Seven ways to combine your Website and Social Media into a great web 2.0 system

Social Media has become a huge marketing platform in recent years, and there is no doubt that Social Media can provide a great way of maintaining close relationships with your customer base, which are nurtured and developed over time. With minimal setup costs, and great customer relationship management benefits, Social Media is something that all businesses need to look into. There are numerous benefits for businesses large and small in brand positioning, customer relationship management, and other branding and promotional objectives.

Social Media platforms are not, however, the be all and end all of online marketing. A key purpose should always be to drive people to your website, where you are in control of a process for turning visitors into customers, clients, or members.

With a wide variety of platforms available, it is essential that businesses find a way to combine these all into one coherent system.

Some good tips on how to get the mass amount of social media integrated into your website are listed below:

1) Run a blog off your website;
Your blog exists to drive business, providing your readers with content they are interested in, while aiming to generate leads in the process. Keep this on your website so your readers can find out about your company, products and services after reading your article, and seeing that you know what you are talking about. This is one part of an integrated plan.

2) Have social media links on your website;
Facebook, Twitter, linkedin, youtube channel; whichever of these you are using should be accessible through your entire website. If people like you, let them facebook like you, follow you, or check in. Remember; only use the channels that are appropriate to your business. (picking channels is a complete book topic in itself)

3)  Link back to your website;
- Embed links in any youtube videos so people can find you
- Post facebook and twitter updates that link to your blog, on your site. Use these to drive traffic, and get some conversion happening. You have worked hard on your content, so do what you can to get people reading it.

4) Set up your social media accounts completely;
DO NOT miss your website URL. Include this in your personal profiles too, the more clicks the more exposure your business gets. The more information people can get on your business from your Social Media platforms, the more likely they are to check out your business and its website.

5) Put your blogs into your newsletters;
Newsletters are meant to be short and simple. People want to see a brief overview of what they may be interested in. Provide links to your blogs, with an abstract (brief overview) enticing them to follow the link. This will work wonders for your brand and website. This activity will get more people reading your blogs / news articles, spending more time on your website, and turning into customers.

6) Load videos into your website;
(have you seen our MoST demonstration on inserting media to your website) - there's a lot more of these to come too. These videos provide some new engagement, and can be much more compelling for your customers.

7) RSS feeds;
Let people subscribe for updates on your website. This is one of the simplest tools out to share your website with the world. Website visitors who have an RSS feed reader can then be informed of changes on your website, and follow any new content added. Make these buttons noticeable, but not overpowering. People who know what they are will know what to do.

Social Media platforms can offer substantial benefits for a range of businesses. While there is 'no one size fits all' system for Social Media, this blog is intended to provide you with some ideas on the useful tools that are available to widen your reach, and develop closer communication with your customers. For more assistance on this, including social media consultation, web design, and web 2.0 strategy developments, contact us. We have a range of fresh ideas, and can incorporate the above and more into your website, making your website more Social Media Centric.

To see most of these Social Media techniques in action just take a look around our website and see the design tools we have used to pull them all together.