Has Google Met its Match? Social Media Marketing says Yes!

Traffic to your website means you are getting found by people who are looking for you. In this case, heavy traffic is GREAT! Now, where does all that traffic come from? There are at least four major highways leading to your website:

• Direct traffic - a searcher types your URL or name into their browser search bar
• Referral traffic- when someone clicks on a link to you found on another website
• Organic search- When your site link gets clicked on because it's toward the top of the search returns
• Social Referrals- When links to your site appear and spread on social media venues like Facebook or Twitter.

2014 was the year of the turning table. Organic search- when searchers type a phrase or a word into Google, Yahoo or another search engine- has been surpassed as a primary source of visits. Recent data have confirmed that the top 8 social networks drove over 30% of traffic to websites last December (2014).

As you begin to finalize your budgets and planning for 2016, this is a trend to pay attention to. Social Media Marketing has gone from afterthought to afterburners. Here are some data that justify a greater emphasis on your Social Media presence:

From Shareaholic, a social media specialist, this table shows that Facebook and Pinterest are where you should start with any increase in Social Media Marketing efforts. Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla, increasing over 9 percentage points in its ability to deliver traffic to you. Pinterest is in a far second with a growth rate of 0.28%

The Bottom Line?

Get cracking with a robust approach to social media. Continue to optimize everything for organic search, continue to broadcast your website URL or easy-to-remember dot-com, and by all means continue to use great content as a marketing tool, but have a look at Facebook and Pinterest as a way to increase traffic, increase leads and increase revenue!