20 Simple Tips for Improving Your Social Media Profiles

Vivid Times
by Vivid Times
December 21, 2013
616
social

 

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you remember setting up a business page on Facebook as well as a Twitter account – it’s just that you don’t recall doing anything with them since then. There are countless blog posts and articles dedicated to helping you make the most of your social media accounts. These 20 tips will also get you started on your way to being a social media expert…or at least an informed user.

  1. When responding to posts or comments, use the person’s first name. People love to be addressed directly and it’ll make them feel important, not like they’re just one person in your crowd of fans.
  2. When you’re first starting a marketing regime, you may not want to spread yourself too thin. Once you’ve mastered the profiles you do have, though, it’s time to add more.
  3. Encourage customers to review your product, either directly on the social media site or by pointing them to a review website like Yelp.
  4. Create a unique hashtag that will (hopefully) start to trend. For example, if you own a cafe, you can create a custom hashtag like #SeattlesCupOfLove.
  5. Check your privacy settings to make sure that the public can see your profile, both if they visit it directly and in search results.
  6. Fill out all the sections of your bios. Visual elements are extremely important on social media, but content is necessary as well.
  7. When creating an event on any social network, make sure it’s 100% obvious how people can RSVP and buy tickets. Far too many businesses leave out this pertinent information.
  8. SEO isn’t just for blogs. Keywords, both with and without hashtags, make your profiles and content easier to find. Your profile sections as well as your posts should utilize SEO.
  9. Tell your followers on one social media account about your other profiles. Post an Instagram photo on Facebook; upload a Twitter picture to Pinterest. Cross-promotion will make all of your profiles more popular.
  10. Post various types of media, including text, photos, videos, slideshows and audio tracks. Most people like one or two types of posts over the others, so if you post all different kinds, you’ll reach all of your followers.
  11. Social media profiles should be cohesive. The main photo, profile text and contact information should match across the board. If you already have a brand, logo and tagline, this shouldn’t be difficult to setup.
  12. Interact with your fans. Simply posting content isn’t enough to spark a lot of interest, unless you’re a celebrity.
  13. Keep a file of all your social media information, including short and long descriptions, banner photos and contact information text. Then, when you setup a new account, you can easily utilize the same information as your other profiles.
  14. Every profile should have a picture of some kind, whether it’s of you or your business’ logo. Otherwise, you won’t be memorable, no matter how great your content is.
  15. Don’t overwhelm Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts with hashtags. It’s difficult to read sentences that have hashtags and links in between regular worlds. Followers may simply skip over those posts – or your account altogether.
  16. If you get a bad review on your social media account, try to address it instead of simply deleting it.
  17. If you’re having trouble driving traffic to your blog, ask your social media followers to sign up for your mailing list. Give them a direct link to the signup form to make this step super simple.
  18. Try to offer different things on different sites. For example, use Twitter to showcase your interests and favorite news stories, then use Facebook to talk about your business. If people have to visit different sites to get different information, they’re more likely to follow you everywhere.
  19. Check your Facebook page – is your profile photo too small for the space or, worse, is it out of focus? Change it ASAP before visitors think you’re unprofessional! Whatever you do, don’t use low quality images.
  20. When posting a link on Twitter, make sure that your text and hashtags match the content in whatever you’re linking to. Otherwise, you’ll quickly lose the trust of your followers.

 

About The Author

Jason Bayless is a professional blogger that gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice. He writes for BestSEOCompanies.com, a nationally recognized comparison website of the best SEO services in the United States.