Social Media has firmly rooted itself as a prime way in which data is shared between groups. With a social network for just about everything and seemingly new ones every day (Google+ anyone?), it doesn’t look that that will change any time soon. Here are five tips to maximize your social media presence:

1. Boost Linkability All too often, sites are “static” or stuck in the doldrums. When sites are not regularly updated and/or are merely used as a storefront, the information therein can easily become stale and outdated. In order to perform well in Social Media, sites must make themselves “linkable” by adding fresh content visitors are likely to share. Blogs, white papers, and industry news feeds are all a great way to accomplish this.

2. Simplify Bookmarks/Tagging The easier it is for your visitor to tag and/or bookmark your content, the more likely they are to do so. Conversely, if you don’t include any simple tagging or bookmarking options with your content, your visitors are likely to forget or simply not make the effort. Include Digg and del.icio.us buttons where appropriate, and be sure to use them internally as well.

3. Reward Inbound Linking There’s nothing like the thrill of (legitimate) inbound links and these little blue-underlined jewels are often a strong indication of a site’s overall success as well. The lift in rankings and search placement is also invaluable, so efforts should be made to encourage further inbound linking. Providing a simple method and clear rewards will certainly boost the desired behavior. You may want to use Permalinks as well as include a section for recently inbound-linking blogs. Often blog writers are looking for increased presence themselves, and visibility makes the situation win-win.

4. Set Your Content “On Tour” In contrast to so much of SEO, social media optimization is not about making tweaks here-and-there to your site. If you have portable content such as multimedia files and PDFs, submit them off to relevant sites with links back to your site. This will increase visibility and help drive traffic back to your site, while gaining potential followers.

5. Embrace Co-Creation Providing clear upfront guidelines about how others may (reasonably) use your content can foster relationships among networks. Aviary.com, a free online photo editor, takes this method to heart. By allowing users to build upon the works of others, a piece may begin to grow far beyond its initial base. Providing a widget to copy and paste excerpts, setting up an RSS feed, and other “get involved” type functionality can help drive further traffic back to the original content as well as solidify the platform for future mash-ups.

Generally, all of these tips can be summarized in one word: involvement. The more invested you can make your users in your content, the longer they will stick around and the more attention you will attract.

One Response to “5 Tips for Social Media Domination”

  1. dialashop says:

    I have been experimenting with various social media the last 8 months and I have found some interesting discoveries. The 2 best sites I find are Twitter and Youtube. It took me ages to understand Twitter, but I think once you understand it, its easier to meet people and for people that are interested in you to find you. Youtube is a video site and if you have videos related to your topic, people can find you. With Facebook I have found that very difficult to use because its more friend orientated and its harder for people to find you unless you are a brand name. Out of the 5 tips I believe point 1 is very important because you need content on your own site and people will share it. The bottom line is use social media, but you need your own content and please don’t forget that. Its easy to get diverted with social media so keep focused – aka your own content.

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