Drive traffic to your website with social media

There are many ways to increase traffic to your website. You're probably familiar with a few of them: SEO or Search Engine Optimization, newsletters, paid searches, local SEO, etc.

Social media is one of the most popular ways for companies to generate traffic. But you need the right approach! 

Why social media?

Not only can social media attract many visitors to your site… It can also help you achieve your objectives in terms of visibility, brand awareness, etc.

Using social media platforms to generate traffic allows you to reduce advertising costs – if you use them organically. But don't forget that you'll need to invest some time.

Another advantage of this method is its ability to target your audience. Visitors from your social media pages are probably part of your target audience. They voluntarily clicked on the link to your website because it's what they're looking for.

Now that you’re thinking about it, you probably want to know how to go about it. Here are some ways to use social media to drive quality traffic to your website.

Choose the right platforms

The first step is to choose the right platforms. How do you choose among the myriad of networks available to you? Ask yourself the following: where is your target audience? Then, what type of content do you want to distribute? Of course, the best thing to do is to create an excellent social media strategy.

For example, if you serve a B2B clientele, LinkedIn could be a good platform to reach professionals. If you're a video expert, networks like YouTube, Tik Tok or Instagram would be more appropriate.

And don't forget Pinterest, which attracts a lot of traffic from pinned content. In fact, the average lifespan of a pin is 3 months, making it one of the longest content life on social media.

Optimize your social media profiles and pages

Fill in all the appropriate sections on each of your pages – this is a detail that should never be overlooked!

Make sure your website URL appears wherever it can be integrated. Do you have several links to share? No problem! We suggest you use linkt.ree, which gives you a single link pointing to all the sites you want, such as your website, your online store or sales pages for example.

In addition, be sure to choose the right CTA - action button - to integrate into the platform. If your objective is to attract users to your site, select a button that will take them to your landing page.

Create quality content

Here, let's focus on organic content. The first rule is to prioritize quality over quantity while remaining consistent. It’s better to have one good publication a week than six bad ones or three bad publications followed by a good one – three months later!

Here are a few basic tips:

• Video is the type of content with the best conversion rate
• Never put up text without visuals or visuals without text
• For organic content, Facebook may penalize external links, so use them sparingly and strategically; you can, for example, post your link as a comment from time to time to avoid damaging the reach of your publication

Find out how to create content that sells. 

Share your blog posts

Do you write articles for the blog section of your website? Why not share these articles with your community? Creating a post about your article and linking to it will generate traffic interested in your topic. In addition, when you share an article, make sure to include a hook or a tagline. It’s a great way to entice visitors to click.

Moreover, always think about the image you will feature in your article; the visuals will catch the user's eye, much like the text!

Be smart! Nothing stops you from sharing the same article more than once, as long as there's a reasonable interval between the two shares. You don't want to annoy your audience by publishing the same post a week apart!

Engage with your community

We can't stress this enough! The whole point of a social network presence is interacting with your community. Responding to comments and showing interest in what your audience has to say is vital.

And, why not take the opportunity to slip in a few links here and there?

Invest in advertising

Do you have a marketing budget? Why not spend a few dollars to attract a new audience to your site?

Obviously, the success of an ad lies in its appeal, in the keywords and in the targeting you do.

Once again, try to select a platform that's right for your target audience, and always choose an advertising objective that relates to your needs. As a starting point, we suggest an objective such as ‘attracting visitors to your site’.

Naturally, if you invest money, you'll want to know whether the ROI is worthwhile. So it's important to analyze the results of your paid campaign. In particular, you can use tools like the Meta Pixel, not only to help with targeting but also to measure effectiveness. Find out how to install the Meta Pixel.

Create an engaged community with a Facebook group

Did you know that Facebook groups are way more effective than pages in terms of the algorithm? A Facebook group will not only improve reach and engagement but will also…

• Develop a sense of belonging with your brand
• Let you engage with a targeted community
• Build a receptive community that will want to click on the links you share

So, when are you starting that Facebook group?

Develop partnerships with businesses

Do you have collaborators, or partnerships – or looking to develop new ones? Why not invite them to share some of your articles or your website?

Even better: launch projects with these partners and publish them simultaneously on your social media pages. Whether the project is big or small, everyone will benefit.

Of course, we encourage you to find partners relevant to your industry and your target audience.

Get your staff involved

Promote engagement around your posts by encouraging your employees to comment and share them. As connections on social networks are very broad, this will attract a new audience that may be interested in your offering.

Remember, your employees are often your finest ambassadors.

Plus, it's a great way to boost your employer brand!

Create useful, free tools

Offering content means offering value. Creating tools that are useful to your audience or clientele can benefit you tremendously. Get these tools circulating on social media, or use them as part of a Facebook ads campaign and/or to stimulate newsletter sign-ups, etc. 

A free tool in exchange for an e-mail address… Who would say no to that? 

Here are a few useful tool ideas:

• Ebook
• Calendar of publication ideas for social networks
• Special procedures related to your field of activity
• Spreadsheet templates useful for your customers, etc.

In conclusion

These are just some of the ways you can drive direct traffic to your website. Of course, there are other strategies that don’t necessarily focus on attracting direct traffic, but could still generate visitors. These strategies include sharing content that is entertaining, informative or that can serve for brand-building.

And remember, only relying on social media to generate traffic would be a serious mistake!

Finally, remember to use tools like Google Analytics to find out where your visitors are coming from.

Ready to get started? First and foremost, create your social media strategy!