9 Ways To Drive More Social Media Traffic To Your Website Without Paid Advertising

In the age of shorter attention spans and the constant search for the next trending or viral post, it’s harder to grab and retain Netizen attention.  And if you want to drive them to your website, posting updates with links on your social media accounts won’t be enough.

These strategies can help lead your social media followers to your main site and hopefully be evangelists for your business.

1. PLACE LINKS IN A PRIME SPOT

Studies have shown that links placed somewhere at the beginning of a tweet or a status update receive more click-throughs than those that are added towards the end of a post. While it’s more convenient to add the link as a call to action in the end, it doesn’t catch attention as much as it should.

On Facebook, we recommend using the link preview post type instead of uploading the image and adding the link in the description. This creates a much larger clickable area to generate traffic to your website and is proven to be highly effective in doing so.

2. USE IMAGES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

Engaging social media posts, or those that are likes, shared, or retweeted, are usually accompanied by photos. Including a photo from the link you want to feature attracts interests and is more likely to encourage users to click through.

Facebook users like images so much, status updates containing images gain 104% more comments, 54% more likes, and 84% more click-throughs. What’s more, images that use grey and white and have a call to action experience a further increase in click-through rates.

3. REMEMBER THAT CONTENT IS KING

Using imagery and tracking post frequency would not be effective if you share mediocre content. It’s thus important that your content is well-curated: it’s fresh, interesting, and relevant to your followers. This will make them look forward to your posts and actually click through to your site. Just as in the previous strategy, observe what kind of posts are most liked and shared by your followers (are they into videos, infographics, tips, or motivational quotes?) and plan your content based on insights you’ve learned.

4. HARD-SELL DOES NOT SELL

Social media strategists recommend the 80-20 rule: Only 20% of your posts should be about your business and offering; the rest should be about providing value and helpful information. If you’re in the real estate business, for example, 20% of your posts could be about your products and services; the 80% could be informative posts on choosing the right property location, decorating tips, how to renovate within a budget, property financing, and other content that doesn’t appear self-serving. Nothing turns off users more than a hard-sell pitch. Again, keep your posts interesting and relevant.

5. CONSIDER THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR POSTS

A high volume of posts does not necessarily translate to more site traffic. Your followers can be overwhelmed if you flood their newsfeeds updates, and might unfollow your account. In general, post once every day or two on Facebook, once an hour on Twitter, and once a day on LinkedIn and Instagram. Note that these are not hard and fast rules. Observe follower behaviour and post accordingly depending on your target audience.

6. HASHTAGS ARE #IMPORTANT

You see it used casually and liberally across many social media platforms. In reality, a hashtag is an important social media tool: it’s a tagging system that categorises content. It’s viewable by everyone interested in your hashtag, and it expands your visibility to anyone looking into that hashtag or keyword, even if they’re not in your network. Used accordingly, posts with hashtags generate up to twice as much traffic than posts without them.

How you use hashtags will depend on the social media platform you’re in.  In Twitter, use no more than two hashtags per post; use 11 or more on each Instagram post to get more interactions.  Keep your hashtags short, relevant, and catchy so they’re easier to recall and find in the social media universe.

7.  BE ONLINE WHEN YOUR FANS AND FOLLOWERS ARE

Posts have more impact when the targeted audience is there to see them. Know when your fans and followers are online: is it at 8AM, before they settle down for work, during lunch hour, or during the evening commute home? If you manage a Facebook fan page, it has free analytics tools you can use to track user behaviour and determine when the best time is to schedule a post.

8. KEEP POSTS SHORT AND SWEET

Fans and followers appreciate posts that are easy to read and straight to the point.

While you can post a paragraph-long status updates on Facebook, trends have shown that one-sentence posts with approximately 40 characters have higher click-through and engagement rates than longer posts. While Twitter has a 140-character limit, posts shorter than 100 characters have a higher engagement rate.

9. EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR STRATEGIES, AND ADJUST

Strategies that might work for some businesses might not work for others. Know what’s best for you by constantly testing the strategies listed here, tracking their performance, and adjusting them according to the response of your audience.

Keep in mind that fan and follower behaviour and the dynamics of social media networks also evolve over time. New features will be introduced, new guidelines will be developed. Staying up-to-date with the latest trends will help you maintain user engagement and click-through rates to optimal levels.

While it’s great to grow your social media base to get more traffic, it will take time before you can reap its benefits.  With these 9 strategies, however, you get more click-throughs to your site with just the same volume of fans and followers. Creativity and constantly getting the pulse of your audience will go a long way.

Have you tried any of these strategies to increase social media click-throughs? What other strategies have worked for you