15 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

Did you know that the average social media user spends 135 minutes every day on social media platforms? As a small business owner, this means that this is a great way to reach your potential and current customers.

But if you haven’t done much social media marketing before, it can be hard to know how to get started. You have so many things on your plate and this can seem like too big of a project to undertake.

The truth is that there are actionable things you can do starting now to begin your social media marketing efforts. And they will pay off!

We’ve compiled the 15 social media tips for small businesses that you need to get started. Check them out below.

1. Focus on One Network to Start

The list of popular social media platforms is long: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn. And the truth is that it keeps growing.

So when you’re just starting out with social media, don’t try and have an active presence on every single network. There are simply too many and so it’s better to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Do some research and see what platform makes the most sense for you as you’re just beginning. Are you interested in sharing photography based posts? Instagram is the best option for that.

If you’re wanting to post multiple short updates every day, Twitter might work for you. LinkedIn is where businesses connect best with other businesses.

No matter your goals, think through these things and then choose which network will be best for you.

2. Decide on Your Goals

With any digital marketing campaign, it’s crucial that you start by deciding your goals. Without clear goals, you will lack direction. The same is definitely true for your social media marketing.

What do you want to accomplish with your social media efforts? Do you want to establish your company as an expert in your field? Do you want to generate leads?

Perhaps you’re looking to keep your customers up to date with product updates.

Decide what your main goals are and then make a plan. Create some SMART goals that will be easily trackable. And then get started!

3. Know Your Audience

This is one of the most important social media tips for business. Knowing your audience will give you direction about what to post and content topics.

You will want to understand your audience’s age, gender, location, goals, and average income. How can you find this information though?

The answer is simple: market research.

Start by coming up with personas for your customers. These are qualities of your ideal consumers.

You can do this by doing surveys, focus groups, and customer interviews. Then once you have this demographic data, look for trends. This will give you an idea of your average consumer’s information.

Then, once you know this, you’ll have a better idea of which networks to use and the type of content that will be most appealing to your audience.

4. Always Engage with Your Audience

When it comes to social media, always remember that it is a two-way street. You will have the ability to send out content but your audience will also be able to comment, leave questions, and send direct messages.

You want to provide great customer service in these situations by quickly responding to all comments and messages. Make sure you set up notifications in your social media apps so you always see when someone engages with your posts.

You’ll also get negative comments from time to time from frustrated customers. Always respond in a positive and helpful way because other people will see your responses.

5. Consistency is Key

One of the biggest questions small business owners ask when starting out with social media is how often they should post. Well, the truth is that there’s not one answer.

Every industry is different and companies have found success with all different types of publishing schedules. The biggest thing is to be consistent.

It’s all about balance. You want to post enough so you stay at the top of your audience’s mind, but you ever want to be annoying.

Also, remember that every social network has different norms for posting. On Twitter, it’s totally okay to tweet multiple times a day. On Instagram, though once or twice is better.

6. Separate Your Business and Personal Accounts

This may seem obvious, but far too many companies don’t follow this simple advice. Always keep your business and personal accounts separate.

This way, your followers or subscribers will only see content related to your company. They don’t want to be updated on your family parties or see all your vacation pictures.

It’s more professional to have everything separate. This will make your business seem much more legitimate.

7. Add a Time Budget to Your List of Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

If you use social media for personal use, you’re probably familiar with how easy it can be to waste time scrolling your news feed.

One second you’re just opening your app and 30 minutes later you look up and realize how long it’s been. While this is fine on your personal time, you don’t want this to happen during the work day when you have a lot of other projects to get done.

Instead, create a social media time budget. Pick a time every day to check your accounts, post new content, and to respond to comments.

8. Take Advantage of Your Bio

Almost every social media network has a bio section. This is where you can display a little information about your business and your contact information. Don’t let this space go to waste!

You should include the following:

• Your logo
• A short description of what you do
• Your phone number
• A link to your website
• Your address is necessary

9. Utilize Visuals

Visuals like photos and videos will make your posts much more engaging. In fact, one study found that tweets with images earned up to 18 percent more clicks, 89 percent more favorites, and 150 percent more retweets.

So whenever you can, include a photo or video content with your posts

Want more help with your social media content? Check out smartsocialkits.com.

10. Remember the 80/20 Rule

Speaking of your content, here’s another thing you should keep in mind. 80% of your posts should provide something of value to your followers.

This valuable content could include an infographic, video interview, or blog post.

It’s okay if the other 20% is more self-promotional. This can include information about current offers, new products, or other company changes.

11. Show Some Personality

In everything you do on social media, remember that it’s a good thing to show some personality. This is where you can humanize your brand.

Don’t get stuck in the rut of using only formal corporate language and instead let your walls down a little.

It’s great to have a sense of humor. You can also show some behind the scenes pictures or videos about your business here.

12. Learn from the Best

One way to get started with social media is to learn from those who are more experienced. Spend some time on your chosen platforms and follow other brands in your industry. What do they do that’s successful?

Also study some of the biggest brands in the world like Coca-Cola, Nike, or Apple. How do they use social media?

You can learn a lot from watching.

13. Don’t Be Confrontational

Even though you should have fun with your social media, you shouldn’t ever be confrontational. On your business accounts, never attack your competitors or vent about your industry.

Avoid political issues as much as possible and don’t engage in confrontations with customers who leave negative comments.

And if you have employees posting for your company, make sure they are well-trained in these areas as well. You don’t want your brand image tarnished by inappropriate social media activity.

14. Don’t Over-Automate

Social media automation software is a great tool you can use. It can help you schedule your posts out in advance and get detailed metrics on your results.

This can be really helpful for your overall social media strategy.

However, be careful to not over-automate. Don’t let your automation software respond to people’s comments. It’s very easy to notice when a computer-generated response is used.

15. Test, Evaluate, and Adjust

With any marketing campaign, you should always evaluate your results and then adjust them. Look at the number of clicks and the number of page visits.

For most businesses, the biggest metric to notice is conversions. Whether you want leads or sales, you should pay attention to your results.

If they’re not that great, make some adjustments and keep testing. It’s important to not give up. A lot of social media marketing is trial and error.

So brainstorm some ideas on how to improve and try them out!

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve read through these social media tips for small businesses, what’s next for you?

It’s time to pick your favorite tips and try them out. And before you know it, you’ll be a social media marketing pro.https://www.articlecity.com/blog/15-social-media-tips-for-small-businesses/

BY DALE HARRIS

Website Loading Slow? Here’s How to Fix It

Is your website loading slow?

Getting into digital marketing is a vital part of a business’s success nowadays. Some even say it’s even more important than the product itself. They say that you will end up wasting your time if you don’t have the right marketing tactics.

A large part of digital marketing comes down to your business website. Every business needs one now no matter how small or large they are. This ensures that people have something as a reference and to lure in customers with convenience and engagement.

However, if you have a slow-loading website, it can turn potential customers away instead. Many things that can make this happen. You need to prevent this to ensure a successful marketing campaign.

Here’s how you can fix this problem and make your website load faster.

1. Use a Content Delivery Network

A CDN comprises different servers in different locations. These are in strategic locations in an area to provide coverage to anyone who accesses the Internet. CDNs save a website’s data when a user visits it.

Doing this is a way for the pages to load faster the next time users visit the website. Not having your website registered in a CDN means you can’t enjoy this feature. This will cause visitors to experience the same loading speed every time they visit your website.

It becomes even more of a problem if your business revolves around recurring visits. E-commerce websites are an example of this business type. Visitors won’t be happy with slow business transactions because of the website’s loading speed.

2. Cut Down on Plugins

Plugins take up a lot of processing power on a website. This causes them to slow down the overall loading time. It may even cause them to crash in low-spec computers and may also force the blue screen of death.

These are all undesirables, so cutting down on plugins is the best option for you. Plugins may make your website prettier and give more functions, but removing those which don’t serve any vital purpose can help your website load faster.

This is a common occurrence for WordPress websites. The only way to ensure a clean code is to double-check as often as you can. The platform often leaves a mess if you’re not thorough with clean up.

3. Compress Images on Your Website

Placing images on your website is a great way to engage your audience. It may even convince customers to buy the product if they like the image they see. These can slow down your website’s loading time, though.

This is the case when you use high-resolution images for your website. These even take longer to load than the page itself in some scenarios. This makes the website look under-optimized and unprofessional.

These can impact how clients can look at your business. You can ensure this doesn’t happen by using compressed images for your website. You can also take your current photos and compress them with the help of special tools you can find online.

4. Choose a Better Web Hosting Service

Web hosting enables your website to go live. These servers make your website accessible to the rest of the Internet. These servers are often top-notch, but they’re often the reason your website is loading slow.

This is often the case when you opt for a low-quality web hosting service. It may have been a good choice before because they offer free web hosting. Now that you’re running a business website, though, it’s time to be realistic and opt for a premium web hosting service.

Premium hosting often ensures the longevity of your website. Make sure you register and qualify for a premium hosting service before you leave the first one. This ensures your website won’t experience any downtime while you transfer hosts.

5. Fix All Broken Links

A website loading slow means there are a bunch of broken links littered across the site. These are the links that lead to non-existent web pages. They are also the ones that have bad links and lead to nowhere.

These take up a lot of bandwidths from a website and make them run slower. This will apply to all website functions, including media loading. Having these infect your website will be a way to get a visitor to leave as soon as possible.

There are tools available online to help you determine which links have gone bad. Take this time to fix them and optimize the pages they lead to.

While we’re discussing links, reduce the number of redirect links. These can take up a lot of time and processing power. It’s better to remove them than to risk slowing your website down.

6. Optimize Your Website Design

The main reason you have a slow loading time is that the way you’ve designed your website is not optimal. This often means you have a lot of lines of code cluttering your site. These take up essential processing power and make the whole system load slower.

This is the most common case for business owners because they try to make their website by themselves. This is a noble effort, but it can leave you with a lot of bugs on the website. Investing in a website design agency is often the best move to make.

These professionals can optimize your website and make it the best version of itself. They can clear up unwanted lines of code and give you a significant speed boost.

7. Enable Caching

Having a caching plugin is the easiest way to fix your slow loading website. These plugins cache data to the visitor’s device to save. The next time the user visits the website, the website will have cached data to speed up processes.

This will cut down on a lot of loading time and make revisiting your website easy.

Is Your Website Loading Slow? Optimize It Today

A website loading slow will only mean the downfall of your digital marketing. This can then lead to the downfall of your business. Optimize your website now and increase your campaign’s chances of success today!

Improving your site doesn’t end here. There are other important factors to work upon, like your site’s design and landing page performance. Don’t worry if you feel a little lost — feel free to read more of our guides here to discover all the tips and tricks you need!

BY DALE HARRIS

How to Make an Affiliate Website That’ll Bring in Six Figures

Affiliate marketing websites are one of the hottest sources of passive side income around.

Of course, you also know how to make an affiliate website.

It’s no small task, but it’s easier than many people make it out to be.

Are you ready to get started on a new journey to financial independence? If so, read on and we’ll dive right in and show you a blueprint for making an affiliate website that shines.

Decide on a Niche and a Business Model

There are a ton of different ways to produce an affiliate marketing website that can lead you to a high income.

The first step is picking a niche.

Many people pick a niche that resonates with them. Some handy with DIY might go for tools, a fitness fanatic may review diets and exercise programs.

Those are admirable, but the real start is in the art of keyword research and finding a microniche. You can expand later, but targeting a low competition sector of a high volume niche can bring things to fruition.

Once you have the niche down, you’ll want to look into the business model you’ll be using.

For programs, e-books, and informational products you may be better off partnering with a big affiliate network, but those who are reviewing hard physical products will often find themselves partnering with a retail network.

Both are completely viable ways to do things, and you can even mix them when you get farther down the line. The important thing is to find something and stick with it early in the lifespan of the website.

Content, Content, Content

Content often gets overlooked by affiliates.

That’s not to say they don’t have content, many of them have tons of content. The problem is that it’s horrible and it doesn’t inspire the user to purchase from the recommended products.

Bad content comes in a few forms. The big ones: stock advertising copy from CPA affiliate networks and using ESL writers with no expertise on the subject to create a site that is full of badly worded reviews.

Neither of these are appealing or effective.

Instead, you need to create a well-balanced blend of information, reviews, and soft advertising copy to help you sell the products that you’re getting paid to promote.

For instance, when you got to an affiliate website like Surf’n’Buy, you’re not just greeted with an endless wall of reviews. Instead, there are a ton of informational articles along with them.

Hire a good writer, or write great content yourself, and your conversion rate will go up.

Semantic search on Google means that many old keyword practices are dead, but it hasn’t quite caught up with some of the marketing agencies out there. As long as the keyword means the same thing, your on-page SEO will be fine.

A good content writer is worth their weight in gold and affiliate marketing websites aren’t free: don’t be afraid to spend a bit more money than you were expecting on an actual expert… or at least someone who sounds like one.

The end result will deliver.

You should also make sure that you have enough internal links to keep a person clicking through your page. This not only helps to increase the chances of a sale, dwell time is actually an SEO metric which will help your page’s rank on Google.

Off-Page SEO

There are a lot of ways to get off-page SEO going, but the most valuable for a beginner is beginning to build backlinks.

There are a few ways to take care of your off-page, but white-hat methods are usually the way to go. That means forming organic backlinks to excellent content and additions like infographics, as well as relatively neutral outreach in the form of guest posts on other web pages.

There are endless ways to build backlinks out there so pick a strategy and persevere.

Grey Hat SEO

Some people insist on doing things the fast way.

If that’s the case, then we recommend not buying links and instead producing a private blog network to promote your site. You can create free pages with WordPress, Blogspot, and more and then begin to interlink them.

Each should have at least 5 pieces of content and it shouldn’t look unnatural or spun. If you have a bad writer somewhere in stock who works cheap this is often what you should have them working on rather than your money site.

Just be aware that this kind of trickery is technically against the rules and you can drop ranks overnight if you’re not careful.

Hit Social Media

Social media can be important to an affiliate website. It’s also overlooked by many of the people running them.

When you’re creating your accounts on social media make sure to create a persona and engage with your customers. What the persona will look like depends on the niche and your own personality but as long as you’re actively talking to customers instead of being rude or using a copy-paste template you’ll be fine.

Paid advertisements can also do well, but make sure that they’re to value content instead of money content.

Social media’s purpose for an affiliate website is simple: it increases the consumer’s trust.

More trust, higher conversion rate, it’s that simple.

How to Make an Affiliate Website? Just Start

If you’re still wondering how to make an affiliate website… well, you need to brush up on the basics. The above is the foolproof guideline that countless websites have used over the years to become big earners for those who own them.

It’s not as complicated as many people make it out to be. The element which is lacking in most people isn’t knowledge: it’s persistence.

Why not get started today and get on your way to the kind of side income you’ve always dreamed of?

If you’d like some more great content, check out our website to see what else we have to offer! 

BY DALE HARRIS