Social media sites have some great functionality but did you know that running a website alongside them can open up a whole host of benefits?
Now that most of us have a Facebook page or other form of social media for our business, you shouldn't always let that steer you away from having a website. Yes, social media sites now have some great functionality but running a website alongside it can open up a whole host of benefits too.
📣 Call to action
We have mentioned how important having a call to action is in our previous blog. Now it depends on what your call to action is and its purpose but your website can be a great place to direct people to in your call to action, whether from social media, an email campaign or an advert. Customers can follow direct links to company news and blogs as well as learn more about your business, its services and make an enquiry. We know that having direct links to the action you are asking customers to take makes it more likely customers will execute them and this will often result in better reach and more sales.
✍️ Blogs
Blogs are a great way to be noticed online and boost your website ranking by utilising keywords. We always recommend having a website to publish blogs on if appropriate for your business as opposed to writing lengthy posts over on Facebook which research has shown decreases engagement. Your social media, however, can be a great platform for the distribution of your website content and catch an audience you may miss. By sharing your blog on social media you also create an easily sharable post that your audience members can spread further and shout about.
💰 Ads
Whilst not all advertising campaigns require a website URL to link to in order to run them linking to a website often gives you that vital credibility when people see your advertisement as opposed to using a social page link. While there are workarounds, linking advertising campaigns to your website can be much more effective and easier to track. If you want to jump on retargeting ads too it's best to have a website to monitor them more accurately. Couple this with the fact you can link directly to your shop or contact form means purchases are much more likely to be completed and adverts can be more streamlined to drive those specific actions.
🛒 Selling Products
Despite many social media platforms starting to integrate their own shopfronts such as Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shops having your own online store is still a reliable and trusted way to sell your products which you are much more in control of as opposed to selling through social media. Having the ability to set up your own shop front enables you to link directly to products you mention within your posts. This means people are much more likely to buy if your posts catch their eye as they don't have to jump through hoops to find said product and can purchase with a click of a button.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Having a website isn’t the be-all and end-all. With social media taking up such a large space online, it's important to be present on appropriate social platforms and use them to your advantage as they can be a great starting point for many businesses.
For many businesses, the next step is getting a functional, professional website but with this, you need to keep track of it to get the best out of your investment. Analytics need to be kept on top of and you should regularly be setting goals and investigating where your traffic is coming from so that you can see its links to your social media campaigns. Google Analytics are currently undergoing changes, as Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is replacing Universal Analytics (UA), with privacy and user experience in mind. We will be diving into the changes Google has made in our next blog so keep an eye out!
You want to check responses to contact forms regularly if using them as part of your call to action - you don’t want to miss enquiries that have come about as a result of your social media efforts. It’s also good to keep in mind that customers (and Google) like websites that are regularly updated and whilst a blog is a great way to do this, it can be time-consuming but it can be extremely rewarding.
When it comes down to it, social media and your website often work in synergy with each other. Social media is a great way to distribute content from your website and direct people to exact products or pages. Whilst your website gives you more in-depth tracking and credibility when it comes to advertising. Using both effectively will give you much better results and ensure campaigns can reach target goals.
If you want to see how we can help improve your digital marketing efforts or craft a beautiful website that meets your brand and business needs please don't hesitate to get in touch.