Social Media Optimization is this year’s challenge in terms of digital marketing. With 2.46 billion users in 2017 and 4.8 billion up to 2022, social media is one of the best sources of traffic for your website. So, you need to learn to use their potential to attract new visitors and convert them into customers fast.

Together with SEO, effective social media optimization can increase your ranking in search engines. But you have to ensure that your content is attractive for social media to encourage engagement among users.

Check out these fail-safe SMO techniques to help you improve your image online and bring more visitors to your website using social media.

1. Integrate social buttons on your site

Having your website connected with your social media accounts is a must when looking for maximum advantage from your online presence. But with so many social media channels available today, choosing the right buttons to promote on a website is almost a science!

Link channels you’re using regularly to promote your business. If you have a Pinterest account that you haven’t used in a long time, don’t mention it anywhere on your website. Focus instead on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media where you have a constant and updated presence.

You can alternate the buttons on pages, depending on the content you’re promoting:

• Share buttons (for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) work well on all pages, next to any piece of content, from blog articles, to product descriptions. This way, your readers can share your posts easily right from your website/newsletter/email.
• Follow buttons (for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Subscribe for YouTube) announce your presence on various social media. Integrate them on your homepage or next to your “About Us” section, to build a higher number of followers.
• Message buttons help your readers connect to you via Twitter private messages instantly. It’s comfortable for them and easy to use.
• A “Tweet this” button allows your readers to share a piece of your content with a simple click. It’s the ideal tool when you wish to control the information people share on social media about your business.

2. Curate your social media profiles

When you connect with social media users, having a complete profile is a must. Make sure you’ve filled all fields with accurate information about your company. This includes your name, logo, address, working hours and any other data requested by the social media channel you’re using.

Choose appropriate images for all profile and cover photos. A photo speaks a thousand words, so use high quality images with your logo, or any other visual that reflects your activity and your products.

Write a simple and efficient bio, using a few keywords related to your activity. You can try to impress search engines, but remember that real people are your target, so keep a friendly tone.

3. Use hashtags

Hashtags are still the heart of digital marketing, when used in moderation. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and even Google+ use them to guide audiences, so make them work in your favor.

• Less is more. Insert a maximum of three hashtags in a post.
• Look for relevant and popular hashtags in your niche and use them to attract new followers.
• When creating your own hashtags, use as few words as possible. A Hashtag and a long and hard to read sentence is boring.
• Tag your photos using hashtags to make them easy to find online.
• Create a brand hashtag (generally using your company name) and use it when you share important content about your business.

4. Make content more attractive with multimedia

By now, all marketers understand the importance of visual content. Infographics, embedded videos or even simple photos are efficient ways to attract new visitors to your website.

Hashtags are the heart of digital marketing

Articles containing photos generate more engagement than plain texts, infographics get three times more shares than simple images. And, the most popular right now seems to be live video. Used especially on Facebook, it generates high engagement from internet users.

You don’t need to be an IT specialist to make great videos. With a smartphone, a few free tools found online and some creativity, you can come up with great content to share online through social media. Or, if you’re willing to take your video editing skills to the next level, install Adobe After Effects and sign up for a face-to-face Adobe After Effects training.

5. Add quality content regularly

Consistency is essential in SMO. Social media channels update newsfeeds often and you need to post several times a day to stay in the spotlight. Check your analytics to learn about hours in which people in your area are active online and try to adapt your schedule to be in contact with them. Note that there’s no universal optimal posting time. People are different and so are their social media habits.

All the information you publish online must be useful and valuable for your users. High quality content is still king when talking about SEO and SMO. Make it relevant for your audience and don’t forget to use the right keywords to improve its visibility. SMO is a marathon, not a sprint, so with regular practice and consistency, you’ll start to see results.

About the Author

Christina Comben is Content Manager at translation and localization services provider, Day Translations. Multilingual and qualified to MBA level, Christina is passionate about writing, traveling, digital marketing and continued education.