Websites 'should be social media friendly'

15:00 4th June 2009

While search engines are the most common way to find websites, firms should also consider adapting to attract social media users, it has been claimed.

According to Lee Odden at OnlineMarketingBlog.com, there are a number of ways to make sites more visible and usable, including providing fresh content and material that is social.

This could include putting in a blog, reviews section, forum or social network on a company network.

In this way companies could provide consumers with an opportunity to interact with other brand "fans" as well as the company.

Mr Odden said: "The social web is the web of the near future and real time search results through services like search.twitter.com or even the new sort by recency option within Google are giving consumers more control."

Another way to improve the social media element of a website is to ensure that content is easy to share.

The expert suggested that websites should have a "share this" option to make it easier for consumers to highlight things that could be of interest for other people.

Last month, Andrew Girdwood, head of search at bigmouthmedia told Econsultancy that search engine optimisation and social media are the "main fuel cells" of a digital campaign.