Social media is emerging as a powerful concept on the world wide web. There are so many social website that all your needs are catered to. If you need to network professionally, you can join LinedIn or Xing, if you are looking for something free form, try MySpace or Facebook. So, what is it that makes these social networking websites so viral?
Let us look at some key features of social networking websites and
what do you need to keep in mind while designing social networking
websites in order to make them more user-friendly and appealing to the
audiences.
Immediate Engagement
Engaging users
quickly is very important for social networking websites. The second
they land on your website, they need to know what it is about and what
to expect. Include a crisp tagline, an image or graphic that informs
visitors about the basic purpose of your website.
The homepage
of your website should provide users with something to do. Most obvious
thing to do here is to ask them to sign up or log in or take a tour.
This will let them explore the website and know what it is about before
they sign up.
Once they are inside the website, let them find
people they know and explore their profiles. Show what they are doing
with the help of news feed, listings etc.
Personal Spaces for the Users
One
thing that drives social media is self expression. Allow your users to
create their profiles, fill in the information and customize the
profile page in their own individualistic style. If you don't want to
give liberties with the design of the page, allow them to alter content
in order to personalize their space on the website.
Be Dynamic
In
the web 2.0 era, you cannot afford to be not dynamic. The content in
your website should be highly dynamic with the latest or most popular
information most visible. Include a real time news feed on your website
that lets users see the activities of their friends as and when they
update. This would ensure a steady stream of content
Easy Communication
The
very basis of social media and social networking websites is
communication. If user find it difficult to communicate on your
website, there is no way they are going to stick around for longer
time. Communication should be your first and foremost consideration
while developing a social networking website. In fact, try to provide
multiple means of communication like comments, instant messages, chats
etc.
Show Only Relevant Information
Social
networking websites are run over by information considering the
contents of all the users of the portal. That is why presenting
everything to everyone may become quite overwhelming for users. That is
why it is important to categorize content and provide users with only
relevant information i.e. information that they want to see. Also,
provide them with an option to decide what they want to see and not.
Social
networking is no joke. Rather, if utilized well, it can act as a
effective business tool as well. So play your cards well and create
something that sells.
Kabir Bedi is the senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a premier web development company that specializes in an extensive range of web design services.
He has spent over 7 years in the web industry and has in depth
knowledge about the trends and techniques of succeeding as a business
on the world wide web.