10 Tips to Get More Traffic From Social Networks

Social Networks Traffic = content +engagement. That's it!

So, the easiest way to increase traffic is to increase content on your site and increase the sharing of that content.

Following the tips in this article, you will not just increase your traffic, but you will also get more fans and followers, get more social media engagement, build relationships with your audience and reach a wider audience.

1. Maintain an Active Social Media Profile

The first rule in getting social media traffic is making your social media profiles and channels active. There is nothing worse than someone going to find your business on social networks and finding nothing. Or even worse is when the links on your site don’t work. If time is an issue in your case, there are affordable solutions to maintain an active social presence.

2. Create Unique Content on Your Site

Every new piece of content you post to your site is a new door into your site. And each new piece of content serves as a new piece of social media content for you and for others to share.

Yes, people love to share and it is our job as business owners to give them something to spread. If you aren’t doing it, believe me, your competitor is.

To craft unique content, focus on your audience and their pains. Your content should relate to pain or provide solid solutions.

3. Focus on Right Social Networks

Each social network is different with its audience. Where your customers hang out, is the most important network for you.

Ask yourself these three leading questions about your audience: 1. Their age and interest 2. Their income level 3. Level of online engagement

Answering these make the selection of your social network much easier.

4. Follow A Regular Posting Schedule

You post once, then not again for months. This is not going to build your community, build your engagement or build your reach.

You need to be consistent. Consistency pays off. One way to have consistency is to use Social Media Scheduler Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule a stack of posts to be posted over a period of time.

5. Re-purpose or Re-share Your Content

Don’t be afraid to use your content in new ways, with new headlines. One piece can be shared over and over, each time reaching new eyeballs and driving new visitors to your site.

6. Avoid Off-topic Content and Write to Your Audience

Put yourself into the mindset of your customer and talk to them. List their pains and how they get rid of them. Off-topic contents alienates your target audience and over time, they will leave your site.

If you view “solving your audience pain” as your mission, it becomes easier to focus and write to your audience.

7. Engage

The ‘secret’ to social media success is lots of engagement. By engaging regularly with other people on social networks, you will drive more people to your profile and updates, and therefore ultimately increase your traffic.

Commenting, liking, sharing of other people’s posts and updates, asking and answering questions all help increase engagement.

8. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are on most major social networks – Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Facebook etc. Hashtags can help grow your traffic by making your social updates easier to discover.

I recommend using no more than two or three hashtags per update, as too many of them will put off some people.

Try to also look at which hashtags are trending for the day and use them in your updates wherever possible. There will be more people searching for those hashtags, so your updates have better chances of being seen.

9. Encourage User Generated Content

User generated content is a must. Not only does it add credibility to your brand and business, user-generated content gets more engagement and reach than business content.

By encouraging user generated content and re-sharing it on your social pages you can build the relationships with your actual customers, build credibility with your prospect customers and increase reach.

10. Post at The Right Time

The time when you post a new update can have a huge influence on its success. If you post at the right time, more people will see it – and therefore, you will get more traffic and more engagement.

Unfortunately, there is no right time that works for everybody across all social networks. And one of the main characteristics of social networks is that they have no geographical barriers, meaning that you can have fans and followers everywhere in the world.

Try posting at different times during the day and night and see at what times you get the most engagement and clicks.

Ready to get more social media traffic? Start applying these tips and you will be well on your way.

To your online success,

Robert Dokhani