Learn How To Setup A Social Network

Facebook was released in 2004 and have become a huge success with many million registered users. Only google is placed higher than facebook on the alexa list of top five hundred internet sites. Due to facebook's accomplishment and because a lot of today's online traffic is concentrated around social networking sites, numerous online marketers, companies and private person's want to figure out how to build a social networking site.

When making a social network, you can more or less use 3 different methods. The first and most basic option is signing up with a social network service which allows you to startup your social network by simply configuring your social network settings. This doesn't require any technological expertise, so if you are not a technical person, this might be the best choice. You could find no cost providers to use, but I suggest using your own domain name, so the starting expense is around 20$ a month and upwards, depending on the features you desire.

The second approach you could use is buying or finding an open source software you can download and put on your own server. If you want to use an open source social networking script, you should check out elgg. It is probably the most popular free social network scripts and it can be downloaded totally free. A commercial social networking software will cost you about 100-400$ depending on what functions you need and the sort of software license that you need. Starting your social internet site using a software requires some technical understanding. The advantages are that you are in total control of your own data and the software is usually not encrypted and it is can be extended.

How you can put together a social networking website using a social networking software can't be outlined in details in such a short article, but in short what you have to do is:

1. Download the software to the computer
2. Extract the files in the .zip file
3. Sign up for hosting that offers the features your script requires
4. Add a new database to your web hosting account
5. Transfer your script to your hosting account using a FTP software
6. Open the software's installation wizard
7. Change the options of the script to your preference
8. Change the design of your social networking site or choose a theme that appeals to you

The last option is looking for a developer that can put together a unique solution for you. This will of course be more expensive than deciding to buy or finding an open source script which has already been programmed. The benefit with buying a custom script is that your website will be different from any other social network and you will get exactly what you want. Most social networking scripts are unencrypted and extensible, so extending a script that has been created and tested well already, will help you save a lot of time and money developing the simple elements that most social sites have.

All the three choices mentioned which you can use to develop a social network has their pros and cons. A few points to think of when planning how to launch a social networking site is price, your technical abilities and understanding, whether you are in charge of your web data in addition to what features you are looking for. Personally I would under no circumstances use a service where you can't use your own domain and are not in total control of your files and database, as I would not want to risk losing my social network if my provider went out of business.

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