Social media is an excellent way of spreading news, information and recommendations to a vast audience. Marketing companies are well aware of this and have wasted no time in taking advantage of the benefits it provides.
Marketers and business owners are keen to set up social media accounts to help spread the word and raise awareness. Such accounts are now considered by many to be a core part of marketing overall.
If you have a social media account then it makes sense to make full use of it. This includes letting visitors to your website know all about it and this can be easily done. All it takes is well-placed links to your social media accounts on your website. This lets people know that these accounts exist and also makes them easy to access. While there is little debate to be had over whether or not your website should include links to your social media account, there is less certainty over where exactly they should be placed.
Avoiding Clutter
Social media accounts give your customers the opportunity to tell others about the wonderful services you are offering. This means that links to those accounts should be given a prime spot at the top of your website, right? Well. not according to everybody.
According to many marketers, the main purpose of social media accounts is to help drive traffic to your website. Not the other way around. That doesn’t necessarily mean to say that having links to your social media accounts on your website is a bad thing.
Many web developers will tell you that you should do what you can to avoid clutter, and they’re right. Clutter can make things confusing whereas you want really want your visitor to get an idea of what you are offering right away. Some will also tell you that you should avoid having anything on your website that might distract visitors from the main goal: Which is to buy something. Internet users do have a notoriously short attention span and some argue that clicking onto a Facebook or Twitter page might steer them away from a deal.
As such, many will suggest that you have your social media links located out of the way on a sidebar, or maybe even on the bottom of the page. If people wish to use them then they might go looking for them.
Prime Importance
On the other side of the argument from those that believe social media links are far too important to be tucked out of the way. Many people feel that the links should take pride of place at the top of the page where they are easily noticeable by anybody that visits your site.
Some will even design a header to incorporate links. One train of thought is that they can contribute aesthetically if it is done right and without causing clutter. The links can also help provide credibility, giving people greater access about your business and what you are doing. Many people feel that access to social media links can even help to encourage sales.
The benefits of such links on a website are clear to many. One report stated that twitter mentions increased sevenfold after the inclusion of such a button. It is hard not to see the pros in placing social media links in prime spots in the face of such statistics.
A Balancing Act
Both sides of the argument make good points and they also have potential drawbacks. Perhaps one way to approach the question is to take a balanced approach between the two.
For example, you could try keeping social media links at the top of the page but compromise to avoid clutter. Only keep one or two links to your most active social media accounts at the top. The rest can be placed somewhere else where they are less intrusive. This should help you to take advantages of the benefits of social media accounts, while also leaving your website to perform at its best.
You could also consider using links in other places throughout the site. If you have a blog or another passage of text, for example, then it might make an ideal unobtrusive location to place a link. Be sure not to get in the way of any sales funnels and you should be just fine.
Your Valuation of Social Media
While the benefits of social media accounts are clear, some people will value them less than others. In this case, they are likely to want to have links tucked away rather than taking up prime positions. In some industries, it may well be that social media accounts offer little value to the business. With this in mind, it can be wise to adopt a case by case approach rather than using a blanket rule where link placements are concerned.
Overall, it is hard to say that there is a definite right or wrong way to approach it. If possible, you could try experimenting and waiting for feedback to determine the best approach for you. Get it right, and your social media accounts can become an integral part of your company’s ongoing success.
Interested in hearing more from Pinch? Feel free to get in touch by calling 0161 615 5550 or by sending a message via our Get in Touch page.
