Social Activity = Website Traffic

Social activity equating to website traffic, may bring out significant change of who’s who in where we get our information online.  FaceBook has grown in size far faster than Google ever did.  Possibly more important, average time of user visit make this social network an extreme heavy hitter in the internet world.

How we utilize the social networking platform, is changing the website traffic game as well.

…For a long time if you wanted your business to get found online, you focused on traditional search engines. You made sure your site could get found in Google and Yahoo and other engines.

But gradually, almost imperceptibly at first, people started changing their online behavior. I’ve noticed it with my own sites, where each month traffic from social sites is growing.

According to a Nielsen report (PDF) out just yesterday, “two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit a social network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time.”… (Read Rest of Small Biz Trends Article)

Online activities in social media have become essential for business.  The number of users and their time spent online require your attention if you want to remain in touch with your customer.

It is not suggested that you walk into these settings and begin rounds of old-school sales talk. I suggest instead that you treat these arenas as an open two way communication vehicle for you and your customer.  They know how to find your business, website, or product. They will be more likely to do so after they have had the chance to know you a bit more personally.

As mentioned earlier, FaceBook has grown at a much faster pace than even Google ever did. The next element that people are beginning to use it for that Google cannot compete with the “live search” capabilities of a large social network.

More and more people are searching their connections for answers to their daily questions.  This is another I have seen and even done myself. Looking for a restaurant recommendation in another city, finding out the short cut proceedure for copy and paste, and the “what do you think of this (link goes here).”

From these community generated interactions and answers, come the website traffic.

I’m certain FaceBook and Google are both aware this change of action in the on-line populace. It is important for you as a small business owner to be aware of the same so that you can be involved where the decisions are being made.

Have you changed your activities personally as suggested here?  Have created a presence for yourself AND your business in one or more social networking sites?  As of yet, have you seen any changes in the numbers of visitors coming from social media sites vs. the search engines?