7 Social Media Website Hacks You Don’t Know

If you were brave enough to ask the average socialite how they manage to stay in the limelight without having any actual talent, you’d probably be told that you have to learn the tricks of the trade. Socialites know what to wear, how to get attention, and the strategies needed to remain popular. In other words, they know precisely how to be “social.”

The same is true, in a sense, with social media. There are certain tricks of the trade — hacks, if you will — that will help you get the most out of the various sites and applications available. Learn to use these hacks effectively and you might just breathe new life into any social media accounts that have become stagnant.

Hack #1: Create Content That Prompts Sharing

Poke around on social media sites for a bit and you’ll quickly realize that content gets the most attention when it informs, entertains, or provokes. People will be most interested in what you have to say or the links you share when those posts are relevant, easy to digest, and either useful or thought-provoking.

Hack #2: Link to Your Social Media Pages

This is a “no-brainer,” right? Except that many companies simply neglect to include links on their website that will take visitors to their accompanying social media accounts. It is now extremely easy to place links to these accounts on every page of your website. Typically, you’ll want to place them in the header, footer, or sidebar.

Hack #3: Encourage Sharing

You want to make sharing your company’s information with your friends as easy as possible. The best way to do this is to add a “share” button to your website’s pages. Potential customers will then be more inclined to share what you have to offer because it’s so darn easy to do.

Hack #4: Make Sure Your Images are Fab-u-lous

Human beings are attracted to pretty things. In the world of social media, this means that the use of an attractive or intriguing image can pull in potential customers by practically forcing them to click on it. After all, how many people reading this can truly resist the call of a meme with the popular image of Patrick Stewart, Grumpy Cat, or The Most Interesting Man in the World? Choose your images wisely and you’ll increase your exposure.

Hack #5: Use the Facebook Like Widget

This widget does exactly what it sounds like it does — it allows you to add a button to your website that enables a visitor to like your Facebook page right from your website. Another great feature is that it will show which of a person’s Facebook friends have liked your site as well.

Hack #6: Pin It, Please

As we’ve noted previously, the more quickly information on your website can be shared, the more exposure you’ll receive. What you want to do is include a “Pin It” button that appears whenever a visitor hovers his mouse’s pointer over an image on your site. This shortcut will encourage people to pin that image to Pinterest immediately.

Hack #7: Don’t Forget About LinkedIn

Even though businesses see the need for a LinkedIn account, they often don’t know how to gain a good following. We’re not gonna lie — building a following on LinkedIn can be an uphill battle, probably because it’s often not viewed to be within the same social circle as sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, LinkedIn is a great social networking tool for businesses, so you should definitely add a “Follow Company” button or Company Profile badge to your website for easy accessibility.

There you have it.