Expert Roundup using social media to support your website

What comes to mind when you hear the words "social media"?

Do you think about how much fun it can be to grow an audience on the platform of your choosing? How great it is to show off your products or services for free (or at a low cost)? How awesome it is to interact with your audience on a daily basis and see how they are engaging with your brand?

Or, on the flip side, do you get overwhelmed by how much social media relies on pre-scheduling? Feel defeated whenever you see accounts growing faster than yours? Or get frustrated trying to maintain a picture-perfect aesthetic?

Trust me, when it comes to social media we all experience feelings on every end of the spectrum.

Social media is a powerful tool that holds an enormous amount of weight in your business and website's marketing efforts, but it doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of time and effort to build and maintain a strategic profile no matter which social media platform(s) you're on.

But all that aside, social media is one of the greatest ways to drive traffic back to your website and support your business efforts. It just takes a bit of know-how!

I've reached out to some of the industry's leading experts to make sure that you have the best advice possible when it comes to using social media to support your website. These professionals are all powerhouses in the the social media world who specialize in a variety of platforms. From strategy to content planning to design, they know their stuff and have built impressive businesses sharing their knowledge and showing their work. Can you say #likeaboss?

The tips they've shared about using social media to support your website are practical and applicable to any type of website in any industry. I have no doubt that you'll be able to take their advice and drive more traffic to your website from social media today.

Related

To make things even more helpful and actionable, I've created a FREE GUIDE that will walk you through the best way to use social media to support your website. You'll learn all about the five step process for creating content on your website and sharing it on social media in a way that drives traffic without being spammy. This 5-page guide to using social media to drive traffic back to your website is informative and filled with tips you can start using today. It'll help you to implement strategies from the expert's tips below (as well as many more included in the guide) and will only take a few minutes to get started. You can get that guide by entering your email address below, and it will be delivered to your inbox right away. Enjoy!

Does social media support your website?

Download my free guide to using social media to drive traffic back to your website.

Advice from the experts

Without further ado, here's what the experts have to say about using social media to drive traffic to and support your website.

"Think of Pinterest as the frosting and sprinkles on your cupcake of web traffic - it seems like pretty eye candy but also adds a lot of flavour and interest! Pinterest is amazing for long term traffic to your website. So why do most people create only one image per blog post? That's just silly! Create multiple Pinterest images and maximize your Pinterest possibilities.

Tips for Pinterest images:

Long, tall images - I use 800 x 1200 pixels
Create multiple images for each blog post
Use keywords in your Pin descriptions"

Peg Fitzpatrick, author and social media strategist

"Pinterest can drive lots of traffic to your website/blog, especially when it's optimized for search engine optimization (SEO). Begin by converting your Pinterest account to a business account, then verify your website on Pinterest, activate rich pins, and add Pinterest widgets to your site. Visitors should be able to easily pin from anywhere on your site.

Next up, be sure to optimize your website/blog content for Pinterest by including at least one vertical pinnable image to each of your blog post. Name your pinnable image with the main keyword phrase which you are using in your blog post title and in the body text. Be sure to include a keyword rich description to your image's alt tag as well.

Pinterest's search box is a great way to find out the most searched keywords on Pinterest. When you know what those keywords are and how they relate to your website/blog's content, you can then optimize your content even further to drive traffic from Pinterest back to your website."

Petra Veikkola, founder, Nellaino

"Social media is about capturing your audience’s attention, inviting engagement, and providing an incentive to click back to your website. When developing a content strategy, consider “What would capture my attention if I was scrolling through a newsfeed?” Then, develop the type of short, eye catching, or thought provoking content that will attract attention visually, engage your audience with a question or compelling thought, and then offer more information on your website so they’ll be interesting in learning more.

When people apply this thought process to LinkedIn, for example, they think they need to be bland and boring since it’s a “professional” networking site. Throw that notion out the window. Be personal, engaging, and unique. Be yourself. This type of content attracts attention because your connections want to connect with YOU and they’re already interested in what you have to say. Use social media as a vehicle to hook their attention and direct them back to your website where you can add more value by demonstrating you expertise, offer solutions to problems, or provide a more robust discussion on your topic. Then use your digital marketing techniques (i.e., email, retargeting, audience collection) to continue that conversation in a manner that achieves your professional or marketing objectives."

Ethan Wall, president & founder, Social Media Law and Order

social media to support your website graphic

"There are a number of ways to use LinkedIn to support and drive traffic to your website. I’ll mention two.

The first is via a LinkedIn post. Think about where you want to direct people to on your website. Also, think about your call to action.

If you have a blog on your website, create LinkedIn posts for different blog posts. For example, a LinkedIn post could be: “Read how Canada’s anti-spam law affects you: [blog post link]”. The blog post you link to can be those authored by someone else at your firm or company, as the goal is to drive traffic to your website. Spread out your posts over a few days.
If you have a newsletter you want people to sign up for, post a reminder that your next newsletter is about to be sent. For example, your post could state: “Sign up at [link] to learn about [x, y, z] in our upcoming newsletter”.

The second is to add your website URL to the “Contact and Personal Info” section of your profile. You can also add two more URLs, such as a link directly to your website bio or website blog. Although this is a more passive way to drive traffic to your website than LinkedIn posts, it’s simple and quick to do."

Eva Chan, lawyer turned social media consultant for lawyers, evachanweb.ca

"When it comes to Instagram, people get caught up on the numbers. You obsess over the hearts, engagement percentages and the number of followers. If I can tell you one thing, it's that those hearts you see pop up- they're PEOPLE! Never ever forget that. Instead, fall in love with your audience and create content that you wish existed. You can't manipulate your way to higher engagement, and I personally don't think creating the same boring content you see everywhere else is going to get you noticed.

If you're struggling to stand out, go back to the things that set you apart - your personality, your story.

I use Instagram in a real and organic way to share my behind the scenes, and anything that's coming up in my business that I'm excited about. Instagram is a great way to showcase what I'm up to so I always link to my recent blog posts or upcoming masterclasses that help motivate, inspire and teach my audience. It's easy to share this content because I'm already excited about what I'm working on and want to speak about it anyway. Share the behind the scenes, talk to the camera on your stories, be REAL. Say things that even scare you a bit.

Instagram was the first place I grew my audience and it led to my first clients and customers. However, use the platform that's most comfortable and native to you. You can be successful on any platform as long as you're authentic and offer great value.

If you're using Instagram to grow your business, remember that followers do not equal customers, customers equal customers, so don't think that you need to be at 5000 followers to have your first client.

People will like, respect and respond to your content. Of course you want to make your page visually appealing but the most important thing to keep in mind is connection over perfection."

Reese Evans, founder, YES SUPPLY

Final Thoughts

Social media is a powerful tool that lets you connect with your audience, grow your following, and ultimately drive traffic back to your website. There are social media strategies you can put in place that will help you to get more eyes on your website and even convert those visits into sales or email newsletter signups. You'll want to take a slightly different approach to posting depending on which social media platform you're focused on but no matter what, your goal is to serve your audience by providing them with useful content on your website.

As you can see from the experts' advice above, there are steps you can take TODAY that will make sure social media supports your website. Whether you want to inform your followers that you have new products/services available or want them to check out your latest blog post, social media is a wonderful way to send traffic back to your website. By following their tips, you'll feel more confident posting to social media since you're clear on your goal of providing useful content and driving traffic back to your website.

Pssst: check out the other posts in the "Expert Roundup" series

Whether you're a social media pro who wants to brush up on their skills or a DIY website builder, social media is a great way to support your website. The best strategies for social media change over time so be sure to follow the expert advice outlined above for current best practices from people who know the industry inside and out. Try out their tips today, I know you'll be thrilled with the results from your conversions! Now that you know what to keep in mind when it comes to using social media as a way to support your website, you're already ahead of the pack.

Don't forget that I've created a FREE GUIDE to using social media to drive traffic back to your website. If you want tips on the best strategies for posting on each social media channel, how NOT to come across as spammy, and the best way to drive traffic back to your website, this 5-page guide has you covered. I want you to get the most out of the expert's tips, so this guide is intended to be actionable and includes strategies you can start using right away. Be sure to grab your copy by clicking the button below. Whether you've got a website and social media channels up and running already or you're working on launching a new platform soon, this guide will make sure that you get started properly.

If this article has shown you how important it is to have a strategy in place when it comes to using social media to support your website, that's awesome! You can totally do this on your own and the expert tips and guide above will be a great place to start. That being said, if you're looking to work with a website strategist for consulting on a deeper level, be sure to check out my consulting services and get in touch today #shamelessplug.

Now it's your turn to tell me, how do you use social media to support your website? Do your posts drive traffic back to your website? Are you connecting with your audience in an authentic and strategic way? What do you do with those visitors once they land on your website from social media? I'd love to know so leave me a comment below!

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