SlideShare is a social media site ‐ one of the many but also one of the best. However, unlike Twitter or Facebook, you don't share (only) messages - you share presentations instead. Presentations have been used for business and personal needs for decades and they are a popular way to express yourself visually.

On SlideShare you can upload your presentation and if it gets popular, it can be viewed by millions of people. If you know how to make the presentation, you can not only get traffic to your site, but you can also improve your rankings with Google, expand your followship on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc., attract more subscribers to your newsletter, or boost your brand/reputation online.

If used properly, SlideShare can really do a great job. Here are some tips how to make the most of SlideShare.

How to Make the Most of SlideShare

The rules for becoming popular on SlideShare are not that difficult to understand, though they certainly require lots of effort from you. Here is what you should and shouldn't do, if you want to harness the potential of SlideShare.

1 Upload Only Quality Presentations

The most important rule for success on SlideShare is that your presentations must be of the highest quality only ‐ no exceptions here. This applies not only to content but also to design, so if you feel you lack the skills to create a rocking presentation, you'd better hire somebody else to do it for you, than upload presentations with poor quality.

As for content, usually the most popular presentations are either something sensational, or something incredibly useful, or something that plays with readers' emotions. Still, if your presentation falls in one of these three groups, this isn't a guarantee it will become popular.

When you prepare your presentation, you might want to make it a bit more sensational by exaggeration. Needless to say, this is a very wrong approach and it can turn against you. Your presentations need to be honest and true - don't exaggerate, don't overhype because this will only make users distrust you.

As for the form of the presentation, it is best to save it as PDF rather than .PPS because with so many devices you never know how a .PPS will look like. PDF looks always the same, so stick with it.

2 Choose a Memorable Title and Write an Interesting Description

The overall quality of your presentation is very important but if the title and description are boring, users won't even bother to open the link and see all the greatness. This is why you need to write a memorable and informative title and an interesting description that will make users click on it instead of go away. In order to get maximum SEO effect, both the title and description must have your keywords ‐ but don't overstuff because this will have the adverse effect.

3 Keep Your Structure Simple and Your Points Short

Remember, this is a presentation, not a novel, so you don't have enough space for complex structures and/or lengthy explanations. Keep your structure simple to follow and your points short ‐ this is the recipe for a successful presentation. Additionally, use large font sizes for the text and try not to include more than 7 lines of text per slide.

4 Don't Forget to Include the URL of Your Site

While SlideShare doesn't allow blatant self-promotion, you are allowed to include the URL to your site. Don't miss this opportunity! You can include the URL at the end of the presentation, so after users have finished viewing it, if they want more information, they can get it from your site.

5 Pick Long Tail Keywords to Include

SlideShare is a very high ranking site and it is great for long tail keywords in particular. Because of this, you should include some long tail keywords in the description, or even better - in the title of your presentation. This does miracles for ranking in Google, so think a lot exactly which long tail keywords you want to target.

6 Make the Design of Your Presentation Outstanding

We already mentioned that your presentation must be of supreme quality. Content is important but when it's not packaged in an attractive cover, users won't pay much attention to it. This is why you need to make your presentation visually attractive. Make a very attractive starting slide because this draws lots of attention.

However, be careful not to overdose. Your presentation must be not only attractive but it also must be stylish. To achieve this, don't overload it with effects because this will make it cluttered and/or heavy to open.

7 Promote Your Presentation

No matter how great your presentation is, if you don't promote it, it might not get good traffic. This is why, when you upload the presentation, share the link on Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking sites, Pinterest, and on your blog to ensure it gets maximum exposure.

8 Get More Twitter Followers and Facebook Fans

SlideShare is great when you are looking for more Twitter followers or Facebook friends. If you want to expand your social media following, include not only your site URL but also links to your social profiles to grow your following there.

9 Get More Email Subscribers

Similarly, if you want to get more subscribers to your newsletter, mention it in your presentation and include the link where people can join.

10 Build Your Brand and Reputation

With all the exposure you can get on SlideShare, it's an awesome way to build your brand and reputation. Of course, this will hardly happen after you upload a single presentation, even if it is the greatest of the greatest but if you have dozens of presentations with top quality, this will help to establish yourself and your brand online.

11 Consider Upgrading to LeadShare

If you see that the free services on SlideShare are working well for you and you want to see if you can get more out of the site, you may want to consider paid services, for instance LeadShare. This paid service helps to get leads. The only problem is that it is very expensive but for the right audience it might be worth.

SlideShare is a top site where you can get many benefits for your site and business. It is true this isn't the easiest way ‐ preparing quality presentations is an effort for sure but since it is free and powerful, it makes sense to try it (if you haven't done it so far) to see if your site and business will benefit from it as well.