Last week we discussed how social networking a few ideas that could help you grow your new social networking site into a fruitful, popular site. We have another five tips this week for expanding your site in a dynamic community with lots of members who come back again and again. Have some suggestions? Let us know by commenting on this post! Check out the first five items in this list from last week’s blog post.
6) Encourage your users to recruit – It sounds obvious and it sounds like something your users would do on their own anyway, but that’s the catch – you’ve got to remind them to do it! It’s a simple as asking them to tell their friends. It may not have even occurred to them to tell their friends about the site. Word of mouth is the best way to gain organic growth. Suggest ways that they can let their friends know about the site and suggest ideal archetypes so they can visualize which friends they should be asking.
7) Keep the old members interested – Something site administrators notice is that old members will leave citing “it’s not like it used to be.” Do something special that keeps the old members interested or allows them to gain social status by nature of the age of their account.
8 ) Find Funding – Running your site certainly isn’t free. It may start on a $5/month shared hosting account, but if you plan on your site going anywhere, you have to develop a business model. Sites are businesses, especially large sites.
9) Have Rules – Is it a kid safe community? It’s going to take rules to keep it that way. It works the other way around too. If it’s an adult community, it takes rules to keep it that way. Either way, rules should make your users feel comfortable, not oppressed.
10) Be ready for revolution – Don’t sweat it when your users seem to revolt. It happens to the best of the best. Every social networking site or forum eventually have a user uprising. Don’t lose faith in your site when it happens, if anything, take it as a compliment that your site has been successful enough to have one!
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! There are literally hundreds of small things to learn when taking your site from one member to one million members. Don’t be afraid to keep notes on what works well for you and what doesn’t. There is no set formula for success. Experiment, evolve, and enjoy!
Tags: social networking, tips, webmaster