by Ginger Marin

Social networking websites are great fun for those wishing to establish and expand online relationships and network. To do that, though, you first need to build your online personal profile page. That’s where you design a page to reflect who you are or what you do. For example, individuals with talent can best promote themselves and their arts by using social networking websites that are geared toward entertainment in addition to personal profiles. Businesses may wish to find a site that offers business profiles where they may be able to also sell products or services. Certain types of organizations like charities and non-profits might seek out social networking websites that offer charity profile sites which allow them to accept donations.

• The first rule for building your online profile, though, would be that you must decide what you want to say. If it’s strictly a personal profile, then are you simply presenting yourself and all of your interests, or do you want to focus on a single aspect of your personality such as building a profile about your love of animals, for example?

• Also, when building your social networking website, remember to be as descriptive and detailed as possible, particularly in your use of important words and phrases in the title, keywords, and description fields in your administration area. That will make it easier for like-minded people to find you when they do a search.

• If you’re a business or organization, make sure you select the most appropriate business category for your profile. After all, if you’re on a social networking website then the whole purpose of your being there is business networking and promotion and people will need to locate you in the correct category.

• Make sure your profile is easy to read and navigate. It’s best not to overload your profile with large graphics that have large file sizes because the site will take too long to download. People are impatient and they’ll more likely just move on if your profile is too slow or convoluted.

When it comes time to adding friends to your network, the best advice is for you to choose the ones who reflect your personality and interests most. Businesses should especially take care with this feature. This will enhance your experience on a social networking website and leave your profile page looking a bit more professional than those who simply accept anyone and everyone.

Author Ginger Marin is an actor, freelance writer and storyteller.  You can also find her on Google+