Research shows that 2.77 billion people are on social media this year.
That makes it a marketing opportunity like few others!
Understanding how to drive traffic to your website using social media can significantly improve the chances of business success.
Unfortunately, this can be easier said than done.
Are you looking to leverage social media for traffic generation, but don’t know where to start?
Keep reading for essential advice on seeing social media success.
Blog Distribution Tips for Traffic Boosting
Blog content is the key to how to increase website traffic using social media.
For one thing, leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) will see it rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). Organic web traffic comes your way as a natural by-product.
However, traffic potential doesn’t (and shouldn’t) stop there.
Blog posts can work hand in hand with social media too. Simply, with an enormous audience at your fingertips, social profiles become the perfect platform on which to share content.
The following steps should help you maximize the web traffic you see from them.
1. Divide Into Sharable Points
Let’s imagine you’ve just written a new blog post of the highest quality.
It’s comprehensive, informative, and will provide true value to your target audience.
Of course, you can go ahead and share the entire thing on your social profiles. Put a post on Facebook, tweet about it on Twitter, and add to your Instagram story.
With a link attached, you’re sure to drive some traffic. But you can do better.
A more rewarding alternative is to break it up into smaller chunks. Rather than sharing one single post, you distribute the same content multiple times via specific elements of it.
Let’s break it down.
Selection 3 to 5 top text highlights from the post. Examples could include the headline, a key quote, a compelling statistic, or a particular question from the article.
These form the basis of what you’ll share on social media. Suddenly, you have a means of sharing your post multiple times, instead of just once.
2. Source Relevant Visuals
Think about the posts you engage with on social media.
Would you share a random slice of text with a link to an unknown URL? If it’s compelling enough, perhaps. In general, though, it’s highly unlikely.
People prefer visual content! We’re visual animals with an inherent preference for images. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right?
That fact has significant implications for your social media marketing efforts. For instance, people are 10 times more likely to engage with social posts that have an image!
As you can see, those blog snippets from step 1 will perform exponentially better if they have images attached. You want a visual accompaniment to each snippet you decided upon.
Branded photo quotes and quote boxes are two great ways to do it. The quote you decided could be transposed in stylish writing on a colored background.
Share this with some engaging ad copy and you’re onto a winner.
Even better, you can do it all for free on online software such as Canva.
3. Share the Content!
Let’s stop and take stock for a moment.
You’ve now got three to five shareable snippets and a visual masterpiece to go with each one!
It’s time to get sharing on social media. This is the key step in how to drive traffic to your website using social media.
i. Create the Links
The first sub-step here is to create the URL link itself that you’re going to share. This is more complex than it sounds.
You can, of course, go ahead and simply post each snippet/image combo with the link to your blog post. But how will you know which is performing best? You couldn’t.
We’ll talk more about tracking your results later. For now, just know it’s important!
Something called UTM parameters will help you measure performance.
They’re essentially tags attached to each link that help Google Analytics identify the platform and distribution method. A UTM link for an organic (aka not a paid ad) Facebook post would look like this:
https://[yourdomain].com/[new-blog-post-extension]/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic&utm_content=[new-blog-post-extension ]&utm_campaign=organic-content-distribution.
You do the same thing for each platform, replacing ‘Facebook’ with the social platform you’re sharing it on.
Confused? Here’s a great post on setting them up. Google’s URL Builders will also help you create your links.
ii. Shorten the Links
Those links are functional, but they don’t look great, right?
Imagine sharing them next to your beautiful visuals! It wouldn’t be a good look.
Instead, use a website called Bit.ly to shorten them. You can set up an account on there for free. This is a top resource for tracking metrics too.
You simply input your current URL and set a shortened version. Be sure to label each link by the platform you’re set to share it on! This will help you keep track of everything.
iii. Distribute!
Finally, with the links complete, it’s time to actually share the content.
Alas, unlike email marketing (another great way to distribute your content), setting up broadcasts on each platform is a time-consuming and laborious task. Imagine having 5 posts to share on as many social sites!
Thankfully, numerous services have been set up to help. These social media management systems enable you to manage each social site on one interface.
You can schedule, publish and monitor for each site far more easily. Consider leveraging a similar system to facilitate your social sharing.
Importantly, the specific copy you use for broadcasts should vary between platforms.
It’s no good simply copying and pasting ad copy between them. Users engage differently on Facebook and Twitter, for example. Not to mention the fact you have different word count limits and publishing requirements to consider.
Be platform-centric when you post; ensure that copy matches what your followers have come to expect.
4. Leverage Hashtags for Added Reach
Onto step 4!
This one’s a simpler process that you may already be familiar with.
Essentially, you want to tag relevant websites and people that you think might be interested in your post. Imagine tagging a relevant celebrity in a tweet.
They see it, enjoy it, and retweet it to their audience.
It’s a quick and easy way of extending your reach and (potentially) getting more traffic.
Same goes with hashtags. Instagram championed hashtags, but the practice has extended elsewhere now. They provide a crucial way of being discovered in social searches.
A travel site may share their post on Instagram with #travel attached. Anyone searching for travel posts has a chance to find theirs.
In this way, tags and hashtags can make a major difference in driving traffic to your site. Be sure to use them.
5. Track Performance
Effective marketing demands measurement and testing.
It isn’t enough to just post on social media and hope for the best. Sitting there with your fingers crossed isn’t going to drive the traffic you want!
You must monitor the results of your posts.
Why? Because you start to develop a picture of what works and what doesn’t. You move from shooting from the hip to firing with laser-guided precision.
This is where you UTM and Bit.ly links come into their own.
Head over to Google Analytics and Bit.ly. You can find out the demographics of who is engaging, where they’re engaging from, and at which time of day!
You get to see the specific posts on specific platforms that are performing best.
That information is gold dust to ongoing marketing endeavors. Use it in your future social posts to hone your efforts and enjoy greater returns.
6. Schedule Automatic Re-Shares
The shelf life of social media posts is generally awful!
The first 24 to 48 hours or so see engagement. Then, after that, it vanishes.
Don’t despair. There are ways to prolong their life and see ongoing traffic coming from them.
How? You redistribute that content over time. You can do this manually, of course. But that would be immensely time-consuming.
A much better approach is to use a scheduling tool (like the social media management tools mentioned before) to do it automatically.
In true ‘set it and forget it style’, you set the same posts to broadcast on each platform at varying intervals. They just cycle through them on auto-pilot, driving steady traffic as they go.
Blog Repurposing Tips for Traffic Boosting
Blog repurposing is well worth a brief mention too.
Social media isn’t just great for driving traffic from new content. You can leverage it to promote older posts too. This is one example of blog repurposing.
Rather than letting old blog posts drift into the recesses of your site, you take the information and promote it in novel ways.
Those old posts still have value! You’ve done the hard work in creating it. Repurposing is about getting the greatest return possible.
Here are a few tips on how to increase website traffic using social media with older content.
1. Share Them on Social
First off: simply share it on your social platforms!
Use the steps outlined above and apply them to older blog posts instead.
2. Post the Entire Article
Next up, consider putting the entire article on social channels.
Let’s imagine you posted the links to your content last week. Well, why not upload the entire post to Facebook or LinkedIn? You could do so with a link back to your website or landing page.
It’s an easy way to cultivate new engagement and traffic around a post you wrote in the past.
3. Break Them Up
Take those old blog posts and create more small and sharable snippets.
Break them up, attach visuals and links, and schedule them to post on social.
4. Create and Share Videos
Blogs can easily be transformed into video content.
You could simply record yourself on a smartphone going through the essential tips in it. Social media platforms now prioritize video over text-based content.
You’ll see far greater engagement as a result.
Final Thoughts on How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Using Social Media
There you have it: Exactly how to drive traffic to your website using social media.
Social media platforms are utilized by billions of people around the world. That makes them a marketer’s dream come true!
One enormous advantage they offer is the ability to drive traffic to your website. With the right approach, you can send huge numbers of users to your new (and old) blog posts.
Alas, knowing how to increase website traffic using social media isn’t always easy. Hopefully, this post has highlighted exactly how to do it.
Want more tips like this? Click here to learn how to create effective social media posts.