Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Social Media: Enhancing Your Online Website


Social networks have become a favorite online pastime. With such a large number of individuals spending their time on these online mediums, you can expect many of your customers and potential customers to have social networking profiles. You can take advantage of these social networks by increasing your online presence, improving your reputation and spreading the word about new products from your eCommerce website. By taking the rights steps and avoiding a few common social media mistakes, you will see an increase of traffic and possibly an increase of revenue to your website.

Start with the basics
One of the first mistakes merchants make is creating a profile on dozens of social networking sites at once. When first stepping into the social networking world, begin with the largest and most popular networking sites. Create a Facebook page and a Twitter account first because those are the most popular services and are where many of your customers may be spending their time. Also, evaluate the type of customers your eCommerce website brings and carefully consider which social networking sites they would be using. When working with social networks, thinking of your customers is key.
After you have decided which social network you will use, create strong profiles. Give plenty of information about your company and provide detailed posts and links that will make potential customers interested and curious about your site.

Post a variety of content
Posting interesting pieces of content to your profile is how you can captivate your customers and make them excited about specific products or events. Write original articles with information that provides assistance and guidance to your customers. However, make sure the content is proofread and well written. If not, customers will not waste their time and will quickly leave your site.
One of the best types of content you can post on your profile is videos. Product videos, tutorial videos and even videos explaining why your company is the best are an exciting and intriguing way to grasp customers.
 Don't overwhelm your customers
Even though adding content is what social networks are all about, be smart about what you post. Some merchants are carried away with the amount of posts and links they share. Keep your information current and available, but don't post information every few minutes. Before you post, think carefully about whether your customers will find the information useful or if it will attract potential customers. There is nothing worse than finding you have lost several "friends" from constantly pestering and annoying them with your posts.

Incorporate share buttons
Placing social networking share buttons on your website allows your customers to share your website on their social network profiles. Share buttons are an excellent way to spread the word about specific items on your webpage, and they can dramatically increase your online presence. You can place Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Google+ and other share buttons anywhere on your webpage. However, before you go placing these buttons on all of your webpages, think about whether the information is worth sharing.

Constantly maintain and improve
You cannot have a social networking profile and think that is good enough. You have to be diligent in maintaining and constantly improve your profile. Add new links, and post videos and pictures. Social networks need to constantly have a little TLC if you want to use them as tools to improve your eCommerce website. By working hard and keeping a well-maintained profile, it will give your website the boost in traffic it deserves.

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