How to increase web traffic using social media
As well as being a great tool for interacting with customers and sharing promotional messages, social media is an effective way of increasing web traffic. We recently increased a client’s web traffic from social media by 121% in one month (compared to the previous year), with a focus on content from Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Here are some ways to increase your web traffic using social media.
Create relevant content
In order to have lots to share on social media, you’ll need relevant content that will interest your followers. Blogs are a great way to drive traffic to your website and each post is easily shareable on social media too. Incorporating a blog into your website is relatively easy and means you can comment on industry news, share informal updates and write tips and advice relating to your products. These types of posts are popular because they’re not directly trying to sell something, you can still mention your products and add in a link to your website but they tend to focus more on being informative by offering general advice.
Use a variety of channels
Facebook and Twitter are often the most popular social media channels for brands but Linkedin is growing quickly, and is increasingly being used by B2B companies. In three months, we saw an increase in traffic from Linkedin of 1280%, highlighting just how useful a Linkedin Company page can be. If you’re unsure what to share on Linkedin, why not read our blog for some ideas?
Post a variety of updates that include calls to action
It’s easy to share sales posts about your products but this can easily turn off your followers, who may even unfollow your account. To avoid this, share a variety of updates - this can include competitions, photos, behind the scenes posts about fundraising, community or employee activities and posts about charity events or relating to projects or places generate a higher engagement rate.
Try and include a call to action in the majority of your updates to give your followers a reason to interact with you and click through to your website. This doesn’t always have to be ‘visit our website’, it could also be a question such as a ‘did you know?’ giving customers the chance to find out interesting facts about the company.
Use relevant hashtags
Posting a tweet without a hashtag limits your audience to your followers unless it gets re-tweeted. Adding in a relevant hashtag makes a big different and statistics suggest that it can increase engagement by up to 100%. Use the trending tweets list for ideas or tap into industry related hashtags such as #construction. Another great idea is to use location related hashtags if you’ve got a project in a specific place. #sheffieldissuper and #rotherhamiswonderful are two examples that increase impressions into the hundreds relatively easily. So if you’ve included a link to your website in your tweet, you could easily increase web traffic just by including a hashtag!
Share an incentive
Your website is an ideal place to share exclusive content which gives your followers a reason to click through to it. Post special offers and news on there and share this on social media, and you should notice an increase in your web traffic quite quickly.
Update your social media profiles
Although it sounds simple, make sure your web address is included in all your social media profiles so that people can find it with a single click. If you’re following new people on Twitter they’re likely to view your profile and may want more info, and this is where your web address plays an important role.
Update your website
While social media is great for increasing web traffic, it’s also important that the website you’re directing them to is up to date. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and user friendly. A high bounce rate is an indication that they’re not finding what they need easily, so use this as a measure for whether your site needs a refresh in both design and content.
We can help with web design, SEO and social media, so get in touch if you need any help. For more info visit www.dragonflypr.co.uk or call our team on 01709 300130 or email: hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.