Social media has transformed the way businesses market their products and services. But it’s not just a result of the larger reach that social media provides.
Social media supports your credibility through “likes”, “shares”, “+1s”, and other actions that create powerful social proof. This creates trust among your target audience and positions you as a leader in your industry.
The following shows you exactly how built-in social sharing features improve your website and the strategies you need to get the best results.
Social Sharing and Website Design
Your business website lets you reach a large number of people who need your products and services.
Once seen as “online business cards”, websites have now become an interactive way to share your brand message, demonstrate expertise, and draw prospects into your sales funnel.
Your site’s content supports the buying decisions of your audience. Getting that content shared through social media increases your reach and establishes your business brand.
Social share buttons make it easy for visitors to share your content with their networks. The following are the major benefits that using this feature gives your business.
Generate More Traffic to Your Website
Adding social sharing features to your website increases its traffic. When users share your content on Facebook, Twitter, or another social media platform, their networks engage with your brand and are more likely visit your website to learn more.
The more your content is shared, the greater number of potential site visitors you’ll reach. This increases your chance of reaching qualified prospects who become paying customers.
Increase Visibility
Brand visibility is an essential part of marketing your business. Your brand becomes more familiar the more often it’s seen by others.
You’ll be “top of mind” when they (or someone they know) is in need of your products or services.
But you can’t just be familiar. Your content must consistently provide a high level of value. This establishes credibility and meets the needs of those users you target.
Improve SEO Results
The search engine optimization (SEO) landscape is always changing. But some key principles will always be essential to achieving higher rankings in search results pages.The traffic generated from social share buttons supports your SEO results. Shared content increases the number of backlinks to your website, and a strong backlink profile is a cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy.
Getting the Most Out of Your Website’s Social Sharing Features
There are many ways to improve the results you achieve from social sharing buttons. But you’ll need to start by choosing the most important social media platforms for your business.
Consider where your target audience is most active. For some businesses, Facebook may be their best source of shares and website traffic. For others, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+ may offer better results.
Choosing the right social media features makes it easy for visitors to share your content while avoiding cluttering your site’s design with unnecessary elements.
The placement of social share features influences the results you achieve. Placing share buttons at the beginning and the end of your content improves the “shareability” of your site’s pages.
You need to test different placement strategies to determine which one gives you the best results. But not everyone will read an entire blog post. So placing them at the beginning may provide better results.
In addition to your blog, you can use social sharing features on other forms of content such as case studies, landing pages, and online ads.
Any content that has the potential to be shared should be outfitted with the right social sharing features.
By making it easy to share your content, you gain a competitive edge over your less social competitors.
How are you using social sharing features on your website to gain more visibility for your content? What challenges or questions do you have in setting up social share buttons within your site’s design?
Let us know in the comments below. Understanding the benefits of social share features helps you improve your website’s design and performance.
Over time, you increase the number of site visitors who need your products or services and get them to take the next step towards your primary offer.
