B E G I N N E R ’ S G U I D E : G E T T I N G M O R E T R A F F I C T O Y O U R S I T E T H R O U G H

S O C I A L M E D I A

1 CREATE GREAT CONTENT3 ADD VISUAL CONTENT

4 TWITTER

5 FACEBOOK

6 GOOGLE+

7 OPTIMIZE CONTENT FOR EACH PLATFORM8 TWITTER

9 FACEBOOK

10 GOOGLE+

12 HASHTAGS13 TWITTER

14 FACEBOOK

15 GOOGLE+

16 CALL TO ACTION17 TWITTER

18 FACEBOOK

19 GOOGLE+

20 POST AT THE PERFECT TIME21 TWITTER

22 FACEBOOK

23 GOOGLE+

CONT

ENTS

CHAPTER 1: CREATE GREAT CONTENT

CREATE GREAT CONTENTThe phrase "content is king" couldn't be truer when it comes to boosting website traffic. Gone are the days where keyword stuffing will help move your website up the rankings.

In today's world of SEO, the quality of your content is vital to your overall success and creating things your audience truly wants to read will go a long way.

Making content relevant and readable for your audience is arguably the most important part of its creation and will ultimately determine the success of your website.

Creating outstanding content doesn't have to be difficult if you follow a few of these simple steps:

• Chunk your content: The more you break up your copy throughout the page, the easier it will be for the audience to read and digest it.

• Short and Sweet: Keep it simple and avoid wordiness. Tell your audience what they need to know and move on.

• Frontload Your Information: Following the newspaper adage of "don't bury the lead," put your important info at the top so your reader doesn't have to find it 500 words in.

Your content form also plays a big role in how well it will be received, and there are several different mediums you can use:

• Blog articles

• Infographics

• Videos

• Photos

Follow these tips and you can easily create quality content your audience is dying to get their hands on.

CHAPTER 2: ADD VISUAL CONTENT

CHAPTER 2: TWITTEROne of the most popular and useful platforms for online marketing today is Twitter. These snippets of content are an excellent way to get your message across while letting your audience easily digest information.

So how do you get more people interested in what you have to say?

Implementing visuals.

Whether it is photos, videos, gifts, infographics, utilizing

visuals in a tweet is a surefire way to increase

engagement on your posts.

• Photos

• Videos

• GIFs

• Infographics

A study by Twitter themselves showed tweets

containing a photo URL received 35% more retweets

than those without one. A dramatic increase which

will instantly lead to more eyes on your content.

CHAPTER 2: FACEBOOKIf you simply insert a link into your post, Facebook will automatically load images from the source you are posting from. Choose a suitable image for your post.

You also have the ability to choose multiple visuals and change the description to briefly explain the image. If you are not finding an image you like then you can upload your own image.

Which visuals get the best response from your Facebook audience?

• Funny photos• Memes• VideosFunny photos on Facebook consistently receive outstanding

interaction on this social media platform. Quality

entertainment never seems to fail and if you can work it into

your business seamlessly, it can pay off huge in the long run.

CHAPTER 2: GOOGLE+Visuals on this platform are one of the best ways you can take

your interaction and presence on social media to the next level.

The more +1’s and interaction you get, the better your site’s

overall ranking will be in the long run.

Two of the best options you have are:

• Interesting images

• GIFs

Preferably size your images vertically for the best interaction.

It will take up a larger portion of the viewer’s page and increase

chances of being seen.

CHAPTER 2: INSTAGRAMWhile Instagram is a great way to showcase outstanding photos and unique shots, it is also an excellent platform to connect personally with your audience through a myriad of different photo styles.

Your photos and videos can be very customer-focused in a multitude of ways:

• Showcase new products

• Host a photo contest for your followers

• Showcase your staff and the great things

about your company

Each one of these elements is specifically

designed to make your brand more human,

therefore making it easier for your audience

to relate and connect with your company.

CHAPTER 3: OPTIMIZE CONTENT FOR EACH PLATFORM

CHAPTER 3: TWITTERImproving you Twitter posts with SEO tactics is a great way to boost the amount of people visiting your website, as well as increasing your interaction with potential customers/clients.

Optimize your Twitter handle (@) and name!

Your brand name should promote this and match up with your Twitter handle and username. This will make it easier for people to find you.

Incorporate keywords into each tweet.

By tweeting relevant content to your field and predicting what your audience is seeking, you can boost your visibility on Twitter.

Don’t forget to create a call-to-action.

You will receive significantly higher engagement when asking for viewers to retweet or favorite your tweet. It never hurts to ask.

CHAPTER 3: FACEBOOKOptimizing your content for Facebook is crucial to gaining more traffic as this is the largest social media platform there is.

A huge key to success on this platform is connecting with your audience in a variety of ways and to make sure your content is relevant to the site.

There are several ways you can boost the reception of your content on Facebook:

• Visuals: As stated earlier, visual content is vital to a successful social media page. On Facebook, photos and videos tend to perform very well among audiences. The more quality and relevant visuals you can incorporate, the better.

• Promote Your Content: Instead of sharing awesome content to other sites for your audience, create some high quality material yourself. The more you can promote clicks to your site, the better.

• Run Contests: Getting interaction on your Facebook page is a great way to create buzz and get more traffic to your site. By running contests and promotions, you can entice more people to click on your links.

CHAPTER 3: GOOGLE+To optimize your content for this platform, attention to detail and personalization are hallmarks of success.

Make sure the content is of the highest quality possible. If you are involved in a community or are attempting to target a specific audience, you have to invest time into a post to make sure it is valuable. The content must be relevant and helpful.

The frequency of posts is also important. For those looking to post often, they should be widely spread out as to not bombard your following with too many posts.

Finally, personalizing your posts will help in their overall reception and interaction levels. If you post content relevant to marketing in an IT support community, you likely won’t receive the same feedback you would from a social media community. Personalizing your posts for the audience and even targeting specific users with tags can help your overall interaction and content performance.

CHAPTER 4: HASHTAGS

CHAPTER 4: TWITTERThe site where the hashtag truly thrives and connects people, Twitter is one of the best social media platforms to incorporate hashtags.

How can you use hashtags to boost your Twitter interaction and reach your intended audience?

• One of the easiest ways is by jumping in on popular, trending hashtags. These top 10 hashtags highlight the most popular topics of the day and can be a great way to get your voice heard.

• Use them appropriately #Don’t #Do #This! Follow this example as a general guideline:

There are many tools available to users to help narrow down potential hashtags for your company, for example: Hashtagify.me.

Just type in a hashtag you wish to use à select

table mode à view the popularity of the hashtag

and similar choices.

CHAPTER 4: FACEBOOKWhile Facebook may be the most widely used platform across all social media, it is still very new in its use of hashtags and hasn’t quite perfected the use of them.

With that being said, they are still of value to your brand when posting a new update.

Studies have shown a Facebook post with a hashtag can perform fantastically when used wisely and correctly. If too many hashtags are used, your interaction levels go down significantly. The moral of the story: short and sweet.

CHAPTER 4: GOOGLE+This is one of the best tools to utilize keywords, target your desired audience, and boost the overall visibility of your post. Make your brand driven and focused on promoting the products or services you are trying to get out there.

Boost visibility by focusing on hashtags that will connect you to people of common interests. By searching a hashtag, you can find out who else is talking about it, giving you a direct line to what your audience is interested in.

Google+ also provides an amazing feature which will autofill a hashtag it feels is a relevant keyword. By using this feature, you may be able to find an entirely new segment of people you never would’ve reached to begin with.

CHAPTER 5: CALL-TO-ACTION

CHAPTER 5: TWITTERDue to its simplicity of conversation and user-friendly interface, Twitter is arguably the best social media platform to utilize a call-to-action. With a post limit of only 140 characters, your entire tweet can be a call-to-action rather than throwing one in on the end of a post where it may not fit seamlessly.

One of the best ways to boost your traffic to your website in a call-to-action on Twitter is by simply asking for a retweet. If you provide a good reason for your audience to retweet you, such as entrance into a contest or giveaway, and include an interactive link to your site, statistics show your retweets can increase by over 300%!

Another great way to increase traffic to your site and boost overall interaction is by offering a download in your tweet. Did you just write an eBook or do you have a useful app for your audience? Put a download link into your tweet! The click through rate can jump by over 10% when this is included.

CHAPTER 5: FACEBOOKFacebook offers one of the most unique ways to incorporate a call-to-action and it is likely the most innovative and user-friendly way currently available to you.

Facebook’s call-to-action button is an instant winner among marketers, as it provides several different CTA options to choose from directly on your company’s page. The options include:

• Book Now

• Contact Us

• Use App

• Play Game

• Shop Now

• Sign Up

• Watch Video

Each one of these calls-to-action are an easy way to get more clicks to your page and only takes a few seconds to set up. By creating a fantastic landing page for your audience, it is a great way to boost your traffic.

CHAPTER 5: GOOGLE+One of the best features offered by Google+ for marketers today is the ability to interact and engage with your audience in an entirely new way. You can create an interactive post for those in your circles and in communities you have joined.

With an interactive post, you have the ability to customize a post with a specific call-to-action button for your users where they will be taken to a place you picked in your app.

With an interactive post on Google+, you have the ability to select over 100 different call-to-action labels so you can perfectly customize if for the needs and wants of your audience. These posts have a 3x higher click through rate than a standard post.

CHAPTER 6: POST AT THE PERFECT TIME

CHAPTER 6: TWITTERThe success of your posting time will depend on your users, but here are some general tips to get you started:

• Post content between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. while your audience is grabbing a bite to eat or scrolls through their timeline at home.

• You may notice a higher volume of retweets during the 5 p.m. slot.

If you want a more targeted timeframe and have begun

to build your following then use tools to help you find

the best tweeting times, for example: Tweriod.com.

• Put in a request by signing into Twitter

• Receive your analysis

• Schedule tweets for optimal times

CHAPTER 6: FACEBOOKFacebook can be entirely different to try and deal with for high click through rates and shares, but can be highly valuable if you are able to get organic traffic.

You will want to find the best times to reach your target audience.

Here’s how:

• View your Facebook page

• Click on Insights

• Click on Posts

• View When Your Fans Are Online

• Promote posts at these optimal times

CHAPTER 6: GOOGLE+This could be the trickiest social media platform to find your targeted audience’s highest engagement time, but if you are able to then the benefits your reap are outstanding.

Statistics have shown the optimal days to post on this platform are the weekdays, Monday through Friday.

If you target your posts in the later morning, roughly 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., you may see a significant increase in the overall interaction and traffic you receive from your posts.

Everyone’s audience varies dependent on their niche, so it’s up to you to experiment and see what times you are receiving the most engagement.