Though Facebook and MySpace are the most known and popular social networking sites, they are by no means the only ones. Whatever it is that you are interested in, there is very likely a social networking site where you can join others who are interested in the same thing. You can use these social networking sites to your advantage to draw traffic to your site. What are some great strategies to do this?

[ =3,21,22]

1. First and Foremost, you never want to gain the reputation as a spammer. Even though it doesn’t seem like it, the internet is a very small world, particularly in specific niches. If you are going to build profiles on these sites, do it with the intention of being a useful addition to the site, not just to promote your website. If you did take this route, no one would pay attention to you anyway, so it would end up hurting your site’s reputation rather than helping it.

2. Search for some of your keywords, or related keywords (like for Ashley C. who has a diaper bag site, she wouldn’t search for the word diaper bag, but the word mom) and the words “Social Networking.” Click on some of the results. Look at the page rank and Alexa ranking and the page rank of the site. If the Alexa ranking is below 100,000 and the page rank is above three, it’s likely worth your time to create a profile on the site. (To find these, download THIS onto your firefox browser. Restart the browser, and you will see the page rank and alexa ranking of each site you visit on the upper left hand side of your browser.)

3. When you create a profile, talk about your family and your business. There is typically a place for you to include your url, which will also give you a backlink. Put a picture of yourself, and don’t be afraid to be personal!

4. Now, find conversations on the site that interest you, and are related to your business. Is your business the answer to someone’s question? If that’s the case, it’s okay to tell them! If not, just enter into conversations, make yourself known, and when it comes up, mention what you do.

5. This is something that can easily be outsourced using our marketplace. You can outsource the finding of the social networking sites, or creating the profiles. (Make sure you take a quick look at the sites before someone starts posting) (Send the outsourcer a general outline of the profile you want posted, and then have them alter it a little each time they set up a new profile for you, so that you aren’t using the same thing over and over). You could pay an hourly rate for this, or $1 a profile, since they could likely do several an hour. Keep an excel spreadsheet of every place you have a profile set up, with the usernames and passwords Once you have several profiles set up, it will be easy for you to visit the sites, and engage in a few conversations every once in a while.

You’ll be amazed at how this helps your site to grow!

[ ]