By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Traditional ways of finding new business aren’t as effective as they use to be. In today’s business climate, being a little web savvy goes a long way. A great out-of-the-box solution is connecting through social networking sites, such as LinkedIn — where over 65 million users can view your profile and make informed and in control decisions about making contact. The social web is growing in popularity due to the overuse of normal communication channels like emails and spammers. With LinkedIn, credibility is high because users know with whom they are communicating. There are several other benefits to getting your business LinkedIn and successful.

Grow Your Links to Increase Your Business

LinkedIn can help raise your site’s search engine ranking position (SERP) and can get your business noticed through linking. The more your homepage is connected to other sites (and lists more links), the easier it is for your business to grow. If a link to your site is on LinkedIn, Article Dashboard or Facebook, the search engine spiders will see that other websites value what yours offers and therefore move you up in the rankings. Off-site optimization works a whole lot better than on-site, which is where having a LinkedIn profile can help you gain direct response traffic. If you are connected to others on the site, your profile and business link will show up on more searches as well. Search engine marketing (SEM), off-pages and off-links enhance website rankings, increase traffic and gain exposure. So don’t turn your nose up at social networking sites, instead, consider them as a means to boost your business.

Generating Leads through LinkedIn

LinkedIn can also be a successful marketing tool. Aside from helping you in SERPs, LinkedIn also gives you the opportunity to make “warm” calls. You can post questions and answers to other people’s questions in your field of expertise to help them, gain a contact and give yourself exposure. Think of it as self-marketing. By browsing through company’s and employees’ profiles, you can discover their interests and needs and may even discover a way to market your business, products and/or services to them. By joining as many groups in your “niche” as possible, this gives you a greater opportunity to connect with more people and send them personal messages.

LinkedIn also allows you to connect with professionals and friends in or outside of your field. The connections you meet could also be your next client. Through LinkedIn, the Web Success Team has been able to generate leads and even new business. One businessman, who invited me to connect with him on LinkedIn, liked my profile and read my recommendations. After some correspondence, we set up a meeting to establish a marketing strategy that would help his business. He hired our team on the spot. Generating leads through linked in can lead to sales and worthy contacts. The possibilities are endless.

Be the Expert: Personal Branding with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a certified way to brand yourself or your company as an expert in your field and an industry leader. Sometimes personal branding can be more beneficial to your business than branding your corporation because you allow your business to have a human face. Another way to brand yourself through LinkedIn is to put your profile link as a part of your email signature so that potential clients can view your skills, qualifications and recommendations. This will also improve your business’ visibility and help to create a strong and consistent business platform and marketing strategy.

LinkedIn as well as other social networking sites are an efficient way to promote yourself and your business. When it comes to branding or marketing strategy, you want to be put your name and business on as many off-pages as possible so as to increase visibility, drive traffic and generate new business; but do not limit yourself to one medium. Keep updating your marketing strategy, and look for different methods of connecting with industry leaders and professional contacts. This way you link in your business and allow it to grow to web success.

Grow Your Business Online: These tips are meant to be used as a guideline to improve traffic to your site, increase your conversion rates, help turn visitors into buyers, and keep you ahead of the competition. Turning to a web marketer can ultimately save you time and money and increase your success online. The Web Success Team has many proven marketing strategies and techniques. The Team would be happy to discuss your web marketing needs with a complimentary consultation and web marketing assessment of your current site. Simply mention this article when contacting bob@websuccessteam.com or call 818-222-5643 for an appointment. Please visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for more information. To your web success!