Most of my clients fall into two categories. They either have a strong website and are trying to replicate this on social media, or they are a small business with a growing social media presence but a little-used (or still in development) website. I believe the two are both important, and Jude Wharton of Ready Steady Websites explains why in this blog post.
I get into discussions with a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners who are very adamant that they don’t need a website. They have a great social media following and they feel that this is all they need. They are earning money through social media and they will never need a website. I tell them I think they’re wrong, which we will go into, and that having a great social media presence and a website should go hand in hand to complement each other.
Fast forward six to 12 months and they have a website and not only do they have a website but they have suddenly changed their tune and are telling everyone else how important it is to have a website and to use the same website platform that they are on which they happen to have an affiliate link for.
I don’t begrudge that entrepreneurial spirit. They need to make a bit of extra money because they have probably been losing some over the last few months by not having a website. And it’s realising they were leaving money on the table or that they didn’t want to rely on social media for everything, because sometimes it does go wrong, that made them eat their words and get a website.
Social media is a really powerful marketing tool, especially if you are using it well and one that should be used to drive traffic to your website, not as a replacement for it. When a lot of people see someone on social media that they like the look of, their next step is to go and find their website. If they don’t have one, then that might be the end of the journey for finding out more about that person and so that’s a lost lead for them.
When we work with someone really good, we tend to tell people about them. So, if one of our friends mentions they are looking for a service, you tell them to check out this awesome person you have heard of and then you say, but I don’t think they have a website, but they are on Facebook and Instagram and they say, “I don’t do social media”. That’s another lost lead for that person.
There are 45million active social media users in the UK but there are over 67million adults in the UK, so about 66% of the population are on social media. So already you can see there are people you are missing out on if you rely purely on social media for your online presence. Also, those users will probably focus on one to two platforms and if they aren’t the same platforms you are on (let’s face it, it’s hard to do them all well) then that’s more people you are missing. But over 92% of the population are online, so if someone is told about your website, they are much more likely to go and check you out.
How should we be using social media and our website alongside each other?
Social media is where you should be grabbing people’s attention and Nicola is the one to tell you how to do that. Once you’ve got their attention then you should be directing them to your website.
Use a group on Facebook to nurture your audience, generate discussions and ask questions about what you do, but don’t put lots of your valuable content in that group, send them to your website to read it on your blog or download it as a free resource. Obviously ask them to join your email list at that point too so you have another way of nurturing that relationship.
Use Instagram to show off your lovely products or the service that you offer then send them to your website to buy or sign up for that product or service or to book a call to discuss it.
We recommend to our audience and members that they link to their website from social media once a day. Some days this will be on Facebook, some from Instagram, the next on Linked in. So you’re not bombarding people with links on the same platform each day but you are linking to it from somewhere. Sometimes you might link to a blog post, another post might be to tell them you’ve added a new item to your showcase or portfolio, or you might have a new offer for them to check out.
This is how my week looks for linking to my website from social media:
Mon – Blog post on Instagram and Facebook Live with relevant call to action to our website
Tues – Blog post on Facebook
Wed – Featured Website of the Week on Facebook linking to our showcase page
Thurs – Behind the scenes photos talking about something on the website on Instagram*
Friday – Image on Instagram with a direct promo to one of our courses or challenges
*this week I mentioned we had new photos on the website of us, last week I mentioned our courses and freebies with photos on what we had been doing relevant to that.
I post on Instagram and Facebook platforms daily during the working week and I put a weekend post on Instagram, but some posts are purely conversational some are just pretty, not all need a link but sending some traffic to your website every day is a good idea. Regular traffic is great for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation – appearing high up on Google) and just continuing to remind people that your website is there means when the time comes that they need your service they are more likely to go and check it out.
Obviously, once someone gets to your website it needs to look good, have a consistent brand with your social media so when they come from one to the other they know they are in the right place and it needs to be really easy for your website visitor to find what they want and take action. If your website isn’t doing all of this well, then you will still have the same problems as if you didn’t have one at all.
If you don’t have a website currently or you think your current one could do with some TLC, then our free resources and courses are a great starting point to help you plan your website or bring it up to scratch.
If you can get your social media and your website spot on, then your online presence will be really effective in helping you to grow your business.
Jude Wharton is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Websites® an off the shelf website and membership site template service. Jude launched Ready Steady Websites® in 2019 with her husband and business partner, Chris and they have been running a successful digital design company, 2nd Floor Designs Ltd since 2010.