Social Networking, or more specifically, Online Social Networking is the practice of using social websites to create an online profile for your organisation in order to link with and set up a network which ultimately creates more visitors to your website.

The most commonly used websites are Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace and Twitter, to name but a few, by which organisation profiles can be created and managed. 

Social Networking can be a great source of visitors and marketing for your organisation and your website, however, there are a few points you may wish to consider before you take the plunge.

• To create a strong online presence, you are going to have to invest time - currently this is estimated at up to 10 hours per week for the initial period and can easily be more
• Start with one profile on one site and measure your success against pre set criteria
• Set up a routine of when you will update the social network
• Where possible use a team of individuals to keep information of interest
• Keep it personal, you may have a team updating, but there is no reason why they have to all sound the same
• Be polite and welcome new friends with a personalised email
• Don't sell - be information led
• Be consistent

For more information on this, please feel free to get in touch.