Using social media to drive business to your Web site

Use social media to get people to your Web site Q:I am a small-business owner with a limited advertising budget. How can I drive more attention to my Web site without breaking the bank? -- Patrick L., Midlothian

Answer: Patrick, an excellent way to drive more business your way is by using free social-media platforms.

There are six essential platforms that business owners must have in order to harness the potential of social advertising. Each platform plays a specific role.

Optimization allows your social media to work with your Web site to dominate the first page of search-engine results. This formula will make you the only choice as far as the searcher and Google are concerned.

1. Linked In: Ranks well in search engines and is a great platform for sending event updates to business associates. To view a video that explains the many uses of Linked In as a marketing tool, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM.

2. Facebook: Optimizing your Facebook profile with your business keyword can make it an invaluable marketing vehicle. To create your own Facebook advertising, go to http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?src=aw05.

3. MySpace: Allows businesses to have fully developed profiles. In addition to optimizing your profile with a keyword, you can also search for your target customer in MySpace Friends and create an amazing outreach network. A great article titled "10 Ways to Make Money with MySpace" can be found at http://www.doshdosh.com/10-ways-tomake-money-with-myspace/

4: YouTube: This is one of the best forums to create a viral marketing campaign. From publishing client video testimonials to creating social proof of your credibility, YouTube videos are a great way to get other site owners to link to your Web site. For instructions on how to market on YouTube, go to http://www.ehow.com/how_5395793_ market-youtube.html

5. Blog: If you only have time for one social media platform, it should be a blog. First, search engines love blogs. Second, consumers love blogs. Third, every blog is an opportunity for you to go after a new keyword. Blogs are not for hard sales but rather a mix of marketing and education that online shoppers trust. There are a number of useful Internet articles on how to market a product or service using blogging as a marketing tool.

6. Twitter: The newest, hottest rage, Twitter is a micro blog that limits posts to 140 characters. Twitter plug-ins allow you to update and push posts out to your other platforms. An article titled "5 Clever Ways to Market Your Product on Twitter" can be found at http://www.ask.com.

Volunteers with the Richmond Chapter of SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business, will answer questions from small-business owners and managers. Go to http://www.richmondscore.org and click on the link to "Ask SCORE." A counselor will respond within 48 hours. Select questions and answers will be featured in Metro Business on the second and fourth Mondays. To learn more about management issues facing small businesses and SCORE's workshops, go to http://www.richmondscore.org or call (804) 771-2400, ext. 131.