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Find Out How To Create Your Own Social Networking Site

There are typically three different options you can use to start your own social networking site. Some points to consider when deciding how to create a social network is price, your own technical capabilities and understanding, whether you are in charge of your web data in addition to what functionality you would like.

Author: Jessica Parker
Date: Jun 1, 2011 - 10:05:26 AM

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Facebook was launched in 2004 and have become a big success with millions of registered users. Only google is ranked better than facebook on the alexa list of top 500 websites. Due to facebook's good results and because so much of today's online traffic is focused around social networking sites, a great deal of internet marketers, corporations and individual person's would like to learn to create a social networking site.

There are generally 3 different options you can use to start your own social networking site. The least complicated way to start your own social network is signing up with a service that helps you create a white label social network by just configuring the settings, pointing and clicking.. If you don't possess a lot of technical abilities, this is probably the best option since no technical knowledge is required to get your site online. You may find free solutions offered, however I never suggest selecting them since you should definitely get your own domain name. The starting cost for a good service is about 20$ monthly, however according to exactly what functions you would like, you may have to pay more.

Another approach you can use is buying a social networking software or downloading an open source software which you set up on your server. If you want to use an open source social networking solution, you should consider elgg. It is probably the most popular free social networking scripts and it can be downloaded totally free. The commercially made social networking applications range in starting cost from about 99$ to 397$ depending on what kind of license and functions you are looking for. Some technical abilities are needed to get your social network online, though it is not too difficult. The advantages are that you are in full control of your own data and that the system is usually unencrypted and it is can be extended.

How you can create a social networking website using a social networking script can't be described in details in this short article, but in short what you need to do is:

1. Buy and save your software to your computer

2. Extract the .zip file

3. Purchase hosting which has the features you need

4. Create a new database

5. Upload the social networking software using a FTP application to your hosting account

6. Open the script's set up wizard in your browser and follow the directions

7. Configure the settings of the software to your preference

8. Change the style of your social networking site

The last solution is looking for a programmer that can develop a custom solution for you. This will obviously be much more expensive than ordering or making use of an open source out of the box option. The benefit is that your online community is going to be completely unique and tailored to your specifications. However, improving or customizing a social networking script which has already been created and that incorporates the standard structures that are typical for social networks may save you a great deal of development time and money.

Each approach that can be used to develop a social network has their advantages and drawbacks. When determining the best way to create a social networking site, you need to give consideration to the cost, if you have got the technical experience needed, exactly what features you want and if you are in total control of your database. I would never ever suggest making use of a solution that don't let you use your own domain or where you are not in complete control of your data, because you can be at risk of losing your website if your service provider goes bankrupt.

Learn how to setup a social networking site. Visit social networking script to read our articles and tips.

View all articles by Jessica Parker

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