Are social media links on your webpage a good idea?
In this blog I will explore pros and cons of putting social media links on your website.
I think if I asked myself this question 5 years ago I may have thought differently but I keep seeing it more and more today in website design and it makes me think that some web designers are not thinking about user journeys.
The reasons why social links could be good is that it can demonstrate social proof if you have a large following and some good reviews. It also shows that you are social media savvy by having the accounts, providing they are active.
It can also give the user an extended journey if they have exhausted your website and are looking for more content. But this only works if you post unique content on the social platforms.
The reason I struggle as to why they are put on the homepage and and in pop-ups and sidebars, is that you have taken all the trouble to get them on your platform, where you can control the journey and the only distractions are your own, and then you are offering them the opportunity to go the social platforms where their friends, family, favourite bands and TV shows are also looking to get their attention.
You could get them to your site them send them away and one notification on arrival and you have lost them? Why would anyone do this?
Social media networks are designed to keep you engaged and to keep you clicking on their site. Also trying to compete with your prospects friends, family and favourite sports team or celebrity in hard enough itself and that's not event starting to think about the other search listings on Google for your product or service.
It could be even worse if you gained the prospect via PPC (Pay per Click Advertising) and therefore paid for the visit to your site only to direct them away again.
I think if you are going to have social media icons and links then put them in the footer of your website away from the natural direct line of sight and then if a prospect is actually looking for that they can find it without it being promoted.
Now lets not get confused with social sharing. Having social sharing links under each of your blog posts or other content items is a good idea. The social sharing tool you use should hopefully enable them to share your post without the visitor leaving your site.
Ensuring you are have user journeys mapped out and there are no dead ends in your site is imperative to keeping a user engaged. Help them find what they want and fast. Take the time to set out the journeys for all kinds of visitors and never assume everyone is ready to buy right now.
Of course social media is still vital in your marketing mix, and often will be around driving traffic back to your website alongside possible SEO work and PPC campaigns. But all of those are useless if you don't get the website right.
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Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.