Social Media Versus Your Website?

Where should you invest your time online?

Today, people are connected to the internet 24/7. So the question is where and how should you be connecting with your current and future clients.

Let’s run the numbers and look at the facts.

On February 4th Facebook turned 10 years old. The Social Media giant now has 1.23 billion people using it’s service and is currently the dominant force online. They have a bunch of services for you to utilize to reach your target audience.

1. Business Page
2. Places Page for Check ins
3. Promote your Post or Page by paying a nominal fee
4. Ads
5. and genuinely connecting with your audience

Facebook is not an option, it is a must.

 is a professional social network that is purely focused on the business community small, medium and large. With just under 300 Million users it is no where as large as Facebook but your connections are focused on business and not just being social. This means your conversions might be higher with LinkedIn. So what does LinkedIn offer?

1. You can pay to get a deeper insight of linkedIn users and learn more about your connections.
2. Ads that will get you in front of your target audience.
3. Create Network Groups
4. Engage with your network

LinkedIn is a must use social site that will help your business.

Twitter is another major player that you should be on. Unlike Facebook and LinkedIn where it is really easy to gain friends or connections, Twitter makes you really work to gain followers. And with only 140 characters for your message it forces you to focus your thought process. Twitter also has just under 300 Million users online. So how can you use Twitter?

1. Engage with your community
2. Pay for advertising
3. Retweet posts that would benefit your followers
4. Use Hash Tags with each of your tweets.

Gaining traction on Twitter is not easy but your tweets can go viral which leads to exposure that you typically might not get elsewhere. Why? Because your tweets tend to be teasers that lead your followers to your website. This is unlike the other sites that encourage the users to stay on their sites.

Google+

Google Plus is one of the new kids on the block but with the number one search engine in the world you have to be on Google+. Google Plus has over 300 Million users which is both amazing and not surprising. You can use Google+ to connect with people as you would on Facebook and LinkedIn but with the added benefit that your content is seen by Google and can potentially get your website noticed by the search engine if you’re providing useful content. Why? Obviously Google can Crawl Google+ but they can’t see everything on the other social networks. So how can you use the site?

1. Claim Authorship With Your Personal Google+ Profile
2. Create a personal page
3. Create a business page
4. Use Hash Tags as you would on Twitter
5. Host a Google Hangout
6. Join and Create a community
7. Get Local by submitting your local business information
8. Connect with your users so you can gain +1’s

Google+ is a Requirement of any business online.

Other Social Sites to consider

1. Instagram
2. Pinterest
3. You Tube can be considered a Social Site
4. Quora

These are smaller sites that are niche based but impactful if used properly.

Your Website

Now with all these Social Networks, the question is do you really need a website? Reality is you most likely won’t get hundreds of millions of users but does that mean that you can eliminate your own online identity?

Of course my answer is NO! I mean seriously, I’m a WordPress Designer / Developer. If I told you that you don’t need a website then I would be taking food off my own plate. That said let me explain to you why you need a website.

1. With a Website, you Own your Domain you don’t rent it. Think about this for a second, the social networks are great and a must but they control the their domain not you. That means that you are not the focal point or center of gravity.
2. With the social networks you most likely share exposure with your competition but with your website, when a visitor checks out your site, you are the one they focus on.
3. You set the rules of your website not someone else.

The point is your website is your foundation. It is where you can integrate everything you want to get your message across. It also makes you look more professional. Tell me, would you keep your money with a bank that doesn’t have a website? Probably not.

The goal should be to create unique content that users will benefit from and share it liberally on all the main social networks. That way when a social site changes their algorithm you are sheltered by having your own website and can maximize exposure by participating with all secondary sites.

Just remember, you need to be where your users are so stay social!

Do you need a website? Then Let’s Chat.

Do you have an underperforming website? Then Let’s Chat.

Thanks and feel free to share.

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