6 Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Go Beyond Standard Practices for Using Social Media

It's not only search engine results pages (SERPs) that lead potential customers to click on your website. In the U.S., people spend an average of two hours daily on social media sites, and, globally, more than a million new users are joining social media platforms each day. Digital marketing experts tell us that quality content and engagement on social media contribute to brand success. But are there more specific ways to directly drive people from social media to your site? Continue reading to learn what are the best tools and techniques.

1) Your About Page Shouldn't Be an Afterthought

Take advantage of the sheer amount of time people spend on social media to create the best impression of your company and brand. You may think that you need only focus on captivating visuals and catchy captions, but start by providing relevant information on your Profile, About, or Bio page.

On your Profile or About page, you can tell your story, include website links, and other details about ways to contact you. You can even cross-promote your other social media pages by including links in this section. If you've developed a branded hashtag, publish it here, as well as in other places on your page.

On Instagram, where the bio information is condensed, make sure to include the link to your website and all hashtags associated with your brand. You'll want to use the small amount of space to home in on your brand's mission and/or benefits.

2) Promote "Social-Only" Deals

What better way to persuade users to link to your website and, ultimately, make a purchase than an announcement that a special deal is available only to fans or followers of your social media page? Include a special code that people can use at checkout and remind them that the offer time is limited. The other upside of this practice is that you can track each code's success once the promotion has ended.

3) Contests and Giveaways

What do consumers like more than a good deal? They love free stuff! Once again, include a code specific to the social media site, and direct readers to your website for more information.

4) Post Links to Exclusive Content

If you can sense a theme here, it's about giving social media users access to exclusive benefits, whether that's a deal, a chance to win a free item, or the opportunity to learn about some inside breaking news or to watch a video from a respected industry figure. You could even tease this content first and then follow up with reminders to keep these benefits in front of your followers. Digital marketers recommended posting the same or similar content more than once to ensure that targeted users have a good chance to see it.

5) Call-To-Action Buttons

The most proactive way to persuade your social media followers to take action on a deal or giveaway is to provide a button in the post. It serves the same function as a link, but its simplicity makes it appear more streamlined.

On Facebook, for example, you can get started with creating the CTA button by first going to your Facebook Business Manager account. From there, you'll link your owned pages and follow an easy series of steps where you'll specify which action you want your followers to take. Some of the options include:

• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Get Offer
• Sign Up
• Send Message
• Shop Now

You can create similar CTA buttons on any of the major social media sites, and where you decide to use them will depend on which platform is best targeted to your potential customers.

6) Consider Pay-Per-Click Ads on Social Media

You may be familiar with pay-per-click (PPC) ads that show up as sponsored links atop search engine results pages (SERPs) on Google or Bing. On the large search engines, PPC ads are purchased for individual keywords or phrases—and differ from the organic listings in that they are marked as advertising. While you must pay to be visible on these search pages, you get prominent positioning atop the organic search results links.

When you purchase PPC ads on social media networks like Facebook, advertisers pay for reaching specific target demographics, or they can zero in on user interests, group affiliations, or purchasing habits. The range of targeting options is broad. The advantage for businesses with a limited budget is that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad so it's an efficient way to reach your target as they're scrolling their feeds. Clicking on the ad can direct the user to your website and have the added advantage of being shareable.

Social Media is Both a Brand Builder and a Lead Generator

In-person meetings may not be possible right now. In the meantime, use your social media pages to work harder for your business. Social media can offer quality content and improve customer engagement, but it can also directly impact website clicks and sales.