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Social networking 'improving online retail sales'
Social networking sites may be a useful Internet Advertising tool, as a study has suggested it can help drive surfers towards online retail shops.According to figures from Hitwise, hugely popular sites such as Facebook and MySpace are contributing to higher visitor numbers at internet stores.
Major web retailers were found to have benefited the most; with eBay claiming that 31.4 per cent of its hits came directly from a social network website.
Hitwise's research director Robin Goad said: "In terms of internet visits, social networking has grown by over 70 per cent in the UK since last Christmas and it is starting to have a serious impact on many different types of website."
Internet advertisers may be able to tap into the phenomenon of social networks by engaging with the site, connecting with its users and building links to its product pages on the network.
The rewards for doing so could be huge as retail revenue prompted by social network sites is predicted by Datamonitor to hit £95 million in the UK this year.
Link building through social network sites could boost visitor numbers to your website, as well as improve performance on search engine listings.
Search Marketing news posted on 24 October 2007
