The more people that come online the more power and popularity social networking sites get which is great for you and I because it’s a powerful way to grow your web site traffic. The key is to take action, don’t just expect others to seek you out. Look for people that are like minded and have similar niches they work.

Just to mention a few social networks:

• Facebook
• Myspace
• Orkut
• Digg

One of the most powerful things about social networking is that it can be done for free. All it takes is YOU taking action to get the process working. As a blogger with many blogs in a number of niches I rely on social networking to get more traffic to my blog.

How To Increase Web Site Traffic Through Social Networking

1. Increase Web Site Traffic With Friends

Using networks to find more friends is the key to increasing traffic with social networking. It’s amazing how fast the number of friends can grow in these sites. All I did for one Facebook account was to start the account and before I knew it I have more family and friends signed up than I could work with. That was will little to no effort on my part.

2. Use Blog Commenting To Increase Traffic

Use other blogs that are in your niche and start leaving comments but don’t do like so many morons do and say things like, ‘great post’ or ‘I like it and will return’. Those are just spam in my books and add absolutely nothing to the post. Who is going to visit your site from that comment?

Instead of spamming blog comments take the time to read the post and respond with a value added response. I do this and people follow my link to my site because I was willing to share something useful.

I even blog owners responding back and visiting my site.

3. A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

I try to use an image with every post I create. Why? Well I know that when I am browsing blogs to learn new things I always feel better immediately if they have an image that says something about the post.

Images can be used to break up long text and to give meaning to all those words before you even start readign them.

I have noticed that the sites that are just full of articles that have no meaning or order seldom use images, they just want tons of content, so be on the alert when you see a blog post without an image.

4. Take The Time To Create A Good Profile Page

It’s pretty basic. If you don’t bother why should anyone else. If you take the time to write up something that will make others interested in your they may be but if you don’t you can be pretty sure they won’t be interested in you.

Personally when I go to any given social network and land on a profile page that’s empty or very sparse I usually just leave. If they can’t take the time to put in a little info they are most likey a spammer and just trying to get as many social accounts going as they can.

You have to let people know some things about you. If you went to a party and sat in the corner never telling anyone who you are or taking any action you will think the social thing doesn’t work. You have to take that first step.

5. Use Your Content To Increase Traffic

It’s important to have compelling content so that when visitors to your social networks see you content they will be impressed enough to follow through to your web site. I use Twitter to share my blog content with others on Twitter and it blew my site traffic up beyond anything I have had before. It wouldn’t have happened if I just spammed.

Content is King/Queen and needs to be created with a focused train of thought to help your readers.

As an internet marketer I’m sure you’ve heard that search engine optimization (SEO) is the way to get organic traffic to your website, which is free. I think it’s great and have sites that enjoy as much as 80% of their traffic from the major search engines.

Not all my sites get their traffic from search engines so I know that search engine optimization is the answer to every thing marketing. To many other sources of traffic to get stuck in that rut.

Take The SEO Blinder Off

By this heading I don’t mean to give up on SEO, not at all, just open your eyes and mind to other methods of Internet marketing for even more targeted traffic.

I have worked with people that would tell me they have the first page of Google tied up with their keywords and wondered why they weren’t getting any traffic or making any money. Then I would show them that no one was looking for those keywords so there was no competition for them.

I have also had people talk to me about how they are making money but they can’t seem to get much search engine traffic. Those people are using other marketing methods to drive traffic to what ever they are promoting and they make money, with the search engines.

Again, don’t get me wrong, Google is a great source of free traffic, but if you aren’t on the first two pages you likely won’t get much action. People just seem to give up looking after two pages and refine their search.

One method I use to get a lot of traffic to my sites is Twitter. I use a tool that allows me to NOT just send a 140 character message to Twitter but to about a dozen other social sites as well. Yes, it even sends that message to my Facebook account.

I also frequent forums in my niches and share things. I also ask questions, even if I know the answer, just to get discussions going. I will include a profile signature for each forum, one that points readers to relevant content, not just a sales page.

The important thing is to hang out where those interested in what you offer hang out. Find where they are and who they communicate with and you are on your way to Internet marketing success.

Start by checking out sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and be sure to do some searching through Youtube. I love Youtube for finding videos that lead me to more social places for my niches.

Add as many other methods of internet marketing as you can without stretching yourself too thin and keep going with SEO of course and you business life can’t help but improve.

Recently, I have noticed that the more the economy has changed the more people are selecting the Internet as a way to supplement their income. In this article, I wanted to discuss a few steps that are key for beginners to the internet business. One of the biggest issues, is how to use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and My Space and many other networking sites to market their businesses online.

One of the biggest complaints is that these sites aren’t bringing them enough real traffic to their business for them to make sales. In essence, these sites were a waste of time to market on because they didn’t produce any immediate marketing results. I know this to be true because I was once in their shoes with the same results.

As someone who uses Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, as well as several other networking sites to market my business, I believe that these marketers missed the point. Blatant marketing on these sites won’t work. Your approach has to be far more subtle.

Your goal should be something different; building an internet presence, building backlinks from major traffic sites and blogs, and building your brand so that your potential customers find you.

1. Building an Internet Presence

This is especially important if you are new to marketing your products and services on the internet. You have to build a big presence if you want to be found by your market. Building an internet site and just letting it sit doesn’t work! You have to put your egos aside and get out there and promote yourself if you want to sell your products and services. The Successful marketers know this to be true because social networking sites are a source for high traffic; and you have a better chance of being found if you take the time to build a presence.

2. Building Backlinks

I mentioned briefly in my previous articles on how backlinking to other blogs is important. Well a similar principle applies with backlinking from a social media site. The search engines are constantly spidering these sites. Getting your site spidered is what you want? Then building a profile on these sites will help the search engines find you and then ultimately, your customers can find you.

Remember not to sell your products directly to the customers on these sites. Believe me I’ve tried and I received lousy results. Therefore, create a profile that tells everyone about you and your products or services. Include links to your website, or if you have more than one site to all of your sites. Make your profile keyword rich with keywords from your topic.

3. Branding Yourself as a Leader

When you use the social media sites branding is key to your success. Whether you are a writer, or you are simply selling your own products and services, you will need to resort to shameless promotion if you want to make the sale. When branding yourself, like I mentioned in earlier videos, you have to decide what is going to be your area of focus and then become an expert in that area. Writing articles and making videos and then posting them on your own personal blog or on the social networking sites can help others become aware of your products and services.

It has been well documented that if you follow the steps mentioned above, this will help you in building value; In other words, by contributing to these sites, you are not only building value for them, you are building value for yourself. This will go a long way in establishing your credibility and expertise. If you get others to trust you and believe in your products, you just have made the sell! Congratulations!