By posting links on popular social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, you will achieve a greater click through level to your website, or affiliate/CPA offers, comparable to paying for advertising, either on the social networks themselves (such as Facebook’s pay-per-click platform). What is the reason for this?

This is true based on the fact that people, like you and me, have a general dislike of being sold something or advertised to in a generic manner. On the other hand, people tend to be much more inclined to take the reference of a friend who suggests or recommends a product or service.

When you post a link on your social network profile you are effectively recommending something to your friends and you will get very high click through rates. With this in mind, it's very important that you don't post links to sites which would be of no interest to anyone outside your niche otherwise even your friends will stop clicking on your links.

When a link is posted, often sites like MySpace or Facebook, will review your site and attempt to find a relevant thumbnail to insert next to the link. That said, make sure to use a site like istockphoto.com or sxc.hu to put relevant or representative photos so that it gets people to pay attention. I often post links to personal blog posts that I make and I always get a better response when there is a thumbnail image next to it.

Most social network sites also allow you to post a number of websites on your bio page which others can see when they are your friend. Take advantage of this because anyone you add as a friend in your niche is likely to come along to find out more about you and if they see you have a website on a topic they are also interested in then you are very likely to get a click.

This should go without saying, but be a little bit careful about the type of websites you post to your social network profiles. For example, unless you are actually a Lawyer, telling your friends to visit your site about how to represent yourself in traffic court, they are likely to be met with concern that you could create such a site when you are not legally trained to do so!

You will also discover that there are probably specific social networking websites targeted at various niches. Sign up to these sites and become a valuable contributor and you will soon find that it starts to drive traffic to your site.

In closing, one thing you must never do is spam your friends, or other social network members, with your website or offer links and make sure that you consider the people you are marketing your links too. Are your Facebook buddies or Twitter followers really going to be interested in your new site about Scuba Diving – especially if they know you can’t swim!