Getting Traffic Through Social Media Sites
Web 2.0 sites and social media are already here (and have been for some time). Experts predict that this trend will only grow. That means if you don’t start using social media now – today – you’ll be left behind.
Here then are 10 tips for using social media to drive traffic to your sites…
- Complete your profile.
When you first open your Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo or other social media site account, fill out your profile (including a picture). Doing so makes it easier for people to get to know you and build relationships with you, which will make it more likely they’ll click through to your site.
- Interact.
Social sites are, by definition, social. They’re two way streets (not monologues). That’s why you shouldn’t just post content and move on. Instead, spend a few minutes each day interacting and getting to know people in your network.
- Include a link to your site on your profile page.
This tip is simple but effective: Give people a reason to click through from the social media site to your blog or squeeze page. A promise of a free solution usually makes for a good enticement.
- Ask your followers to “retweet” and repost.
If you create a “buzzworthy” post (such as a post on a hot or even controversial niche topic), as your Twitter followers to “retweet” it and ask your other social media networks to repost it.
- Spend time each day growing your network.
Commit to spending at least 10 minutes each day growing your network. You’ll see big results by the end of the month. And you’ll be amazed at the size of your network in six months or a year from now.
- Link your social site pages together.
Link your Twitter account to your Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, HubPages and other social media pages. And vice versa.
- Use your real name so that you’re easy to find.
People who want to do business with you won’t respond well to working with “BaseballBoy72.” Instead, build trust by using your real name. Doing so also makes it easier for others to find you on Facebook and similar sites.
- Post good content.
Social media is not just about networking, it’s also about sharing information. If you share some of your best information with your network, you’ll get respect, trust… and more sales. Plus you’ll establish yourself as a niche expert.
- Optimize some of your content.
Some social sites (such as Yahoo! Answers and Squidoo) get crawled and indexed regularly by the search engines. As such, you may consider optimizing some of your content for the search engines by including relevant (longtail) keywords two or three times for every 100 words of content.
- Get the most benefit for your time.
Instead of trying to interact and build relationships with thousands of prospects, consider building a relationship with a handful of partners. That’s because just one good partner can send you hundreds or thousands of prospects and customers.
In summary: Social media is only expected to grow in the future – and now is the best time to get involved if you’d like to grow your business right along with it. You can start today by applying the ten traffic-generating, relationship-building tips you just discovered!