I am so sick of hearing about using social networking sites to boost SERPs. Every time someone suggests this, I feel like banging my head against a wall. Not only does it go completely against the spirit of these sites, it is probably one of the hardest things to do successfully, and without alienating an entire community in the process.

I do think that we need to be encouraging businesses who want to increase their online business to use social networking sites, but we should be teaching them how and why they should network online. 

Many business people still attend real life networking events, they spend thousands every year for membership to networking clubs, and many will spend 2-5 hours a week meeting with local business people (often the same people every week) to become known in their local communities.  

Is it really such a leap to get these same people to join the online communities their customers frequent, to spend an hour answering questions and building a reputation? Through online networking they can make an immediate saving of thousands a year, plus spend less time cultivating their networks, leaving more time to make the sales those networks generate. 

Perhaps the time that we spend thinking up articles to submit to Digg, or finding blogs to comment on, would be better spent teaching our clients how to effectively network online; we do it every day, we know how web etiquette works, and are all able to help clients source the right communities to join and support them as they find their feet.

What's more, the SEO benefits can be astronomical. What could be better for link building then having a client really out there building relationships and making genuine blog comments; after a few months they will even have a large enough network to start sending out a few link building requests. 

So perhaps using social networking sites to boost SERPs isn't such a bad idea--perhaps we just need to shift the focus.