There is a great deal of excitement about social media right now, and rightly so. It’s an effective and economical way to promote a small business online. New prospects and customers may use Facebook to search for a company or organization by name if they can’t be found on a search engine. Facebook or Twitter should direct them there. Though these are powerful small business online marketing tools, they should not be seen as a replacement for a website.

Companies and organizations with their own websites will want to use social networking strategies to push traffic through their own websites – where goods or services are described, pictured, and sold.

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are great places for companies to make contact with the public, receive positive and negative feedback about products or services, and expand their online visibility to a wider marketplace. Vetting online traffic to a company or organization’s website should be the ultimate goal. Ideally, this is where the visitor will gain a broader perspective about the company or organization and be ‘sold.’

Drive Traffic from a Social Networking Account to a Website

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow members to post links to websites of interest. Click-thru traffic is when a visitor arrives at a company website from another location on the Web – such as Facebook or Twitter. Increase click-thru traffic from social media sites by posting specials, online coupons, events, news items, interesting facts, and more. When posting a thought for the day, link to pages on the website that are in sync with the conversation. When appropriate, link to pages that are a call to action, such as a contact us form -- especially when an online special or coupon is promoted. DO NOT post links to company home page over and over again. Friends and associates will be annoyed by this. Link to interesting website content, blogs, news articles and audio and video podcasts. Summarize what is included in the website link in an attractive, interesting way, to receive more click thru traffic. If a company or organization website is lean on content, begin developing and adding new pages and posts to increase SEO and enhance a social networking campaign.

Don’t Forget Social Bookmarking Sites

Though Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter seem to receive the most attention in the world of social media, there are other large websites, known as social bookmarking sites, that can be as effective at driving click thru traffic to a website. Examples of these sites include StumbleUpon, Digg, Diigo, Delicious, and more. These websites allow members to post links to other websites of interest. Short, compelling summaries tend to attract the most traffic. Photographs (on the web page that is linked) will make the post visually appealing. Visitors to social bookmarking sites are not usually there to collect friends but to inform visitors about websites that provide great information and are user friendly. Feel free to post links to favorite websites (other than the company site) to make your account authentic.

Measuring Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Traffic to a Website

A company stakeholder or executive of an organization will want to know the return on investment (ROI) for social media campaigns. In order to measure traffic effectively, a Google Analytics account or other statistical analysis program must be ‘attached’ to the website. At the end of the month, review Google Analytics to identify which social media sites are sending click-thru traffic to a website, how much traffic is coming through, and which country, state or region it is originating from.

Create a Wave of Popularity With Social Media

Using social media in tandem with a website is a wonderful way to create a wave of interest in a company or organization. In order to be most effective, weekly posting to social media accounts is recommended. Consistent posting is essential to increase click thru traffic to a website.

Once a visitor arrives at a company website, make sure an attractive, easy to use web design keeps them there.

For more information about social media campaigns, or SEO, visit http://www.conversionpipeline.com.