What is social networking?
Social networking is the use of online communities such as Myspace<sup>(TM)</sup>, Bebo<sup>(TM)</sup> and Facebook<sup>®</sup> to connect and communicate with people around the world. Its advantages to businesses include tapping into new markets and generating new business. Promoting your company across a number of these networks is known as Social Media Optimisation (SMO).
How does Social Media Optimisation work?
Social Media Optimisation can be thought of as a trail of breadcrumbs that leads visitors to your main website. External profiles introduce your company to the members of these online communities and advertise your products and services. Think of it as the next generation of directory listings: members are attracted to your profile by its content, and then pointed in the direction of your website.
Can it help me with my Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
The short answer is YES. Most social networking communities register their members' profiles with the main search engines. The longer answer is that it depends on which networks you are a part of: different communities have different success rates with SEO. Each community does, however, have its own search engines, and your profile is optimised primarily for these.
What other ways are there of attracting profile hits?
Most of the communities promote profiles that are regularly updated, and members mark interesting content for other members' viewing. Regularly uploading fresh and interesting content to your profile will give it a greater chance of being noticed. An effective way of generating interest is to use your profile as the springboard for an online viral campaign. Pictures and movie clips are shared between members, so an advert could potentially reach millions via platforms such as YouTube<sup>(TM)</sup> and MyspaceTV<sup>(TM)</sup>.
Do I have to pay every time someone views my advert?
No. Although some communities offer pay-per-click advertising services, it doesn't cost anything for a movie to spread throughout its members. Providing your advert has interesting content it could be viewed all over the world without you paying anything for global distribution!
I'm interested, but I don't have the time to manage all these profiles...
We can do that for you - we'll set up the profile and design it to compliment your company branding. We can even provide you with video content if you don't already have your own! For a minimum of twelve months we'll maintain the channel for you, updating any news and uploading media at your request. We'll also keep your channel clean of spam, block unwanted visitors and provide monthly statistics depending on which community you choose.
How can I find out more?
You can contact us using the details below, or <a title="http://www.seraphimpictures.com/
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="wlmailhtml:{2075DA2D-F80A-4C34-9CE4-EE952CD6463B}mid://00000090/!x-usc:http://www.seraphimpictures.com/" target="_blank">check out our website for further information on our products and services. If you're already a member of any of the major networking communities, find us using their search bar and see SMO in action...
Thanks for reading; we hope that it's got you thinking about the possibilities of using SMO for your business.
Team Seraphim