A Brief Tutorial in Social Networking
There are a variety of avenues to explore when it comes to optimizing a website's visibility.
The use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, has become a popular strategy for sites hoping to expand their demographic and get their brand visible by thousands, if not millions, of prospective customers who access these networking sites on a daily basis.
For example, Facebook enables any company to create a profile or Fan Page that prospective clients become aware of through mass invitation.
A company invites fellow Facebook members to "become a fan" of their site through a personalized message they see when logging on to their account.
When Suzy becomes a fan of a company's site, Suzy's information is shared with her network of friends who can see her recent activity each time they log on.
"Suzy just became a fan of Joe Blow's Vacuum Service", for example.
For many of Suzy's friends, this is enough to peak their curiosity, prompting them to investigate Joe Blow's Fan Page.
This type of social networking creates a "trickle-down" effect, enabling a web of visibility as more and more networks of friends tune in to the activity.
Likewise, a Twitter account enables a company like Mr.
Blow's to give up-to-the-minute status reports pertaining to the actions of their company over the course of the day.
A typical "tweet" for a company like Joe Blow's Vacuum Service might read: "3/3/2010 9:30AM Just posted a new BLOG entry about our Super Suction Cups.
Check it out!"Over time, directing accumulating followers to educational information will incite "buzz", that is to say more and more people will start to discuss a company's informative articles in online forums, through other social media outlets, or via email.
Either way, by optimizing visibility through social media and directing end users to useful, educational information, more people over time will come to know a company and their site.
They will consider the company a trusted source for helpful information, and therefore any of the products or services offered on the site will likewise be considered worthy of their consideration.
The goal of Twitter, from a business perspective, is networking.
By opening an account up to an inner circle of friends and business associates, a business owner is in turn breaking the threshold into a vast array of potential business relationships.
The key is information - insightful, educational, unforgettable information.
The seed gets planted within a small niche of friends or close business associates, and then it grows.
More and more people refer to the site as a useful resource for not just great products or services, but for information that makes their life, or just their online experience, more enjoyable.
Look at all those viral YouTube videos that spread like wildfire throughout the web.
It's the same concept, just a different medium.
When someone comes across an informative resource online they often bookmark it, like someone might bookmark this page or this site as a valuable resource for information on SEO.
Many times bookmarks are catalogued on websites like buzz.
com or del.
icio.
us.
Even Facebook and MySpace have tools their members can use to index their favorite web pages.
The goal for a business owner, of course, is to have as many end users bookmark their site as possible.
When a search engine spider crawls a page and detects a link to their website, the site can increase in relevance.
Many sites may ask their users to install a badge or icon on their site that contains a link back to their site.
This is considered reciprocal linking, and is another chapter entirely, but the principle is still the same.
The goal of all this, the Twitter account, the Facebook Fan Page, even article submission and forum posts, is to give a website as much external visibility and relevance as possible.
There are many sites similar to Twitter and Facebook with a more direct approach to helping online businesses and websites achieve visibility.
These sites are great resources for companies to promote their products and services in a professional and intriguing tone.
To conclude, there are many ways to increase a website's visibility within the social pipeline.
There are companies out there whose main focus is to help companies establish and grow a social network to use to market directly to their customer base.
They strive to get their clients visible through every known medium, starting with Twitter and Facebook accounts, evolving that into online press releases and frequent article submission with a professional and knowledgeable tone that endeavors to inform and attract a broad demographic of online users to their clients' sites.
Still, this is just one small aspect of the overall SEO package, a practical integration of a business into the social pipeline that is becoming more and more paramount for a business to be successful online.
The use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, has become a popular strategy for sites hoping to expand their demographic and get their brand visible by thousands, if not millions, of prospective customers who access these networking sites on a daily basis.
For example, Facebook enables any company to create a profile or Fan Page that prospective clients become aware of through mass invitation.
A company invites fellow Facebook members to "become a fan" of their site through a personalized message they see when logging on to their account.
When Suzy becomes a fan of a company's site, Suzy's information is shared with her network of friends who can see her recent activity each time they log on.
"Suzy just became a fan of Joe Blow's Vacuum Service", for example.
For many of Suzy's friends, this is enough to peak their curiosity, prompting them to investigate Joe Blow's Fan Page.
This type of social networking creates a "trickle-down" effect, enabling a web of visibility as more and more networks of friends tune in to the activity.
Likewise, a Twitter account enables a company like Mr.
Blow's to give up-to-the-minute status reports pertaining to the actions of their company over the course of the day.
A typical "tweet" for a company like Joe Blow's Vacuum Service might read: "3/3/2010 9:30AM Just posted a new BLOG entry about our Super Suction Cups.
Check it out!"Over time, directing accumulating followers to educational information will incite "buzz", that is to say more and more people will start to discuss a company's informative articles in online forums, through other social media outlets, or via email.
Either way, by optimizing visibility through social media and directing end users to useful, educational information, more people over time will come to know a company and their site.
They will consider the company a trusted source for helpful information, and therefore any of the products or services offered on the site will likewise be considered worthy of their consideration.
The goal of Twitter, from a business perspective, is networking.
By opening an account up to an inner circle of friends and business associates, a business owner is in turn breaking the threshold into a vast array of potential business relationships.
The key is information - insightful, educational, unforgettable information.
The seed gets planted within a small niche of friends or close business associates, and then it grows.
More and more people refer to the site as a useful resource for not just great products or services, but for information that makes their life, or just their online experience, more enjoyable.
Look at all those viral YouTube videos that spread like wildfire throughout the web.
It's the same concept, just a different medium.
When someone comes across an informative resource online they often bookmark it, like someone might bookmark this page or this site as a valuable resource for information on SEO.
Many times bookmarks are catalogued on websites like buzz.
com or del.
icio.
us.
Even Facebook and MySpace have tools their members can use to index their favorite web pages.
The goal for a business owner, of course, is to have as many end users bookmark their site as possible.
When a search engine spider crawls a page and detects a link to their website, the site can increase in relevance.
Many sites may ask their users to install a badge or icon on their site that contains a link back to their site.
This is considered reciprocal linking, and is another chapter entirely, but the principle is still the same.
The goal of all this, the Twitter account, the Facebook Fan Page, even article submission and forum posts, is to give a website as much external visibility and relevance as possible.
There are many sites similar to Twitter and Facebook with a more direct approach to helping online businesses and websites achieve visibility.
These sites are great resources for companies to promote their products and services in a professional and intriguing tone.
To conclude, there are many ways to increase a website's visibility within the social pipeline.
There are companies out there whose main focus is to help companies establish and grow a social network to use to market directly to their customer base.
They strive to get their clients visible through every known medium, starting with Twitter and Facebook accounts, evolving that into online press releases and frequent article submission with a professional and knowledgeable tone that endeavors to inform and attract a broad demographic of online users to their clients' sites.
Still, this is just one small aspect of the overall SEO package, a practical integration of a business into the social pipeline that is becoming more and more paramount for a business to be successful online.
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