Government Site Business Link Seeks Profile Boost through Social Networking
Business Link, the UK business advice portal funded by the Government, is now launching social networking campaigns and increasing its search spend in the hopes of significantly raising its profile amongst the public.
The online portal's digital marketing push is part of a revamp of the Government's online public services. As first outlined in June's Digital Britain report, the Government is streamlining approximately 95% of its existing citizen-facing sites, into just 3 websites - Directgov, NHS Choices and Business Link.
Paid Search Manager at Business Link, Paul Risebury-Crisp, explained that while the site has received more than 14m visits in the past year, it remains far from a household name and is also competing for attention against other business advice portals. "Social media is a way to get more information out to our subscribers," he said.
Business Link is planning high-profile publicity campaigns over the next year, following campaigns by both Directgov and NHS Choices. It has recently ramped up its advertising on Facebook and has launched its first YouTube channel. It has also appointed Agenda21 to manage its paid search activity.
