Social media bookmarking and networking go hand in hand. Social bookmarking enables users to search, share and organize web pages of interest including yours! It’s a tool that enables you to inspire backlinks and devoted followers.

The first step is to register with the social bookmarking website of your choice. This permits you to store your bookmarks, create tags and decide what is made public or private. Some sites will even conduct periodic tests to make sure the links bookmarked are still active.

Once you’ve started using social bookmarking it’s important to alert everyone, or “ping” your site or blog. This permits search engines to be notified of updates, which is an important step in the success of any website or weblog. Traffic is the key.

Sending a “ping” or notification to any of the major directories finds its major use in the area of blogs. When it comes to web sites or social bookmarking pages, pinging means “getting attention”, or “bringing attention to” something. This gives the search engines a break, as they don’t have to search so hard for updates. The ping programs will make sure everything is in check, each and every time there is an update.

There are many programs you can use for social bookmarking. Listed below are a few of those more frequently used, though you will find many more out there by doing a simple web search.

* Digg.com is presently the most popular social news site. Getting something on the front page of Digg.com can potentially drive 20,000 to 100,000 visitors over a few of days, plus 100’s of unique links to your post.

* Del.icio.us.com is not only a social bookmarking website, but gives you access to links other people have tagged as favorites, providing insight to the content people are searching for, and how your site is positioned for this. Tagging allows greater flexibility – giving a post multiple tags increases your chances of being viewed.

* StumbleUpon.com is a unique social community using a toolbar to view pages that are voted into categories you subscribe to. Unlike the other sites, there is no need for popularity here. StumbleUpon.com uses a recommendation system based on your category preferences. Traffic from StumbleUpon.com depends on the category, and can range from 3,000 to 20,000 visitors a week.

With many other options available, a simple search should enable you to find the perfect match of social bookmarking site for your own experience, as well as categorical emphasis you require.

Effective immediately, Last time we discussed the business building benefits of using social media. However, in order to make the most of this valuable tool, you have to choose the right sites and as you may have learned, there are many more to choose from than one would initially imagine. It all depends on the primary focus of your site, and how many categories you wish to use.

To assist you in choosing the appropriate social media site for your needs, let’s explore some of the more frequently used sites, giving you a brief description of their primary focus.

* Twitter.com is a free micro-blogging and social networking service, which you can download free from the internet. By using Tweets people can send and read each other’s current updates. The maximum number of characters per tweet or post is 140, and is displayed on each person’s profile page. Tweets are then delivered to a person’s circle of ‘followers’, which can be close friends, family or business contacts.

* Squidoo.com is a free-access system of interactive pages, or lenses pertaining to different topics of interest. These user-generated web pages can be based on each person’s passion for any one subject. Learning code is not necessary for using Squidoo, and pages can help to achieve a type of popularity not commonly seen with other interfaces. This is primarily due to the association made with other pages, which often range in the thousands.

* Facebook.com is also free for download from the internet. Used as a social networking website, any user can join multiple networks and even create their own fan page to draw an audience of prospects. Adding friends and sending messages is also possible. Profiles can be added for the use of friends, colleagues, and prospects in order to keep in touch and up to date with one another.

* HubPages.com is designed primarily around advertisement sharing revenue for high quality content. It allows members to create individual pages on specific topics of interest. However, HubPages differs from other networking in one unique way. It uses Google Adsense API to manage any revenue sharing amongst writers. Users submit articles in a magazine format, which when posted can generate income for the writer or Hubber if they have their own personal Adsense account. All material posted, otherwise known as Hubs, remain the intellectual property of the Hubber at all times.

* Google sites are a relatively new part of Google Apps for organizations and companies. It has made it simple for anyone to click a button or two in order to create a website, sharing all types of information. From company team projects to family updates, you’re able to keep everything in one place for easy access. With the ability to embed different features such as documents, videos and photos, it’s easy for anyone with access to your page to add or edit anything as needed.

* MySpace.com is another social networking website using an interactive, user-friendly network of friends, profiles, blogs and more for people worldwide. A free interface for users, MySpace depends on revenues generated by advertisements. Some various tools available within a MySpace account are blurbs, blogs, multimedia, comments and profile customization. Then there are the numerous features available, such as groups, bulletins, news and polls. MySpace was even employed by candidates in the 2008 presidential election in the United States, in an effort to reach the younger voting crowd.

These and many more social media platforms can make communications with your employees, family and friends, and your target audience not only more accessible, but also faster and easier than any other method before.