Social networks have changed consumer behavior on the Web. Your customers are now relying on their trusted networks when deciding what to read, watch, do and buy online. Driving socially-referred traffic is therefore taking its place alongside SEO and SEM as a critical area of marketing analysis and investment for any business operating on the web today. Companies that socially optimize their sites - making it easy for site users to share content and experiences - are quickly surpassing their rivals in traffic growth, traffic quality, and time spent on their sites. This whitepaper will review the key trends and technologies driving the on-site Social Optimization imperative, detail how sites can and must take an active role in how users share, and explain how online businesses can apply on-site Social Optimization for competitive advantage.

Report highlights include:

• Three steps for generating referral traffic from social networks
• Providing multiple social network connection options increases the number of participating users, as compared with a single option, and that Facebook typically comprises approximately 50% of connections.
• The five key performance metrics that sites should be tracking for socially-referred traffic.