Where Does Social Media Fit With Your Website?

The answer to this question is really the key to showing ROI for your company. I can only speak for my company, but it was a very important lesson I have learned over the past few years.

Our main company website has been around since 1996. It was setup as a way for clients to log-on and receive their analysis data. Security has always been maintained the site, hence the https:// prefix. Over the years the brand has remained strong as evideneced by most of the keyword searches containing part of the company name. (Example: Midwest Labs).

Enter a new phenomenon in 2007, the company blog site. Yes, this site is hosted at a different location than the company website. The reason for this was to help drive traffic to the company website and help keep some of the spam off of the company site.

Now, enter social media in 2008. Statistics gathered from Google Analytics show that social media has helped drive people to the company blog site and from here, traffic is referred to the company site. The reports from Google Analytics were very revealing:

1. Most traffic to the company site was the result of directly going to the domain. Social media referrals were extremely low.
2. When a company has a loyal following and has something of value, they will bookmark your site and will consistently come back to your site.
3. Social media really works well when content is updated on a regular basis. Our blog content is frequently updated 5-6 times a week.
4. Connect your social media profile with your blog site. Don’t just drive them to your company home page. (Hint: They do not know where to go.)
5. Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Make your sites cleaner and use larger fonts. You will see more traffic, in addition, you will encourage people using social media on their mobile device to learn more about you and your company.
6. Clean, simple information works much better and will help increase your site speed. (Leave the ads and logos behind)
7. Look at trends in Google Analytics and try to put two or three metrics together to find an underlying reason.
8. Also, look at what pages people are going to. This information can really help you since keyword searches have been secured by Google.
9. Organic searches are still valuable and people are still searching for information.
10. Blog value continues to rise because it can really help promote your website and bring your website and social media platforms together in many ways.

Again, this type of information is very hard to find in textbooks and articles. I only share my experience with you to give you some things to look at with respect to your own process. Your situation might be different depending on how you use your company website.

Are you finding sucess with integrating social media into your online marketing efforts. When you look at social media in respect to your website and blog site, you will be able to find some nice trending information in Google Analytics and it will help you focus your time in areas that you can see results. If you look at social media as its own entity, you will have a hard time seeing results that are sustainable for the long-term.

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