Avoid the Pitfalls of Social Networking

Blogs are a popular way to add frequent content to your site. It drives traffic to your site and is a useful tool to inform your visitors of issues and trends. If you use a blog to promote your business, it should mirror your business and its Web site.

Formal businesses, such as financial planners, should keep their content focused on business recommendations, financial advice, etc. If you have a Web site geared toward children's items, it would be appropriate to have your Web site more lighthearted.

Sharing links on blogs is another popular way to increase Web site traffic, but caution should be taken regarding what Web sites you link to from your blog. If they change their blog content and it ends up being something racy or provocative, you probably don't want to be associated with that type of activity.

There are so many forums out there, but we tend to become comfortable communicating with a particular individual or group of people. Even though you may think you know these people, remember, you really don't know them. Be careful with the information you share.

Proceed with caution when asking for feedback regarding a business decision or idea so as not to divulge privileged information. Some people participate in these forums to capture ideas from people who've invested lots of time and energy into their product development.

It's important for PR purposes to utilize social networking sites, but it's just as important to be smart about how you utilize them.