PodCamp London - April 25th, 2009
Image by kevin van lierop :) via Flickr

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:

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.

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Social Networks
Image by 10ch via Flickr

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.

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Why Use Social Media Networks

Social network on Flickr
Image by ptufts via Flickr

One very quickly growing segment in the on-line community is social media network. This concept actually only began to grow around 2006. Since that time there have been some very large venues grow that include Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Social media networks can be used for both business and pleasure.

Most social media networks will require that you give some information about yourself. Most of the sites do not charge to join. They will want to know your age or year of birth to see if you need parental permission to join. You may be able to use an alias or be required to use your real name, according to the site’s policies.

The sites will then allow you to read people’s posts and then make your own comments on what is being said. They can also read your posts. You will both have the opportunity to comment on posts made by the other person. You can usually add either video or photo postings to the site.

You need to be aware that one post you make may be read by thousands of people, even if you only have a relatively short friend list. when you make a comment on a friend’s post, that comment is visible on all to all of his friends. In addition, it is visible to all the friends of friends that make a comment on the same posts. Additionally, if you make a post, your post can be seen by the friends of all persons that make a comment on your post.

These connections make social media a powerful tool. Messages can help or hurt your cause. Be careful what you post, as you never know who will see something you say. It may be a potential employer or a current supervisor. If you continually make derogatory remarks, you may find that your friends have quietly blocked you from reading or commenting on their posts. Friends can be made and lost very quickly using social media networking.

Social media networks are being used by network marketers to build followers. Their social media friends then can be their new clients in what they are trying to market. If the media is used with care, you can develop loyal followers that may become loyal customers. Wise marketers do not try to rush friends into becoming clients in order to avoid the appearance of another person with a spam message.

If you violate the rules of the site, then you may find your page has been shut down and that you are blocked from using the site.

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