It used to be that the only reliable way to find information online was to use a search engine. However, with the advent of Web 2.0 (interactive, dynamic websites that promote or operate as social networks), people can now easily find information and websites that other human beings recommend. The most recent instance of this is social bookmarking, where in websites like Del.icio.us, Digg, and Furl allow users to share their personal favorites (bookmarks) with others. Users tag each bookmarked website with the keywords they feel are most applicable. Now, instead of using a search engine to find information, people can search tags that will display all websites bookmarked with specific tag.This is human referral or vote for the site and its relevance to the subject being searched.

Other versions of social networking include blogging social networks - primarily Technorati.com. Technorati indexes blogs based on the amount of incoming links those blogs have, as well as the tags associated with their posts. The most popular social network is MySpace. The website enjoys over 20 million unique visitors every month, however few businesses or website owners have thought to penetrate this incredible resource.Also YouTube and BlogTalkRadio, two powerful new social media networks have emerged that are revolutionizing audio and video. These mega networks allow citizen filmmakers and broadcasters to share their visions with the world and spread the word about what matters to them. Few businesses realize it yet, but these media networks are potential goldmines stock full of future Speilbergs, Bloombergs, and Oprahs - all potential broadcasters of your marketing message.

How Will Social Networking Help in Growth of Site Traffic?

Its’ reported that two out of three people online in June 2006 visited a social networking site. In fact, 1 out of every 20 website visits is to a social networking website. Experts say that social networks are starting to eclipse traffic from the major search engines Yahoo! and Google. So if a company is not present on any of the major social networks, its’ missing out on the easiest, fastest way to access 67% of internet users.

 How Do One Get Involved in Social Networking?

Working with social sites is similar to working with the media. Give them a good enough story, secret, tip, or resource that they can sink their teeth into and you'll have an army of talkers spreading the word about you and your business. And this translates into referrals, which convert into sales on an average of 667% better than cold leads (search engine results). So even if one reaches less people through social networking, the conversions will be far higher. Various social networks through a variety of methods:

Social Promotion

Its particularly effective for clients who target teens, young adults, musicians, or other highly active social groups. Implementing social promotion campaigns on networks like MySpace, FaceBook, Catch27, and CraigsList to spread the word about ones business. Even if the business does not target the "myspace crowd," one can almost always devise a creative campaign to get the net buzzing.

How Does Social Networking Work With SEO?

As more and more internet users begin to use tags to find information (a tag is a keyword that a human associated with a website, vs. a keyword that a search engine attributes to a website), Search Marketing professionals cannot ignore the growing dominance of the social networks.

However, we view the partnership between social networks and search engines as an excellent and balanced marriage. Sure, social networking gets you in front of people who no longer use search engines in lieu of finding their information through referrals or bookmarks/tags. But the added, and perhaps more exciting bonus, is that while one grows in popularity with social networks like Digg and MySpace, the search rankings will continue to increase popularity signals.

Article or Blog Promotion

We manage several blogs for our various clients (as well as article pages) that contain posts written purely to capture the imagination and interest of our client's target market. For instance, if you sell pet beds, gifts, and items, we will develop a series of blog posts or articles that discuss a controversial or "hot off the press" topic that pet lovers either find highly valuable as an information resource, or highly intriguing or emotionally stimulating. We will then promote it to various social bookmarking and blogging networks, as well as popular bloggers - who will then circulate the story and generate traffic back to your website.

Why Are Social Networking Sites So Popular?

There are hundreds of social networking sites in cyberspace and its easy to become a member in any of them. Is it a fad? A lot of people say this is not so because it is the best way right now to connect people with the same or similar interests regardless of your age and gender.

One can connect with people by putting himself out there. This means creating an account and telling a little bit about yourself which is like introducing yourself in front of the class. With other features like blogging tools, uploading photos, videos and music, joining forums and writing comments, one gets to personalize it and tell people more about who you are which is something that a lot of people appreciate.

But perhaps another reason why social networking sites are so popular and have thousands of members is the fact that it is free. One can post just about anything online as long as it is not pornographic although some social networking sites allow that. It is also very popular among entrepreneurs because they are able to use it to promote their business. Although there are other means to do that, why pay for it when one can advertise for free while you are a member. One study showed that 41% of the members of a certain social networking site are IT professionals. These individuals use it to gain business contacts and gain knowledge about technology.

It is very similar to how retailers want to expand markets. They no longer have to go door to door to make a sale but other means to get similar results. A good example is someone who joins a networking site, joins a discussion, sees an opportunity and then takes it. If that member was able to provide quality service, other people will be interested in availing the same products or services as well.

There are some who say that the popularity of social networks will eventually kill web searching. But industry experts say its not possible because Google which is one of the biggest search engines has a market capitalization bigger than that General Motors or Ford will not allow that to happen. While there may be new features in these social networks in the future, people will still have to use search engines when they need information. Social networking sites are here to stay because aside from maintaining contacts with existing friends and making new ones, there are other things that members can do with it. It just takes someone to think out of the box to find some better use for it which will be welcomed by the public.

About the Company
Begonia Information Systems is perfectly suited to provide any company/individual any kind of assistance in developing/enhancing their presence in social networking/social media domain. This apart from the fact that the company also holds expertise in development related web 2.0, web-portals, websites and much more for its clients.