Facebook Page? Check. Twitter, Instagram? #doneanddone. Social media outlets are a sure fire, fast and fun way to promote your website. Though let’s face it, you can tweet till you’re blue in the face, but to really drive traffic and create leads, you need to do more.
YouTube – It’s Not Your Mother’s Social Network
YouTube is a hub for finding new businesses, products and personalities, and just happens to be the #2 search engine. With over a billion users, now is the time to grab this audience by creating your own video content. To get noticed you need to stand-out and typically the funnier, sexier, edgier, the better. You can also teach us something new by offering insider tips or tutorials. Even a relatively small number of views and shares can significantly increase traffic to your site. Plus, your content will be indexed by Google, allowing others to find it, share it and even embed it into their own blogs and web pages.
Yesterday’s Jeopardy is Today’s Q&A Platform
Ask a random esoteric question, get 100 different responses from dorks (and experts) just like yourself! Q&A forums like Quora and Answers are totally addictive and thus totally worth investing your time in. QA sites tend to get high rankings in organic search results as they are highly optimized for keywords, well engaged by users and updated frequently. Keep in mind, these sites are not promotional platforms, so don’t steal the mic and try to sell your product. Make connections and build interest with well informed, constructive comments, and drop your site URL in your comment or signature. This way you’ll start to drive targeted traffic to your site and increase your backlinks. Quora’s our personal fave, but also worth checking out are Yahoo! Answers and wikihow.
Where the Cool Kids Hang Out
The cool kids are the influencers in your particular niche – the ones who have a similar product or business and are attracting lots of traffic. Connect with them by commenting or engaging on social media. Experts suggest spending 30 minutes a week reading and commenting on blogs and forums that share similar keywords as your own. Choose sites with authentic, well researched, well-presented content (and loads of followers!). Soon their fans will be yours too.
Where the Super Cool Kids Hang Out
To elevate your status to uber cool, get yourself a Snapchat account and start sending fun, evocative snaps to your clients. If your target market in Generation Z (you know, the teens and 20-somethings who were practically born with a smartphone in their hands), Snapchat is where you need to be. Use it wisely and you’ll build brand awareness and gain tons of followers.
Social Bookmarking is the New Community Bulletin Board
Social bookmarking sites are places where like-minded readers can explore, browse and share their favorite articles, web pages, blog posts, videos and more. Not only do these sites have the ability to spread your URL like wildfire but they can provide serious SEO juice by promoting your web page via other people’s votes, shares, mentions and likes. This all adds up to more traffic to your site and those invaluable backlinks. Some to check out are:
Industry Directories – Your Little Local Yellow Pages
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already gotten yourself listed in the big online directories like Google My Business, Yahoo! Local Listings and Bing Places for Business (if not, drop everything and get on it!), but what about your industry’s specific business listings? Say you’re a yoga teacher – a quick search for “yoga listing directories” will give you plenty of resources that you should be listing yourself in. So easy, such big payoff.
Your Visitor’s Inbox
Letter writing is so 18th century, no? NO. Today’s most successful brands are connecting with you via your inbox with ideas, tips, inspiration, or sometimes just to say “hey, we miss you!.” There is no better way to grow your fan/user base than with a direct email campaign, and no better way to create it than with Wix’s ownShoutout. Make sure you’re offering great content with plenty of incentives to visit your site (new product, updates, blog post, promotion, sale, tips, quizzes, to name half a dozen). Be creative and insightful – send emails not just when you have something to say, but to wish your subscriber a happy birthday, perhaps with a coupon. Who doesn’t crave some extra b-day love?
The Big Bad Blogosphere
A blog is the best place to start interacting with your client base and getting them to interface with your brand. It’s crucial to provide original, authentic and inspiring content that will let your followers get to know you and your brand. Look no further than the Wix Blog, for everything you need to get your blog up and running in no time. In order to get the most SEO bang for your buck, make sure to optimize your blog by writing often and including lots of long tail keywords (longer, specific phrases that describe your site in more detail). Check out this blog post for more winning tips.
BONUS! Guest blogging on other relevant sites is one of the best ways to promote your site. Gain street cred with your target audience and drive referral traffic from sites with similar topics as yours and in turn, grow your followers.
Your Own Dang Email
Your email signature is THE easiest and fastest method of self-promotion there is, period. Always include your name, site address and those of your social media accounts automatically at the end of any email you compose.
Source: wix.com
