Building a Network: How to Make Your Social Network Popular

One of the main concerns of a social network owner is how to make the site popular and successful through user activity. A social networking site will die if there are no members who will make use of the functionalities of the site and who will encourage visitors to join in on the activities.

So how does one turn a seemingly generic social networking site into a bustling community full of active participants? Here are some ways on just how to achieve that:

1. Offer something that other social networks don’t have
Or at the very least, make an existing function better. We see a lot of social networking sites that have practically the same content; the only difference lies in the number of users and usually, their interface. Try to compare the different successful sites that you can find and determine whether they’re lacking something that you, as a user, would like to see in those kinds of sites. If you can’t find anything, try to see if there’s anything that you can improve to make the users’ browsing and activity better.

2. Judge your site the way a normal user would
Forget the lines of codes, the costs, the time it takes to develop and all those other technical stuff. Put yourself in the shoes of a normal, average user and criticize your layout, functions, interface and other add-ons to see if they would work well even for those who aren’t computer-savvy. I’m guessing that this will be one of the hardest tasks that you have to do since you know your site like the back of your hand so if you get stuck on this one, ask a friend or a family member to do the judging for you.

3. User bases help in spreading the word
Offer privileges to the first ten or 50 users who sign up to your site and in return, you can ask them to help you in promoting your site. This promotion can be in the form of inviting their friends and family through email or by posting you networking site’s link on their personal sites or simply by word of mouth. This is actually how the successful social networking sites started out – if it worked for them, it can work for you.

4. Listen and take time to consider the users’ feedbacks
If they know that you personally take time to address their concerns, your users will be more loyal to you. It isn’t everyday that a webmaster actually responds to his site’s users’ feedbacks. Explain to them if what they want is possible or not. Consider the feedbacks as constructive criticism on how to make your social networking site more enjoyable for them and for future members.

This is just the start, mind you. It takes a lot more to continually pursue the road to popularity and success with a social networking site. It’s the start but it can definitely help. The social networking site’s owner and users must cooperate with each other to ensure that the site can and will make it big despite the many rivals today.