the online public with the shortURL tool.
4. Hit 'Em All With a Quick Ping.
Yawn! We are already growing just a wee bit exhausted from the amount of meticulous work and attention needed to reinvigorate one's social network presence on the necessary daily basis. Luckily, we recently discovered an energy pep of a web site that allows users to refresh their social networking appearances everywhere with one fell swoop.
The web is now abuzz with news about http://ping.fm/, which hits up nearly four dozen social network sites, all with one direct action. Some well-funded companies can afford to hire an online social networking specialist to do what one eager and attentive Web builder can accomplish with this site's well-rounded assistance.
5. Host Talk-Back Features, and Get the Boomerang Effect.
The previous four tips can be synergized with the adherence to this final piece of advice -- don't forget to activate the human element with everything done via social networking. To wit, we encourage you to get in touch with those who choose to comment, like, spread the word, or click back to your posts and statuses.
When readers interact with your presence on LinkedIn or Twitter or anywhere, do what you can to reciprocate their response to you. Doing so can help your social network life to take on the energy of a boomerang -- warm words, "Likes," etc. on your end can translate into much-increased traffic on behalf of your network communities. When people feel live connections to the electronic and digital web sites they enjoy, a great connection can result. More togetherness can spell more transactions, a win-win for everyone.