Sony Simon Live. Love. Learn.
Social media networking sites are a great place to meet new people, build new business relationships and learn and discuss ideas. There are different flavours of Social Media platforms that can be integrated with your website to popularise your website. Here are some examples.
- Popular Networks: Facebook, Twitter
- SEO Networks: Google+
- Image-based Networks: Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr
- Video-based Networks: YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Snapchat, Instagram
- Audio-based Networks: SoundCloud, Stitcher, iTunes
- Niche Networks: LinkedIn (for Business), Dribble (for Designers), DeviantArt (for Artists), StackExchange (for Programming Nerds 😉 ), Foursquare (Local Business), Quora (Expert Advice)
- Bookmarking Networks: Pinterest (Visual), Delicious, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg
When embarking on a web development project it is crucial to consider how you will popularise your website through social media networking sites. You can use them to share your content, interact with people there and guide them to your website. Additional functionality like automatic sharing of content to your social media platforms can be included based on your requirements.
These days there is pressure to be on all popular social media networks. But I think, you don’t have to use a social media network because it is popular. In fact, sometimes it may be best to not be on some social networks because of the time it will consume to do it right or it does not go with the persona of your website.
If you are in the process of choosing the social media networks you want to use to popularise your website here are some helpful tips.
Tip #1 – Launch on the Social Media Network you are Most Active on
When you decided to launch a business or a blog, 9 out of 10 times it was because you saw the need for that commodity or information to be sold or shared with the people around you. It is also likely that you have like-minded friends already on your choice of social media network(s). In the early stages of your website development phase, you need some “pick me up” feedback and constructive criticism. This can be made possible if you share your website with your friends and mentors.
If you are already active on a social media network, you will also be familiar with most of its key features. This will be a time saver during the initial launch period.
I am an IT Project Manager. So on my Facebook, I have a lot of friends from University where I did my engineering and colleagues and fellow conference-goers from IT companies. When I decided to write about my website development journey, I decided to give Facebook Profile (not Page) a shot. I think it worked because I have piqued the interest of a lot of friends already. Many people write to me asking questions or with suggestions for improvement. Facebook has also brought in the maximum number of visitors to my website over the last 3 months.
If you are not already active on a Social Media Network and you are launching your website, then I would highly recommend Facebook. Based on the Global Social Media Research Summary in 2016, Facebook is the most popular network with 1.59 billion active users. But also look at the next two tips to find out if there is something more suitable for you out there.
Tip #2 – Check Content Suitability
Check if the content type is suitable to be shared on the social media network of your choice.
Is your content related to visual arts or crafts? Then image-based networks like Instagram, video networks like YouTube and visual bookmarking networks like Pinterest are best suited for your content.
Do you share How-Tos and DIYs on your website? Then use one of the video-based social media networks like YouTube to popularise your content.
I often find sharing my website content on Instagram to be difficult. First off, my content isn’t all that visually appealing (yet!). Now to prepare visual content to go with the web development work I am doing would mean putting in a lot of additional effort and time. I did a trial on Instagram and noticed that the effort spend had poor returns.
Tip #3 – Understand Audience Demographics
Each social media network has its own set of audience based on age, gender, location and interests. In a similar manner, your website will be aimed at a specific type of website visitor. It is important to marry up the two. For example, if your content is aimed at the youth, then you can use the two popular social media networks among youngsters – Twitter and Tumblr.
Some good places to understand audience demographics of the social media networking sites are:
- Pew Research Centre – This article gives an interesting view of the audience demographics for Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter from last year.
- Global Web Index – This website provides a quarterly report on the latest trends in social media networking. The website blog also features a lot of articles on audience demographics and social media networking.
- Slides from UTA Brand Studio – These slides are from a presentation by Laurence Vincent, UTA Brand Studio. You will find slides 36-46 interesting.
I hope you found these simple tips useful. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on comments below or on social media. I am currently sharing on:
I am currently sharing on:
