It’s 2021 and by now, you know that social media is a must for your business. Remember the days when it was a new thing to have a professional website? Those days are gone. It is not enough anymore. There is far more to your online presence than was necessary in previous years. Today, the right social media accounts are required to complement your website. They must each work in concert with one another. Your socials must lead your prospective customers to your website and you must also link to social media from your website. You can do this by adding a social media widget with icons like this to the footer of your website:
There are many reasons to add social media account links via a social media widget, but we’ve narrowed it down to just three.
1. Your Customers Come to You/ Improves SEO Search Rankings
There is an exercise that is done to find companies to partner with and follow via social media. Business development and marketing professionals look through search engines for companies we’re interested in following and then we look to follow you on social media. We’re begging you to be visible and we’re not alone. Your customers do this too. So why are you not linking your social media accounts on your website?
Your prospective customers and partners are literally putting your keywords into their preferred search engine looking to find a company just like yours. Consider the amount of time that you spend seeking these very customers when they could be coming to you. Using links to socials is another tool to create avenues for inbound marketing. Social media platform links like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter show up in search engine results. If you link to social media accounts from your website, these are considered outbound backlinks on your website. This not only increases your website’s chance of being found, but SEO also loves backlinks to outside URLs along with internals to your website.
Without a link to social media on your website, you are forcing your customer to do a secondary search to find out more information. It’s far less likely that they are going to do yet another search for your business. They will move on to the next company in their search and forget about yours. There’s little time for you to snag your customer’s attention. Ensure that you give them every opportunity to continue the relationship with your company so they will inevitably buy from you and not your competitor.
2. Keep Your Audience Informed/ Websites are Static & Socials are Liquid
Some customers entering your website are simply curious. They may not be ready to buy just yet. Filling out a website form may be too much for them in their current position in the buyer’s lifecycle. But if they can follow a link on your website to your socials and follow you there, there is far less risk or fear of commitment. Your social media channels share current information that changes weekly which offers new and exciting opportunities to engage with your business. Your website offers all of the data and information that your customers need to make a purchase when they’re ready, but in the mean-time, they need to know your business personality and your values. Linking to socials ensures that they have an opportunity to continue the conversation.
3. Keeps a Sense of Community and Loyalty
When your prospective customer is taken to your socials, they should be met with a strong sense of community which will foster loyalty. Consider social media a courting ritual with your customer. Your website is marriage. It’s more formal and not as much fun. It shows your branding, but it does not show your personality. Through social media you can show your business’s personality in unique and well-rounded ways. You can offer further insights into the ways your business actually functions. What does a day look like in your team? What is a bit of your process? Can you offer more value to your customer than your competitor? Yes, you can share this on your website, but social media is in real-time. Your brand can appear more authentic which will create brand loyalty. Millennials are interested in supporting companies that align with their values. According to Edelman, 39% of customers trust brands more if they’ve interacted with them online. Socials allow you to prove what your brand’s values are and provide consistency to your customers.
Conclusion
Your business health depends on a fresh line of new customers being fed through all available channels. Adding a social media widget to your website is an easy way to ensure that your customers have every opportunity to continue the conversation with your brand. If you’re not sure how to make your website and social media take flight, book a Wingman today! You don’t have to fly solo.