Social Networking

Over the past year dozens of new social networking or blog platforms have come to market with odd names like Vox, Naymz, Ning, Squiddo and Knowl. These names represent only a small portion of the platforms that have been recently launched to compete for your time, personal information and blogging articles. These websites are not directly competing with Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace since each site offers its own twist and value proposition.

With ever increasing competition for Google page one ranking, I decided to test some of the newer social marketing platforms to see if they can supplement my existing web marketing strategies. Since many companies hire an outside business to build their primary business website, I wondered if these social platforms could also provide fast, easily deployable content that Google would respect.

Using Vox.com For Marketing and SEO

So, I started searching on Google using search terms for a few of my business niche services. One phrase I tested was “automotive seo.” When you type this into Google, I have two of my marketing websites appearing on Google Page One: Dealer-Seo.com and PaschConsulting.com . However, the very first listing I saw was Automotove-seo.vox.com, and my eyes went wide. What is VOX? I didn’t know it at the time but it actually is a very good website marketing platform that anyone can setup in minutes to attract people with similar interests or new customers.

Instantly I created http://automotiveseo.vox.com  and started to complete my profile. Take a look at what I have started in the past few weeks to see what a new VOX site looks like. Since the site is new, I only have four articles written. Being that Google respects this platform, I’m convinced it’s a place to create a social networking site. One of the reasons I believe in the VOX platform is that it creates a “sub-domain” for your VOX site name. A sub-domain is the text to the left of the vox.com domain, so in my case the subdomain is exactly the search phrase I want “automotiveseo.” Google uses the text in a sub-domain to match search results.

So, savvy marketers could snatch up wine marketing keywords such as:

• Napavalley.vox.com
• Sonomavalley.vox.com
• Winetours.vox.com
• Napacabernet.vox.com
• Wineclub.vox.com

These subdomains may have been already taken, but you get the idea; snooze you lose. Pick your VOX site name carefully and I suggest that you use Google’s free Keyword Tool to find the best search phrase for your VOX site name. Since your primary website is most likely under the control of your web master, you can use VOX to post regular articles as a blog, photos, and special offers with a very easy interface. If you commit to the platform, you will find that Google will rank the your VOX site in their index, and maybe you can pin a top search phrase in your marketing niche like “automotive seo.”

Social Marketing with Ning.com

You will also see on Google Page one a site called Ning.com when you search for the phrase “automotive seo.” Ning is another instant website platform that Google respects from the search results for this phrase. I created a profile on http://automotive-seo.ning.com. Once again the site is new, but from other research on the web, this platform is designed to reward good content with top search results.

Each of these website platforms provide ample places to create back links to your primary website. This means that all blog posts can have a live link back to a page on your website where additional information can be found. This is a big win for enhancing your SEO strategies in a professional manner while increasing your search placements in Google search.

Testing Social Networking Tools for Internet Marketing

There are a number of great sites that we are testing at Pasch Consulting Group and the early results have been very promising. If you are serious about increasing the visibility of your company on the Internet, platforms such as VOX, Ning and www.squidoo.com are an inexpensive way to grow links, traffic, and awareness of your primary marketing website.