The explosive growth of the online market place, which did not pause for the recession, has opened up enormous opportunities for start-ups and online remains the most cost effective way to engage new customers.

Statistics from Econsultancy show that because small businesses are often more flexible in their thinking, they are more likely to be experimenting with using social networking sites and online communities. But in the business world, what matters is how you turn experimentation into real customer engagement and, most importantly, sales. From listening to the businesses on BT Tradespace, we have seen that those that are most successful are the ones who follow some simple rules - they understand how to get noticed, are quick to exploit the full breadth of social media tools including video and are great at using online networks to spread the word.

1. Get noticed
Unsurprisingly, the majority of online consumers use search engines such as Google and Yahoo as their first port of call; in fact 90% of online traffic is achieved through search engines. So when someone types the name of your product, or type of product, from jewellery to carpet fitter, you want to ensure your product is as near to the top of the search page as possible. There are two ways to achieve this; through paid-for search, or ‘natural' search.

Paid for search engine advertising is growing all the time - in 2009 it was the leading advertising format in Europe. It involves paying for your product to be listed in the adverts that run along the top and the right hand side of, for example, a Google page. As you only pay for the ad space when someone clicks on your link it can be a cost effective way of getting your product seen on search engines. However, it is advisable not to look at paid for search in isolation - we have seen 50% of visits to BT Tradespace come via natural search.

So how do you secure high placing on the natural search rankings? It has to do with the up-to-dateness, quality and diversity of the content you offer but also a lot with the way in which you write your site, so that when a search engine visits your site, they always see the same key words. For example if you have a regular blog, video or audio content on your site it is essential you tag them with the same word combinations. Consequently, the more you include relevant content, the more likely it is to be recognised.

Linking from sites, especially with those with high authority, will also increase your search ranking. If you are putting out press releases or have content on other company websites, make sure you link to their site, and importantly they link back to yours.

2. Become a video star
So, your customers have found your site. Now you need to convince them to stick around, and buy - but how? Video becomes increasingly important as online shoppers become less interested in reading text on the page; instead they want to know the story behind the brand and get a sense of the product quickly and clearly. Internet video will soon be 60% of consumer internet traffic and our experience shows that consumers spend four times longer on sites with video content.

For small businesses, video offers a unique opportunity to showcase your personality - levelling the playing field with big companies, and exactly what consumers look for. However, if you are unfamiliar with using video to sell it can seem daunting - which is why we've teamed up with Flip Video to make video accessible to small businesses on BT Tradespace. We've also got top tips on how to use video effectively, helping you become the star of your very own show.

3. Spread the word
Small businesses have always specialised in using word of mouth recommendations to win business, and the internet provides a real opportunity to maximise this. Time spent online continues to be dominated by peer-to-peer communities and consumers are increasingly turning to them for recommendations; over half of consumers claim user reviews and recommendations are important in their purchasing decisions.

Effectively utilising websites such as Facebook, Twitter and BT Tradespace will allow you to build an online community of businesses and consumers as a word of mouth network. But once you have found your online network, you need to ensure you are providing them with regular updates and information which is interesting and relevant, just as you would a traditional face to face acquaintance.

For example, sending monthly newsletters, posting product videos, interviews with employees, updates on customer experiences via testimonials or keeping a weekly blog are great ways of keeping your network up to date. This is also a good way of recommending and referring other successful businesses within your network, and in turn receiving referrals.

In 2010, online networks are only going to increase in importance, and by taking a few easy steps you can utilise the potential and start converting this into sales.

For more inforamtion please visit www.bttradespace.com