Be Social, But Don"t Neglect Your Website
I've written numerous articles in past about the importance of both Social Media and Mobile Website Optimization as a means to better engage customers.
Many have taken note and launched successful campaigns.
However, I cannot stress enough - your website is your number one online priority when marketing your product/service to your customers.
Social Networks are amazing tools for online marketing efforts and they can be fun to maintain.
Yet, sometimes businesses get so caught up in their Social Media agenda that their time is spread thin, leaving the "bread and butter", their website, on the sidelines.
In this article I address the methods, as they apply to Social Media campaigns, of making sure that your website comes first: 1.
Website Content is the Foundation Excuse the obvious statement, but in order to post something on your Social Media accounts, you have to have content to post in the first place.
If you're just sharing content from others, or creating content only for use on Social Networks, you're not optimizing your marketing efforts.
Create all content - articles, news, photos, and videos - for your website first.
All content must be rooted from your website, and branch out accordingly.
2.
Relate to Your Website If your website was "done right", then it represents your product/service offering perfectly.
All content that you create for your website and for subsequent off-site use (Social Networks, Bookmarks, etc...
) should directly relate to encouraging people to "buy" your product/service from your website.
Again, it's easy to get sidetracked by developing your brand's Social Media persona too well, by engaging in content sharing activities that don't directly related to your product/service.
Sure, it's fun to share info about the latest football news with fans/followers, but for every casual communication, ten should relate to your website, not NFL trade rumors (unless of course you are a sports agent).
3.
Link Back to Your Website This is an absolute statement - everything you post about your product/service on your Social Networks should directly link back to your website.
Otherwise, it's just information blowing in the wind, serving little purpose in bringing actual customers to your website - the place where purchases are made.
For example, don't post (on networks) complete articles, instead, simply "tease" the audience with an eye catching image, title, or content summary that makes it too irresistible not to click the link.
4.
Link to the Relevant Page Finally, link content posted on Social Networks to the page on your website directly corresponding to the content.
Too many marketers post eye-catching content summaries encouraging fans/followers to click through, only to have them land on the website's home page where the item doesn't exist.
Many do this thinking that it will increase page views (assuming visitors will look for the content on other pages) but all it gets them is a high "bounce rate" - visitors coming to your page, and leaving immediately if they don't find what they were looking for within a few split seconds.
Conclusion Remember the balance of website marketing and you'll do just fine.
Your website is the foundation of all online efforts and Social Media, Mobile Optimization, Bookmarking, and Link Building is the proverbial icing on the cake.
Many have taken note and launched successful campaigns.
However, I cannot stress enough - your website is your number one online priority when marketing your product/service to your customers.
Social Networks are amazing tools for online marketing efforts and they can be fun to maintain.
Yet, sometimes businesses get so caught up in their Social Media agenda that their time is spread thin, leaving the "bread and butter", their website, on the sidelines.
In this article I address the methods, as they apply to Social Media campaigns, of making sure that your website comes first: 1.
Website Content is the Foundation Excuse the obvious statement, but in order to post something on your Social Media accounts, you have to have content to post in the first place.
If you're just sharing content from others, or creating content only for use on Social Networks, you're not optimizing your marketing efforts.
Create all content - articles, news, photos, and videos - for your website first.
All content must be rooted from your website, and branch out accordingly.
2.
Relate to Your Website If your website was "done right", then it represents your product/service offering perfectly.
All content that you create for your website and for subsequent off-site use (Social Networks, Bookmarks, etc...
) should directly relate to encouraging people to "buy" your product/service from your website.
Again, it's easy to get sidetracked by developing your brand's Social Media persona too well, by engaging in content sharing activities that don't directly related to your product/service.
Sure, it's fun to share info about the latest football news with fans/followers, but for every casual communication, ten should relate to your website, not NFL trade rumors (unless of course you are a sports agent).
3.
Link Back to Your Website This is an absolute statement - everything you post about your product/service on your Social Networks should directly link back to your website.
Otherwise, it's just information blowing in the wind, serving little purpose in bringing actual customers to your website - the place where purchases are made.
For example, don't post (on networks) complete articles, instead, simply "tease" the audience with an eye catching image, title, or content summary that makes it too irresistible not to click the link.
4.
Link to the Relevant Page Finally, link content posted on Social Networks to the page on your website directly corresponding to the content.
Too many marketers post eye-catching content summaries encouraging fans/followers to click through, only to have them land on the website's home page where the item doesn't exist.
Many do this thinking that it will increase page views (assuming visitors will look for the content on other pages) but all it gets them is a high "bounce rate" - visitors coming to your page, and leaving immediately if they don't find what they were looking for within a few split seconds.
Conclusion Remember the balance of website marketing and you'll do just fine.
Your website is the foundation of all online efforts and Social Media, Mobile Optimization, Bookmarking, and Link Building is the proverbial icing on the cake.
