Using social media as a tool to promote a site is something that is becoming more and more common, as various people have finally worked out that this method allows the promotion of a site to millions of different people.
Generally speaking there are three different social media sites that people use in order to increase the amount of exposure that they get, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
But what are the relative merits of each of these different social networking hubs? Facebook Facebook is the biggest social media site around and therefore it is incredibly important that you use this site to engage with a huge number of different people.
Granted, these people are not going to see your updates unless they are your friends or like your page, but this can be accomplished by encouraging all visitors to your site to click on the "like" button on your page and therefore receive all of the news from your business.
It must be remembered when using Facebook though that it is not a site designed for selling - it is a social site designed to facilitate dialog between people.
This means that you should ensure that you mix your different updates up, with some being salesy and others being more of an attempt to start a discussion with the people getting the updates.
In fact, engaging with friends and those liking your business can even be a great way to push sales forward, as people will be more inclined to buy from a site that they feel part of.
Twitter Twitter is, in my option, basically a slimmed down version of Facebook that allows you to connect with people but doesn't involve the endless amounts of groups, game requests and other trash that you are privy to.
This means that Twitter is simple - all you have to do is write your Tweet and then post it, usually along with a link.
Twitter is a great tool for internet marketers as it is, like Facebook, completely targeted, but unlike Facebook there are no distractions to make people miss your updates.
It is also easy to follow people in Twitter with the same interests as you by searching through the hashtags, meaning that you can get a completely targeted audience when they follow you back.
LinkedIn LinkedIn is the new kid on the block and, as such, people don't fully understand yet about the different aspects that using LinkedIn can provide to a business.
What is known is that it connects different professionals together and as such it is a great platform for making working relationships an expanding your business in different ways.
It won't be a good place to make sales though, as people on this site are not interested in this at all.
So, as can be seen, Twitter and Facebook are great ways to engage with potential customers and therefore up the amounts of profit that your website makes.
If you want to forge new business relationships and increase your potential, LinkedIn is without doubt the way to go.
My advice though? Sign up to all three and get the best of every world!