A socially optimized website can increase site traffic from social networks, drive sales revenue, improve search engine rankings, increase brand or product awareness, and reduce customer acquisition costs. In short, the decision is no longer about whether to implement Facebook Connect on your site-it's how to do it in a way that fits your business strategy, and achieves your ROI goals. This whitepaper will review how online businesses can apply Facebook Connect and other social network technologies to socially optimize their websites for competitive advantage.
How to Implement Facebook Connect on Your
Website for Maximum ROI
Why Online Businesses Must Optimize For
Social Network Referral Traffic A social revolution is dictating dramatic changes in how companies run their websites, and their business. With the advent of social feeds-a live stream of
" Driving friends' activity shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter- consumers can more easily rely on trusted personal relationships to determine what's socially- worthwhile to read, watch, play and buy online. For many, the conclusion is referred startling; referral traffic is as significant from social networks as it is from search traffic is engines, making Social the next Search. taking its
place For some companies this phenomenon is a surprise, for others it is an opportunity they are already looking to quickly leverage. But one thing is clear, driving alongside socially-referred traffic is taking its place alongside SEO and SEM as a critical SEO and area of marketing analysis and investment for any business operating on the web SEM as a today. critical area
of
marketing
analysis
and
investment"
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T he next phase of this social revolution is taking place not on the major social networks but across the entire web, as businesses from media and entertainment to ecommerce focus on promoting social activity on their own sites to increase and influence socially referred traffic. Not only is the volume potential enormous,
" According but its word-of-mouth nature also means socially-referred traffic is of high quality. The benefits of this new social initiative are immediate and powerful. Companies to Nielsen like the Huffington Post, who have made an investment in connecting their sites to Online, multiple social networks including Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo, and who have nearly 20% made it easy for users to share content and experiences, are quickly surpassing of social their established but socially less-optimized rivals in traffic growth, traffic quality,
consumers and time spent on their site. are now
using
social
networks
as their
'core
navigation' tool." To capitalize on this phase of the social revolution, companies need to optimize their connections with the social web, continually enhance their users' on-site social experience, and analyze the results to improve their social business strategy and implementation. This process, called On-Site Social Optimization is emerging as the next big marketing frontier, and how companies execute on it will be a major competitive factor. This whitepaper will review the key trends and technologies driving the On-Site Social Optimization imperative, detail how sites can and must take an active role in how users share, and explain how online businesses can apply On-Site Social Optimization for competitive advantage. Social Discovery: How Consumer Behavior Has Changed A number of trends are driving the social revolution for websites:
Social is the Next Search www.gigya.com 3
. Social feeds have enabled content discovery through friends: According to Nielsen, nearly 20% of social consumers are now using social networks as their "core navigation" tool. Rather than utilizing search engines or content hubs such as Microsoft or Yahoo, these consumers are looking for content within social networks and clicking from there. In the early days of the Internet, new web content was discovered and promoted by editors at the major portals. Then search engines democratized the process, enabling each user to find what he or she was looking for. Now, social feeds-through which users follow what their friends (and friends of friends) are doing and recommending-are a primary path to web content. Even Google and Bing are recognizing the trend by incorporating feed content from both Facebook and Twitter into Search results and algorithms. . Overwhelmed with choices, consumers increasingly turn to each other: Consumers are bombarded by messages, advertisements and the sheer volume of data available on the Web. With social networks now familiar tools, consumers are turning to their most trusted sources to help them sift through information. "With the increasing number of resources available, it's difficult to know what you should believe or take at face value. ... [download for more]
