When planning your web design project, it well worth considering a few simple things you can do which will help to make your website more social media friendly:
1_Create content that people want to share
Social media is all about sharing content. So you need to make sure the content on your website is worth sharing. As we all know, the Internet is overloaded with information, so you need to have the wow factor. Visuals and graphics can greatly encourage sharing, people are much more likely to click on a link with an interesting visual attached. It is very beneficial to incorporate a blog section when planning your web design project, you can be more creative and varied with your content, covering a wider range of topics without detracting from the main products or services you sell. It goes without saying, that spelling punctuation and grammar should be impeccable, as no one will want to share unprofessional looking content.
2_ When it comes to web design Sharing is caring
Once you have your amazing content, you need to make it as easy to share as possible. The fast paced ‘on-demand’ nature of the internet means that most visitors to your site will be short on time and attention. To give your content the best chance of being shared you should include ‘share’ and ‘like’ buttons at the end of every article or post, they can quickly share your content with their friends without leaving your page – bonus! Just make sure that when you’re planning your web design project, you make them easy to find. It’s even better if they’re ‘fixed’ or constantly visible as the reader scrolls down the page.
3_Your website needs to remain relevant
The Internet is a never ending stream of new content, constantly being refreshed and updated with new information. Your visitors and customers will expect content to always be up-to-date. However, unless you’re a news outlet, it’s unlikely that you’ll have time to update your website every other minute. This is where Twitter can help. If you embedding your Twitter feed into your website is a good way to demonstrate to your visitors that you are maintaining an active online presence even if you don’t write a new blog post everyday.
4_ Make your website personal
Why do you think pretty much every celebrity is on Twitter? They know that by allowing their fans an insight into their personal lives they can further increase their fame. The same tactic can be applied to businesses too. When it comes to your web design, you can give people an insight into your company with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ article, a profile of your CEO or a timeline documenting how it all began. This kind of content ‘humanizes’ your business, it helps to show that you are a collection of real people. People like to engage and communicate with real people not faceless corporations.
5_ Be consistent
As with every other aspect of branding, consistency is key. Try to use the same profile picture on each of your social media profiles and, where possible, match them to your web design by using the same typography and colours. This will build familiarity, as humans we are naturally inclined to prefer things that we are familiar with. Companies pay huge amounts of money to have their logo displayed on the billboards at sporting events because they know that even a split seconds exposure is enough to build familiarity.
It’s worth mentioning here that although there are many social media platforms to choose from, pretty much every company uses Facebook and Twitter. Other sites like LinkedIn and Google+ are becoming more popular, but it’s important to choose the right platform for your brand. For example, photographers might find Pinterest and Instagram more useful than YouTube.
Whether you like it or not, social media is here to stay. So it’s wise to get on board by incorporating it into your web design. If you can get it right, you’ll be rewarded.
This should give you food for thought for your web design project. If you would like any more advice on integrating your website with social media then get in touch with Gorilla’s expert team here.
