Social Media Marketing: Using Web 2.0 to Drive Traffic to Your Blog Part 1 – Twitter

Social Media (or Web 2.0) such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg contain a surprisingly powerful tool for websites. Having a strong presence in social media extends your reach to potential visitors and clients. By using these tools, you will see a major increase in traffic and create a new way for social engagement to take place on your site.

Twitter is a microblogging service that allows users to participate in discussions with thousands of other users. Simply by creating an account, following other users, and sending a “tweet” you have informed users of your web presence and allowed traffic to reach your website. Twitter clients, such as TweetDeck and Hootsuite make using Twitter a lot easier. Here are some tips while tweeting to create value in your posts.

Ask a question relating to your site. If you are offering a service, ask what others think about your offer and provide a link. Use a URL shortening service such as Tinyurl or Tiny.CC for your links.

Remark on the comments you receive. Try to create a conversation with other users. While selling yourself is important, blatantly spamming links will quickly get you un-followed by other users and will diminish your traffic. Having a sense of humor and helping others with your tweets will show people your good nature and will make them more likely to click your link.

Make sure you are continually looking out for new followers. Follow people with interests similar to your website or blog and try to start a conversation with them. If you have a lot of users who aren’t responsive, simply un-follow them. Hootsuite offers a mass-unfollow tool.

Creating a strong web presence through social media will not only get your website traffic but will give you a lot of quality feedback on what is expected from your website or blog. Using these tools properly can get you thousands of more visitors each month.