You have a business website, you’ve got a LinkedIn account, a Fan Page on Facebook, and you’ve started tweeting on Twitter. How do you consolidate all those different modalities to best benefit your business? The easiest way to create an “atmosphere of community” on your existing website is to take advantage of – and piggyback off – the hottest social sites available. While there are lots of “Web 2.0″ sites where you can join a community and share information about yourself and your business, this article will concentrate on the three listed above. Assuming you have made a strong commitment to your chosen social media sites, you have two clear ways to add them to your business website: badges (or buttons) and widgets. Badges are easier (and faster) to implement, but widgets can be more interesting.
Badges
1. Get an icon image for each social networking site you want to link to. The icons should all be the same size. If you want to use stylized icons, be sure they come from the same designer so that they all match. You can get some great icons from KomodoMedia (http://www.komodomedia.com/blog/2009/06/social-network-icon-pack/) or just Google social networking icons and choose a set that you like. You can get a large Facebook badge with your Facebook profile image at http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/profilebadges.php
2. Find the direct address to your profile or page on each of the sites you want to link to. For example, your LinkedIn profile will be http://www.linkedin.com/in/<yourUserName>
3. Add the links and images to your existing website. Put them in a prominent position on your homepage to encourage your visitors to interact with you and your business.
Widgets
1. You will generally need to carve out a relatively large piece of real estate on your homepage for each widget you want to install.
2. LinkedIn: Get the code at http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=developers_widget_profileinsider. Then add the code to your existing web page. This widget can appear either as a pop-up, or as an inline image. The inline image requires approximately 315 pixels in width, by 450 pixels, or more, in height. The height resizes to fit the amount of content needed to display your profile. The information displayed comes from your public profile only.
3. Facebook: First, you need to create a Fan Page. Then get the code at: http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/fanbox.php . You can configure the widget to show thumbnails of your fans, your update stream, and also let your visitors become fans directly from your webpage – without forcing them to seek you out first on Facebook. Add the code to your existing page.
4. Twitter: The Twitter widget works on your website, blog, and even your Facebook page. How’s that for interoperability? Get it at http://twitter.com/badges. For your website, choose between Flash and HTML. You have more choices in styling this widget if you choose the HTML option. Whichever modality you choose to integrate social networking into your website – badges or widgets – it’s important to keep your social networking sites current. That’s especially true if you use the Widget method. Your website visitors – in addition to your Twitter visitors – are going to see that you haven’t tweeted in 3 weeks, and that’s worse than not tweeting at all.
Social media isn’t going away. Different from an infomercial or other hard sell, it’s a place where you can listen to your customers, a way to build a community of followers, a “virtual coffee shop” where you can all hang out together – and by the way, when they are ready to purchase what you are selling, you’re right there. Once your audience joins your network or becomes your Fan, you then have the opportunity to let them get to know you better. You can provide them with better customer service, and build a relationship that cements their desire to buy from you.
