If you haven’t yet jumped on the social media bandwagon, you’d better get on it quickly. Having a solid website presence just won’t cut it these days and without social media, you’re going to miss out on tons of potential leads and clients.

Don’t know where to start? The following methods will not only drive more traffic to your website, but they’ll also give your business an added trust factor. You can either implement these yourself or hire a web design agency in Bristol that can inject added value into your project.

Invest in Visual Content

Most companies make the mistake of limiting their web or social media content to text-only. It’s not 1998 anymore and that’s just not going to be enough. People are now accustomed to being presented with rich multimedia, including jazzed-up images as well as high-end video productions.

If one of your visitors is hit with a wall of text, they’re going to see your company as a little stale and boring and won’t hesitate to go elsewhere.  When sharing new content on your chosen social media platform, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, try and publish one of the following alongside your text:

• Videos: It doesn’t have to be an award-winning short film. Open up a YouTube account and share videos, be they tutorials or clips with information about your business.
• Photos: If you are running an event, such as a workshop or a charity fundraiser, make sure you get plenty of photos up on Facebook.
• Infographics: This one has become quite popular in recent years and if you publish something juicy and full of great information, people will share it like crazy.  

Google+ and Authorship

Google+ is still quite some way behind Facebook, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a serious look at the search giant’s social media platform. Their numbers are on the constant up and they currently have over 300 million users. Not too shabby, eh?

Google+ not only adds to your social media presence, but there’s a great little trick that will multiply the trust factor for your business as well. What’s it called? Google Authorship.

This is what it looks like in Google’s search results:

Once you add this to your site, you’ll be adding loads of social trust to your business. People will be far more likely to click on your link and your CTR will skyrocket, as people love adding a face to a name.

Considering it’s completely free, you should get this right now. Sign up here:

Expand Your Horizons

When people think of social media, they instantly think of Facebook and Twitter. While these are great platforms, it’s really just the beginning of a successful social media campaign.

What will really set you apart from your competitors is establishing a presence on additional platforms, such as the increasingly popular Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com). Users absolutely love sharing images and photos, so it’s a great way to leverage your efforts and get other people to spread the word about your company.

Additional platforms like Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net) let you publish content such as Powerpoint slides, PDFs and Keynote files. If your company runs a lot of workshops, these are great places to make your material available to others.

The great thing about these platforms is that they also help when it comes to rankings on Google. Adding your company URL to published content count as excellent backlinks for your site. If you’re not quite sure what ‘backlinks’ are, get yourself a free consultation with an SEO company in Bristol.

Stay Ahead of the Game

When it comes to social media, it really pays to stay ahead of the game. New platforms are constantly being introduced to the marketplace and there are plenty of niche-specific social media tools you can use to really make a statement for your business.

All it takes is thinking outside the box and applying a little elbow grease and you should start seeing some fantastic results. If your budget allows, get on board with us, your local seo company in Bristol to help you get your campaigns off the ground. The investment will really pay off!