As the owner of a website, you likely check your site’s stats daily to get a solid picture of your readership. But what should you do if your numbers aren’t steadily increasing? Answer: Make your website socially shareable.
In today’s market, it’s difficult for a business to survive without engaging its core audience via social media. Sites like Twitter and Facebook provide a way for a company to express its unique voice and vision to its target group of consumers. Social media also provides an opportunity to directly address and resolve customer service issues in a public forum, as well as to celebrate small and large successes in front of a key audience. Here are some tips to optimize or update your web design with social media in mind.
Use your words
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: Content is king. This means that, first and foremost, you must be creating new and relevant content for your site on a regular basis. A blog is key, as it can be updated frequently to give visitors new information on your business in real time. If you don’t have a blog on your site, start one today and enlist business partners, employees and even other colleagues in your industry to contribute to it.
Add and prioritize social share buttons
Let’s be honest: Most people are far more likely to click one button than five. Your responsibility is to make sure your site offers an easy connection to social media outlets. Those buttons that allow readers to click a Facebook “Like” or to retweet an article are crucial for boosting your site’s social media profiles, so don’t overlook their importance. If your site is hosted by WordPress, consider installing something like the Digg Digg plugin to easily add all the requisite buttons in one clean sweep.
The location of these buttons on the page is also important, so be sure to place them somewhere easily accessible to visitors. It’s best to feature them both on your homepage as well as on individual pages, such as blog posts.
Facebook is your friend
Building on the idea of installing social share buttons, consider integrating Facebook into the comments section of your blog. This will allow visitors to sign in to your site using their existing Facebook accounts—offering one more way to ease the connection between your site and the social media world. This also allows others to see where their friends have left comments, granting added visibility to your site.
On a related note: It might seem obvious, but it’s worth pointing out how crucial it is for your business to have its own social media presence. Creating one allows you to provide even more timely updates to current and potential customers, and also gives off an impression of professionalism. Make sure to update the page frequently and respond in a timely manner to any and all comments posted on the page.
Be loud. Be demanding. Repeat as necessary to make your website socially shareable
The sole purpose of your site is to create a platform for your call to action. Whether it’s buying products, donating to a nonprofit or joining an email list, it’s important to reiterate that prompting on a regular basis. Offer clear and consistent reminders for your visitors, and be sure to conclude every blog post with a fresh version of that same call to action. Repetition is key in a saturated marketplace.
Your website will see greater traffic increases as a direct result of the prudent use of social media. Making the effort to connect your site directly with Facebook and Twitter is a worthwhile investment in time and energy, and will result in significant dividends down the line.