What’s the point to social integration?

A new trend among internet companies is social integration. What is it? Well, if you're running a company that allows people to connect with you on a social network, that's social integration. It can take form in many ways. For instance, our blog automatically updates to Twitter... and our tweets automatically show up in our blog. It's one way for us to stay more connected with our site -- and our users can have to-the-minute updates from us if they subscribe to our Twitter feed.

It doesn't stop there, our website also allows you to log in and comment using your Facebook account information. You don't have to sign up for "yet another" website in order to participate. Any good designer wants to make the end-user experience easier... they're much more likely to retain traffic if their site is extremely well socially integrated.

The little icons you see in every post allow you to share or bookmark each article depending on the service you'd like to do. You can email it, follow the comments RSS feed, put the article synopsis on your facebook profile, re-tweet it with Twitter, and share it on countless social networks that will connect you to the world. The bookmarks listed on our posts are just the ones we're familiar with... if you don't see something list, we can assuredly integrate with it.

Why wouldn't I want my users to just sign up for my account system so i can keep track of them better? There's really no point. With proper Search Engine Optimization and Analytics, you can keep track of your demographic without making them sign up for your account system. It's really quite annoying to find a site that has no social integration and one who relies strictly on internal accounts. Users are less likely to return if they have to go through additional steps to user your website.

Retain those users, get integrated.

About Josh

Josh is first and foremost an entrepreneur. His creative abilities have helped him conquer the worlds of music, web design, computer repair, and writing. His self-diagnosed OCD has allowed him to excel in each world with his ridiculous organization and analyzation. He never speaks out unless his words are true and if he's unsure, he won't say anything. Some people find his appearance intimidating (they should) but he's really a great guy with a sense of humor than knows no bounds.