How To Integrate Social Media into Your Website

Integrating social media within your website can be a great way to increase traffic to your social channels. Resulting in more followers and increased engagement. While promoting your brand across various different platforms. Furthermore, it can also be an excellent way to ensure that your website content is kept current. As well as offering an alternative way for your followers to further connect with your brand.

You may be wondering how to integrate social media into your website and the benefits of each platform. In this blog post we’ll cover these topics. Giving you a clear understanding of how social media integration can positively impact your online marketing strategy. While growing your audience online.

What is Social Media Integration

Social media integration is the ability to either view your social media content on your website. Or quickly connect to your social media pages using a button which is linked via your website.

Social Media Integration Will Benefit Your Business

This interlinking of social and web pages has many benefits and can be utilised in several different ways. However many of these are interlinked with your online marketing and increasing your brand exposure to a larger network. Which will have a knock on effect in increasing your business or organisations online presence. While also increasing sales and profit margins.

Lets look at some of the ways that you can integrate social media within your website. As well as the various different social platforms which can be utilised.

Instagram Gallery Feed

Instagram is a social media app based on sharing photos and the most popular social networking site. We often recommend to clients that they opt for an embedded Instagram feed within their website. Either in a dedicated area of the homepage. Or perhaps if you actively update your Instagram regularly. Then this could be presented on the website as an entire gallery page.

The benefit of an Instagram feed is that the images being pulled to your site are fresh, current and ever changing. (If you regularly update your feed of course!) An up to date feed on your website shows potential clients that your actively growing your business. It also encourages potential clients who are active on Instagram to follow your business page. They will then be notified of new posts which you have created on their own feed. Continuing the marketing process, long after they’ve left your website. This is particularity beneficial for retail businesses, as well as those who sell a product of service.

An Instagram feed on an e-commerce website can be particularly helpful for showing lifestyle images of products. While service based websites such as photographers or interior designers can showcase a portfolio of recent projects via Instagram. Without having to manually add content to their website to keep their gallery area up to date and current.

Instagram feeds can be added to an existing website easily with a plugin. Meanwhile they’re simple to update ongoing via the Instagram App.

Social Call to Actions

Another great addition to your website for social media integration is social call to actions. These are customisable button icons linking to your desired social channel. Whether that be Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube… Or all of the above. These widgets are often found in the header menu and footer of a website. However they can be added to pretty much anywhere based on your design preferences.

These clever little buttons will link your user to directly to your social pages. Allowing your customers and clients to connect with you through their social media channels. We often like to add them on the contact page. As in many instances your website user is reaching out to you here via a contact form. So having a social account linked allows them to organically progress to viewing your social page links. After they have completed an action on your website.

It’s worthwhile mentioning that if you’re linking social accounts via your website, do ensure that these are being updated regularly. By doing so it creates trust in your brand. Whereas a social account that is linked on your site that hasn’t been updated in two years is likely doing more harm than good. Leaving users questioning your integrity and whether or not your business is in fact trading.

If this is the case, then don’t add every social account you’ve ever created. Simply be realistic about the ones that you have the time to update and link these via your website. Having a social scheduler such as Promo Republic can be a really useful tool for busy business owners. Allowing you to manually queue up social posts that can be shared regularly across social platforms at a scheduled time.

Twitter Feeds

Many of our clients who run events based businesses successfully use Twitter feeds within their website. As a tool to convey up to date events information. However a Twitter feed could be used in a whole host of websites.

While like the Instagram feed they are a positive way to provide accurate and up to date information. Without having to manually update your websites content. We find them useful for clients who are less confident using the WordPress admin area. Yet regularly update their Twitter account with information about their business.

Despite WordPress being an extremely user-friendly platform. We completely understand that  it takes time, energy and desire to learn how to use this. Therefore the challenge of having up to date content on your site can sometimes be overcome with an embedded feed. The plus side to this is that often a Twitter feed will directly link to your Twitter account. Allowing the user to follow you on this platform if they’re an active Twitter user too. As a result ensuring that they never miss a post. Staying up to date with your business from the comfort of their own app.

YouTube Videos

Often clients ask to have video content embedded within their site. This can be carried out in several different ways. However, the most beneficial and, the option we most regularly recommend to our clients is using YouTube video links. Therefore ensuring that your websites storage is not filled up with video content which could lead to slow loading pages. While also allowing website users to navigate to a whole library of additional video content. Should they wish to gather more information.

Video content is becoming ever more popular as a way to market your business online. While YouTube is a widely used platform to connect with video content on a whole variety of topics and genres. You may wish to embed 1 or 2 videos on your site. Providing a link to your YouTube account allowing the website user to navigate there for more in depth video content.

Share to Social Buttons

These types of buttons are similar to the social buttons that we discussed earlier. However they are prompted at specific times within the users journey through your website. These are inviting the user to carry out an action. Sharing content directly from your website to their social page. It can often be a really great way for you to market your products or services.

Word of mouth referral is the most widely used type of marketing today. By incorporating a call to action you can ask users to share your content on their social channels. Particularly relevant if they’ve found it helpful or love your product…etc. This method can be beneficial if you have an eCommerce business. As buyers today love to share their favourite products and services with people in their network. Therefore resulting in direct sales for you the business owner. As well as marketing your products to an entirely different network each and every time it’s shared.

Integrating these types of social share buttons on your websites eCommerce pages can also allow web users to pin products for later on Pinterest. Allowing them to come back to view this product at a later date or different season. While encouraging your products to be shared by that persons followers on the platform. As a result expanding your businesses reach with minimal marketing efforts and absolutely no additional costs.

How To Integrate Social Media into Your Website?

You should now have a greater understanding of the benefits of integrating social media within your website. Whether that be from an online marketing standpoint of to encourage up to date content streaming within your sites pages. Embedding social content allows your website to load faster, without being slowed down with too much uploaded content. While also extending your reach to a wider network without any additional marketing costs.

If you’re tech savvy you might well be confident enough to integrate social buttons within your sites pages. Alternatively, you can reach out to us here at Primal Space to carry out this task for you. You can contact us by completing our website requirements form. Or if you’re an existing client you can also get in touch and arrange for social integration to be carried out or updated.

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