LinkedIn is continuing it’s domination as one of the primary social networks when it comes to ranking and purpose. What can this business savvy social networking site teach us about search engine marketing and social media success?

By George Anders

What is LinkedIn doing right? Unlike most social sites, such as Facebook, Zynga and Groupon, which have been hammered in the stock market, LinkedIn keeps winning Wall Street’s admiration. After LinkedIn reported strong quarterly results late yesterday, shares of the professional-network company jumped 7.3%, to $100.31 apiece, in after-hours trading.

LinkedIn didn’t just “beat the estimates.” It has put together a playbook that harnesses the great strengths of social media in ways that translate into unusually reliable profit growth. I began dissecting LinkedIn’s approach in a FORBES magazine cover story in July, and this week’searnings news provides further insights into LinkedIn’s edge. So, with a nod to the late Steven Covey, here are the seven habits of a well-run social network.

1. LinkedIn generates traffic with a purpose. Any social-media player can find it intoxicating to attract swarms of users. Without a clear plan, though, executives are merely hosting an enormous party that accomplishes little. In LinkedIn’s case, active membership rose 50% from a year earlier, to 174 million users, while page views climbed more than 60%, with much of the growth coming from mobile — and that’s not idle surfing.

Read the full article here http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2012/08/03/linkedins-edge-the-7-habits-of-a-well-run-social-network/