Internet users in the domestic market are now more likely to visit websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn than search engines such as Google and Yahoo!.

A study undertaken by Experian Hitwise has revealed that during the month of May, search engines accounted for 11.33% of UK Internet visits with social networking sites surpassing this percentage, receiving 11.88% of traffic.

Whilst Facebook accounts for 55% of all social networking traffic in the UK, Google UK remains the most popular website overall.

In today’s world, the internet is now often our first port of call when looking for advise or expertise but is the way we find that information changing?

Whilst the phenomenal success of Twitter has been well documented, making it one of the fastest growing and most talked about websites over the past two years, other social media sites are also following suit.

LinkedIn reached the milestone figure of four million members in June; a result helped by attracting more than a million users in less than eight months.

One in three professionals in the UK has a LinkedIn account and with 25% of FTSE 100 companies deciding to actively hire new employees through the site, it is important for businesses worth their salt to take the power of social networking into account.

Whilst many companies and brand owners have yet to grasp the full potential of this media outlet, it is thought that expenditure on this channel will increase as more and more stories of success continue to emerge.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Business Broadband, Business Mobiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.