13 Mar 2010

What URL Should You Emphasize? For Me, It's All About Relationships

For the last four years I had two URLs on my business card - my employer's web site and my blog. But recently, when I went to order a refill, I changed the plan. 

I of course kept the link to EdelmanDigital.com. However, with space limited, rather than directing people to yet another web site (this one) I indicated where they can find me on the sites where I know they are already spending time, Twitter and Facebook. So far, I am glad that I did.


Blogs aren't dying anytime soon. In fact, the New York Times today has an article today about how they are great personal branding vehicles for moms. However, I have started to put a greater emphasis in growing my community where you already are. The reason is, it's easier to build and manage relationships and measure them. I mentioned that some companies are already going this route, but it's worth considering as a strategy for individuals as well.

For the last two weeks I have been really putting my focus on building deeper relationships through Twitter and my Facebook page. I particularly like the latter because I get all kinds of data about the people who subscribe to the page. And I expect this will only improve. For example, I can see that my demographic split is not where I would like it to be, so I am making an effort to try to bring more women into the conversation. I continue to do it all (which, ironically, is why I am posting this here), but I am finding the conversations in my "spokes" deeper, more rapid and more rewarding at times than here on "the hub." But the data helps me get smarter.

I believe that this year we're going to see a lot of bloggers come to the same realization that Facebook is an awesome tool for building relationships - something that many bloggers crave. Most traffic to blogs, I suspect, comes in through Google. This is great traffic of course, but in many ways it's devalued since bounce rates are high. Now I see many bloggers continuing to do it all - Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and their blog. However, some may start to slowly favor Facebook for the same reasons I am if the social network continues its growth track. In some ways, this is already starting.

One of my favorite blogs is MakeUseOf. I subscribe to their email newsletter and every now and again they send out a reminder to readers to fan them on Facebook. That's smart. They're up to 13,000 fans. Here are the reasons they play up: likes, comments and social sharing. However, I also believe that relationships and data play a role here as well. This isn't just about Facebook. If they can give us similar stats, Twitter too will be a larger focus for many. Subconsciously, I suspect it is for many. I am seeing that people are blogging less than before.

 

What primary URLs do you give out these days? Do you send people to your blog, Twitter, Facebook or your company site? How has this changed in recent years? You may have them all on your card but I bet there's one or two that you prioritize. For me, it's my company's web site and now my Facebook page. However, I will continue to do it all. In many ways, I think you have to since not everyone likes or is even on Facebook.