How to Make Your Website Social Media Friendly
#truthbomb: Your website doesn’t become social media friendly by default.
And we all know that social media is important AF. And not just for watching puppy videos as you scroll on Facebook and procrastinate that next project, all though I’m totally guilty of that too.
But social media is the bee’s knees for growing your business.
It helps attract more traffic to your site, enhance your search engine ranking and eventually boost conversions. And since social media can play a HUGE roll in those business growing tactics, you gotta make sure that your website is social media FRIENDLY.
WTF am I talking about?
“Social media-friendly” means making sure that your website integrates with social media effectively. It means strongly linking to social media to help create unity and ultimately a connection with your audience and clients. It means making sure your content is easily shareable on popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
How can you make sure that your website and your audience’s favorite social media platform really compliment each other?
Here are a few key suggestions to help you take your website’s social media friendliness up a notch…
Alright, we’re gonna start off simple here…
#1. Add Links to Your Social Media Profiles:
Encourage your website visitors to follow you (or at least scope you out) on social media. It’s an awesome way to connect with them AND it gives them the chance to engage with you and keep up with your latest news, offers, and products, and services.
Often people won’t buy from you on their first visit to your website. If they’re interested in your brand, the most likely option is to follow you on social media so they can low-key keep learning more about you, your products and services, and start to trust you.
Common places to add social media icons are along the top of your website, in the sidebar, and down within the footer area.
#2. Show Social Proof:
Showing social proof, like share counts, or screenshots are a TOTALLY UNDERRATED way to increase your credibility and give social confirmation to your content.
You might think it’s a little show-offy, but studies show it actually works.
If people see that other people shared your content, or posted about it on social media, they’ll be more inclined to engage with it too. People feel comfortable joining the crowd, and when they can see visually that a number of other people have shared or liked the content, they deem is more share-worthy and are more likely to join in.
#3. Make Your Content Shareable:
Social buttons are the key to making sharing your content as straightforward as possible. Make sure every post has an easy-to-find set of buttons featuring all of the major social networks.
If you’re putting in the time and effort into creating content for your website, chances are you value your audience. And when you value your audience, you create content that they like. And when people find your content useful, interesting or entertaining they’re going to want to share it….so don’t make them jump over hurdles to do that.
The good news is that there are a TON of options for adding social share buttons to your website. And you don’t need to be a tech whiz to do it.
Check out these options:
And if you’re using good old WordPress, you can install a plugin and be up and socially shareable in minutes. Check out my fav’s:
- *Social Warfare – the one I use on my website + refer allll of my clients too!
- SumoMe
- Genesis Simple Share
- Social Media Share Buttons
#4. Add Social Media Widget:
The perfect way to nonchalantly showcase your social media feeds…if you keep them updated. Don’t add a social media widget for a platform that you’re not too keen on keeping up to date, those stick out like a sore thumb.
BUT if you’re putting a lot of time into your Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest profiles, showcase them. It’s an easy way to add visual elements and to get your website visitors engaging with your content.
I integrated my Instagram feed using the Instagram Feed plugin by Smash Balloon.
It adds some branding-specific visual elements to my footer and allows my visitors to follow me in just one click. That’s a win, win if you ask me.
There’s also the awesome option of Click to Tweets.
Make it easy for your readers to share your content on social media with clickable links.Click To TweetTweetable quotes, they remind your readers to take action and share your content. Often readers will love your blog posts but will absent-mindedly click away without sharing it. This is a little virtual nudge!
Tweetable quotes throughout your post can help remind your readers to take action and share your content. Often readers will love your blog posts but end up clicking away without sharing it. This is a little virtual nudge!
These widgets and plugins help give your website visitors a little virtual nudge!
If you don’t have WordPress, you can sign up for a Click to Tweet account here. If you DO have WordPress you can use the *Social Warfare plugin, Click to Tweet free plugin, or CoSchedule’s Tweet plugin.
#5. Make Sure It Works Well on Mobile:
I’m not talking “just” being mobile responsive. Your website could be technically mobile responsive and still work like crap on a mobile device.
You know what I’m talking about…
Have you ever been to a website to read a blog post, but you can’t read it because the social media sharing buttons are covering the text?
Or how about a blog post that you totally loved, but then you went to go share it and the sharing buttons weren’t there or didn’t work well on your phone?
Total headache.
Go scope out your website right now on your phone and tablet. These mistakes could pretty make or break.
Not sure WTF you should be doing to improve your website? Don’t fret. I have your back, check out my in-depth website audit offer here!
#6. Optimize Your Content FOR the Platforms:
Social media is extremely visual. If the featured image that pops up when someone is sharing your content is blurry, not related to the content, or is confusingly placed, they might think twice about following through.
Truth: I’ve X’d out of sharing an awesome piece of content because the visual was really THAT bad….actually, I’ve done this quite a few times. Visuals matter here, people.
These descriptions, images, and snippets that show up about your content on social media platforms are pretty important. So important that FB has a whole page on guidelines to follow…..how nice of them, eh?
But seriously, optimize those elements, because they’re the ones that actually ENTICE other people to click on your content.
And the best for last…
#7. Make Sure Your Content is Worth it:
You could have social proof showing left and right, the cutest links to your social media profiles, social media widgets up the wazoo, AND the perfect shareable graphics sitting at your website visitors’ fingertips….but if your content doesn’t connect with your audience it’s all a big waste.
People share content that they connect with, whether it’s entertaining, informative, buzz-worthy, whatever the case may be….they’ve found it share-worthy.
If you’ve gotten all of your ducks in a line but your content STILL isn’t getting shared, it’s time to buckle down and ask yourself these questions:
- Is your content helpful or insightful?
- Will it interest your ideal audience?
- Are you using a click-baity headline? (Please for the love of god, don’t use these)
- Does is give VALUE or CONNECT with an emotion?
- If you found this post on another website, would you share it?
- Is it readable? You could have the best blog post on the planet but if your font is hard on the eyes, you’re using huge paragraphs constantly, AND it’s covered in a shit ton of grammar mistakes….no one is sharing it.
BAM baby, 7 ways to make your website more social media friendly.
Check out these 7 ways to make your website more social media friendly.Click To TweetImportant Note: Social media should supplement your website, not dominate it. So don’t go overboard with widgets and sharing buttons, you don’t want ANY elements, ever, to get in the way of how your website functions…and that includes page loading time and user experience.
