Pinterest is the newest social media phenomenon and it just hit over 10 million members. In six months, the virtually unknown site saw a 4,000% increase in visits, leading it to become one of the fastest growing websites of all time. In one week alone, there were 11 million hits on Pinterest.

There are still a lot of people who just don’t understand Pinterest. To some, it can seem like just another way to while away your time online. And, to be fair, it really can become addicting.

This is why business owners should start utilizing Pinterest to market their company. It is simple to use and it has been an excellent way to increase sales, provide leads and drive traffic to your site.

We will look at the six reasons why you need to start marketing your business on Pinterest right now!

It’s a master driver (of traffic).

For a fairly new website, ten million users is amazing. With any web-based business, your profits are dependent on the amount of traffic to your website. The more traffic you get, the more leads and sales you can expect to get. With Pinterest, you can easily link users to your own website, boosting your own web traffic.

Research has even shown that Pinterest has been more successful at driving traffic than other social networks, including Facebook!

Users just can’t stop using.

Like I said earlier, Pinterest is highly addictive. It is simple and fun. Users are happy to simply share and find new and interesting things. People are always looking for the latest and greatest and they are steadily using Pinterest to find those things. Because it is image-based, it is faster and more enjoyable for users to scan through.

It’s easy to integrate with your sites and social media.

Pinterest has connected with other social networks. With the new Facebook Open Graph, users will be able to post their new pins to the news feed for their friends to see. That means more people seeing your pins. Right now, Pinterest only links to profile pages and not business pages. To share your pins, you will have to manually share them on your business page.

With Twitter, though, if your Pinterest account uses the same email as your business’ Twitter account, your pins will automatically be shared on Twitter.

You can also add a “Pin It” button to your website or blog like you would with Facebook or Twitter. That makes it easy for visitors to share your products or content with others.

More inbound links with Pins.

What makes Pinterest so great is that every pin has a built-in link back to the source- like your website. Whether pinned or repined, users can link back to your website by simply clicking on the image.

Learn more about what is trending.

Pinterest is the place to go for users who want to see and share what is “in” in every niche. From crafting to fashion, the newest trends and loves are being shared. You can see what your audience loves at the moment, what they are looking for on websites and e-stores. You will be able to use that information to plan your own product placement.

Lookers turn into buyers.

Pinterest has taken out a lot of steps between discovery and purchase. That means more sales for you! Users are more likely to see a product they love, one that is liked and shared by many others, and be ready to buy it right then. This is even more effective than a tweet about a product.

Pinterest is going to shake up the way you market your business. This social network has really grown into a fantastic marketing tool, so don’t wait to get started on it yourself.

Have you started using Pinterest? What benefits have you noticed? Have your results been positive? Share with us!

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In today’s online world, it is important to turn your website into a social hub in order to grow your business. Facebook provides a variety of free plugins that will enable you to integrate the social network into your website quickly and easily.

Research has shown that integrating Facebook will boost traffic to your other web pages. According to statistics from SearchEngineLand, the typical media website that has Facebook integration sees an increase of 300% in referral traffic.

Here are ten of the top social plugins available from Facebook to use on your website, completely free!

Like Button

We are all pretty familiar with this one. When you add the “Like” button to your website, users are able to share individual pages from your site or blog with the click of a button. Clicking the Like button will add that story or post to the user’s news feed along with a link to your website.

Send Button

Rather than having your story added to a user’s news feed, clicking on the “Send” button allows your readers to send content to members of their online network via a message. This will increase the likelihood that someone will read the content instead of missing it because it dropped off a user’s news feed too soon.

Comments

Adding the “Comments” plugin to your site allows your visitors to comment on a specific bit of content. This is handy if your website is not built on a content management system, which already allows for comment threads. Users will be able to leave comments after specific products or ask questions about them.

Activity Feed

Users can see what their friends have been doing on your website with the “Activity Feed” plugin. It lists any recent activity by Facebook friends on your website.

Recommendations

You can give users suggestions for pages they might like on your website with the “Recommendations” plugin. This tool will automatically compile a list for users based on their typical activities on your site. Users will be able to view these recommendations once they logon to Facebook. Their friends’ activities on your website will also affect the list of recommendations.

Like Box

Facebook users can “Like” your Facebook page and see your website’s stream directly with the “Like” box. You can control how much or how little of the types of content your visitors will see on your page by toggling this stream on or off. You only want to keep this stream going if you are updating your page regularly. If not, the content will appear stale and turn users off.

Registration

People will be more likely to sign up for your website if they can do it easily by using their Facebook login information. People already have too many user names and passwords to remember, so allowing them to use one they already have makes it simpler.

Login Button

When a visitor has registered as a user on your website, the “Login” button lets them see the profile pictures of any friends who have also signed up. Having the Login button on your site not only makes it easier for users to sign onto your site, but it gives your domain permission to access any available information they have shared on Facebook. With that information, you can have a better understanding of the type of people interacting with your site.

Facepile

This plugin will display the profile pictures of any user’s friends who have also “Liked” or signed up to your website. It is a nice surprise for visitors to see that their friends like your website as well.

Live Stream

Similar to the Comments plugin, the “Live Stream” plugin lets users share their comments and activity in real time while they are interacting in a webinar or presentation. These comments are not permanent, displaying the last ten or fifteen comments only. You can choose how many. You will not be able to delete or edit comments on the Live Stream, but you can ban users who misuse it.

What plugins have you been using on your website? What types of plugins would you like to see in the future? Share with us!

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