How a website and social media should work together

With the internet at our fingertips, we are living in an era where we’ve got more access to more information than at any other time in human history. We can find or buy pretty much everything at the tap of a button. We've got endless sources of information coming from businesses, brands, media outlets, influencers, industry experts, and our fellow peers, so we have the ability to conduct extensive research and compare our options like never before. In fact, a study commissioned by GE Capital Retail Bank in the US in 2019 revealed that 81% of shoppers extensively researched their options online before making a major purchase.

When people invest their time to read content from a blog or their money to purchase a product or service from a business, they are also investing in a brand. In today’s digital world, your website and social media channels are essentially your brand’s digital shopfronts. But how can they work together to build awareness, generate leads, drive purchases as well as create loyalty?

Here are five ways you can start getting your website and social media channels to work seamlessly together today.

1. Drive website traffic from your social media accounts

Firstly, people must be able to easily get to your website from your social media channels. It sounds so simple, but it’s something many brands often forget to do. Start by adding a link to your website in all your social media bios and about us sections.

Share your brand’s content on your social media channels in a way that resonates with your audience and is consistent with your brand's values and personality. Social media is not designed for talking at your audience, but for talking to them.

When sharing your brand’s content, always include a link back to a relevant page on your website to make the transition from social media to your website more streamlined. This allows your social followers to view more information on the featured product/service they saw on your social media account. While they are on your website, they may then choose to browse other web pages or blog posts.

On your brand’s Instagram account, consider using a service such as Linktr.ee or Lnk.Bio which allows you to add a link to a specific page on your website in your Instagram posts.

Increasing your website traffic from your social media channels over time can potentially also help your SEO. This means that your brand’s website (and social channels) can become easier to find when people search for keywords or phrases relevant to your brand's products, services or content – which not only drives more traffic to your website, but also connects more people to your brand.

2. Promote your social media profiles across your website

The easiest way to do this is to include social media icons and links to your accounts in the footer of your website so that these appear on every page. We also recommend adding social media share buttons to your blog so people can share your content on their social profiles. If your social media plays a central role in your marketing strategy, you may want to consider embedding a live feed of your key social media channels to your website (although be aware this can page load speeds considerably slower).

3. Create a consistent customer experience across all your channels

The experience you offer to your audience can be the difference between them choosing to engage with you over your competitor. Your brand’s purpose should be to create, communicate and deliver value for your customers, regardless of which medium they choose to engage with you in. Therefore, your customer service approach as well as your brand’s look and feel, tone of voice, and key messaging need to be consistent across all your customer touchpoints – not just your website and social media accounts.

4. Use your website and social media channels to tell your story

No matter what you blog about or what product or service your brand sells, a human connection between your audience and your brand is the foundation to success. As human beings, we are naturally drawn to stories. A good story engages us. It gives us a sense of connection.

Your website and your social media are powerful storytelling platforms that connect your brand with people all over the world. These platforms give you the opportunity to tell your brand’s unique story, to shine the spotlight on the people behind your brand, to show the world what your brand stands for, and to demonstrate what your values are.

Building an emotional connection with your audience can lead to trust and loyalty. It can help keep your brand front of mind during the consideration and research phase. It can also play an important role in getting people from consideration to conversion (i.e. a customer purchasing your brand’s product/service or a product/service of one of your advertising partners that's being featured on your blog).

5. Use analytics tools to monitor and measure your success

Analytics tools capture an abundance of data and can provide valuable insights for your business. We recommend connecting your website to an analytics platform such as Google Analytics so you can monitor the performance of your website and the effectiveness of your social media channels.

Social media platforms also have their own in-built analytics. So when these insights are used in conjunction with data from your website analytics and your brand’s business data, you can gain in-depth insight into how your website and social media channels are contributing to your overarching business goals.

When utilised correctly, both your website and social media can work hand in hand to not only create a seamless customer experience but also help you to humanise your brand. As a business owner or blogger, managing your brand’s presence in today’s digital landscape can feel overwhelming. Consider reaching out to professionals like us to help with the heavy lifting in getting your website and social media channels working together to reach your brand’s business and marketing goals.