Drive Traffic to Your Website with Social media

If part of your 2014 plan involves generating leads, online sales, building awareness or all of the above, then social media should be part of that strategy. Social media can drive the type of web traffic that's actively seeking your information. They may even be ready to buy. Here are 50 ways to drive traffic to your site with social media, organized by 10 categories.

Social Media Listening

1. Monitor for buying indication terms and reply with helpful links
2. Listen for recommendation requests and share helpful links
3. Listen for discussions of your product or category and provide web links
4. Share relevant web content with prospects
5. Discover relevant blogs and ask for backlinks

Social Content

6. Include a strong call to action in all content
7. Tie content together so an ebook links to a relevant blog post which links to a topical webinar
8. Divide a piece of content into multiple Slideshare presentations that link to your site
9. House the blog on your website
10. Ask readers to sign up for your RSS feed

Social Media Engagement

11. Link back to your landing page for conversion
12. Answer all questions
13. Share peer referrals
14. Optimize your site and blog for mobile viewers
15. Start a LinkedIn group

Social Media Ads

16. Use a Facebook ad or promoted Tweet
17. Link back to dedicated landing pages for conversion
18. Create an ad on LinkedIn linking to a lead generation form on your site
19. Promote a web offer
20. Advertise on relevant forums

Social Media Measurement

21. Track which social channels drive the most traffic to your site
22. Incorporate social share buttons and track links
23. Track the success of social campaigns
24. Try different calls to action on your blog and track effectiveness
25. Measure ebook downloads

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

26. Link content and similar keywords throughout your social channels
27. Use keywords on social media to provide a clear idea of the topic
28. Use the same keywords from your website on your social updates
29. Adjust blog headlines to include industry keywords that are commonly used
30. Interlink content and social media so that one promotes the other

Community Management

31. Keep your web content relevant and send updates to your community
32. Create a forum or community section on your website
33. Feature community members on your site
34. Share customer stories
35. Create referral programs

Influencer Relations

36. Ask influencers to share your web links
37. Interview an influencer for web content
38. Have an influencer guest blog
39. Help an influencer write content about your brand
40. Share products with influencers for feedback and web content

Video

41. Answer questions with a video FAQ
42. Embed YouTube videos onto your website
43. Create product videos with a website call to action
44. Share your videos on your social channels
45. Create customer story videos on your website

Thought Leadership

46. Speak at events and post your presentation to your site
47. Post your presentations on Slideshare and embed them on your site
48. Write for industry blogs and cross link
49. Post your bio on your website
50. Include your website in all your social channel bios

What other approaches worked for you when driving traffic to your website? Add your thoughts here!