Just launching a new web site? Got an established web site which is struggling to get audience? Social networking sites can help latch onto new audiences who are eager to find new interests and make friends using an easy one-stop web site.

The most successful web sites consist of content rich sites forming a community of people interested in that content. Community portals combine the key top level activities into a single site with a view to saving users time with accessing numerous specialist sites.

By posting details of your site on a portal, not only can you get free hosting, but free publicity for your web site, something you may not be able to achieve with content specific single sites.

Banners ads and site link exchange are rapidly loosing favor with webmasters who are latching on fast to the advantages of posting to one or more community portals. After all who has NOT posted their web site on Yahoo or Google? Social community portals are for sure here to stay and are growing fast, many of the bigger ones are joining millions of new members a month, and there is huge scope over the next few years.

Peoples interests vary from collecting stamps, films, sports and more. In essence an endless range of interests for leisure, business and education, so this means an endless stream of potential web sites for each interest.

Sites need enough visitors and postings or content to make the site not just viable but interesting, this is why so many sites fail - visitors expect them to be full of members and content and are reluctant to start off a new site. They are trying to be another YouTube or Friends Reunited and so on, and for most this is an impossible task unless they have a new angle to the well established successful sites.

Content of the individual site or part of the larger portal must have sufficient content in terms of listings, postings, articles or general pages of knowledge and information on the main topic. The individual members add the content in the main, although some base information may be provided by the site.

The social networking web portal offers, chat, friendship, advertising, uploads of photos, music and video, groups, clubs and forums and potentially more features, all sections can be created by the members, personalised and contributed to or viewed by other members of the portal. Membership, in the form of a simple registration is normally compulsory to access most if not all the main features.

A single membership allows total access, thus making the portal a simple one stop site for all normal social, personal and business relationships, a big plus over having to remember potentially dozens of logins for separate sites.

Where the portal scores big is when a member refers the site to his pals who drop into the site for a look. Chances are they do NOT share the interests of the friend who referred them but they do stand a good chance of finding something on the site that does interest them since there is so much CHOICE there.

Social Networking Portals have in theory at least the potential to be huge based on the “sum of the parts” rule and you are wise to consider getting your web site, regardless of its content listed on a few as soon as you can.

Maurice Clarke is founding owner of the online social networking portal http://www.melikeyou.net the place on the web to find friends, to share interests, and to swap ideas. Post photos, videos and music and chat, even buy and sell stuff all in one place.

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