Traditional Website vs. Custom Social Networking Platform

You are ready to make yourself known online. Your business/organization/team is ready to embrace the digital era. Where do you start?

It used to be when a company was getting reading to launch it's online presence all they would have to do is hire a designer, pick some graphics, write an About Us and voila, a business website was born. While it is still possible to go that route many are finding that a website is not offering potential clients/consumers/visitors they online experience they are looking for. Today's tech saavy consumer wants to be social, they don't want to just look they want to engage. This is where a social networking software package comes in. It can provide all the traditional elements of a standard website as well as offer all the social features that today's consumers are looking for.

	Website	Social Networking Site
Branded Home Page	Yes	Yes
Company Information	Yes	Yes
Rapid Consumer Engagement	No	Yes
User Generated Content	No	Yes
Enhanced Demographic Info	No	Yes

This is just a very basic example of the differences between the two but even so the advantages of social networking software integrated into a website are fairly straightfoward.

If you do decide to go with a custom social network your next step will be to choose a company that is familiar with social networking design and social networking development. Take the time to go over with a prospective firm exactly what it is you expect to get from your corporate social networking software package. The options are endless. You can have a fully external network strictly for potential consumers, a blended network for both employees and clients or a stricly interal site. The needs of your business will dictate this.

Whatever you ultimately decide in terms of options, by going to route of social networking software you can set yourself apart from your competitors that are still using traditional websites for their online strategy.