Frequently I manage a client’s social media postings and arrange social media ads. But then there comes a time when they want to know exactly how and if it is working with their old websites.
Other clients know it is working by the increase in business or calls to the business. Others see it on their social media pages themselves. They log in to their social media account and see the page insights or analytics.
Then, I ask a client if they have Google Analytics and most clients look at me with a perplexed expression.
Table of Contents
Are You Ready for Social Media?
Others have said: “I don’t know if it’s ever been set up.” Before you know it, I’m in contact with their website developers and we end up working together to make the older website better.
Now, I like to start this process upfront with new clients. SEO is just as important as social media today still.
So, how can you tell if your older website is ready for social media marketing?
What is Needed for a Website to be Social Media Ready?
Page Speed
Website page speed is a big indicator that a website has been updated recently. Many times, the images on a website have not been optimized correctly. If you are not sure, check out this guide on image optimization.
How can you check your website’s page speed? There are 2 places I love to test them out on. It only takes a minute or two.
One is Google itself. It is the Google Page Speed developers test. And then there is another one called GT Metrix. These are 2 great places to start to check your site’s speed today.
I just went through this here on Inspire To Thrive. My techie Mayura changed my hosting, along with plugins and changes in theme.
Thank goodness for him as I would not have the time to learn and do all that with everything else.
Updated Content For Your Old Site
Another indicator is the content on the website. Oftentimes, the blog or website has not been updated in months or even years!
Without being updated, some of these sites are no longer user-friendly. Plugins need to be kept up to date on all WordPress websites. Even WordPress itself needs to be updated from time to time.
Besides, Google loves to see refreshed content when they rank websites. So if you want to appear in search be sure to keep your website fresh.
Not only Google but your customers will notice when they land on your site or blog if it has been updated or not. Having new information on a website keeps it fresh and makes readers more engaged.
Social Media Buttons and Share Buttons
Some sites I have seen have neither! This is so important if you are going to UP your social media presence and invest in social media management and /or marketing.
Make sure the FB page and or Twitter X icons can be seen and are clickable to the right link on social media profiles. These important icons are something that is often overseen by many webmasters.
If you do use your Twitter X or other social icons be sure that the Twitter profile is updated and that you are still tweeting.
It looks careless if you haven’t tweeted in months or years. Yes, many websites with Twitter or Instagram buttons are like that.
A newer way is to put your social media buttons on your contact page and not on every page as they can slow the speed of your site down and take people away from your site quickly.
Clear Call to Action to Make Your Old Website Ready for Social Media
What is it that you want people to do when they land on your website pages? People are not mind readers. You want to make it easy for them to perform actions on your website.
It will help them get answers fast to the questions they have. A call to action can be for readers to sign up for emails or to make a special purchase.
Internal Linking
Do your pages and blog posts link to one another? Many websites I look at do not. This is huge for SEO today.
If your content does not link with others on your website it is called “orphan content” and is not good for your website’s SEO or traffic.
It is a simple tactic that takes time to implement but can be done a little at a time. I’m still working on mine here at Inspire To Thrive at least several times a week.
Today it is much easier with LInk Whisper, if finds the content fast for you to link to. That is for internal links and it also tells you about your broken external links.
Contact Info
Your business contact info should be on every page of your website even if it is on the footer. If it is a retail business phone numbers and hours are a must. It shows Google you are real and can be trusted.
Have you ever visited a website and were not able to find how to contact someone for an answer? That is a very frustrating experience.
Another popular option of course is to have an online chat today. Many consumers like to have answers right away and having an online chat on your website can provide that.
Is Your Old Website Shoppable and Social Media Ready?
If you are an online retailer, the shipping costs of each product page are another important factor for people making a decision to purchase or not from your website.
Furthermore having a great shopping cart for your website can make a big difference as well. People don’t want to spend a lot of time waiting for a shopping cart to load.
Of course, having several payment options like Paypal and credit cards is a must as well.
Your Checklist for Getting Your Website Social Media Ready
I’ve made an infographic just for you to see if your website is ready for social media! Be sure to check out the handy list here below.
Do You Still Need A Website Today?
Oftentimes, people will ask if they still need a website. Or if they don’t have it if they really need a website since they have a Facebook page.
The answer is always YES. You can do so much more with a website and it is YOUR own digital property.
A social media website is like renting space on the digital landscape. You never know if it will disappear or start charging a high rent!
Having a website is always the first choice when it comes to having your business online. It’s your own home. You can make the rules and do what you want there.
Have you checked your website recently to see if it is ready for social media marketing? I’d love to know more in the comments below if you check these tips out regularly on your website.
Is Your Older Website Ready For Sure-Fire Social Media Marketing? Share on X
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Hello Lisa,
These are perfect indicator for your website to aware about performance. Social media play crucial role in boosting your business size, for this we need to aware about some sort of important points which you have explained very clearly.
Page speed matter when you want to take your business to next level. Thanks for sharing these great facts with us.
With best wishes,
Amar Kumar
Hi Amar, thank you. From reviewing my stats yesterday I would say site speed is #1 as more traffic comes organically here still than social media. And I put a lot of time in social media and some dollars as well. SEO still rules. OF course, social media still plays a role in generating traffic and new people to your website that would not have otherwise seen it. Thanks for coming by on this one and have a great weekend.
Social media is indeed powerful and gives your website the presence it deserves. I keep on updating my older posts, change keywords, add CTA buttons and also do interlinking on these posts. Thanks for the tips.
Hi Finnich, welcome to Inspire To Thrive, social media can do that if done correct. That’s great that you are doing those updates. They can really help! Have a great day Finnich.
I spent the past week dumping my old WordPress database (which had gotten huge with trash) and re-creating a brand new one, which gave me a small boost in site performance.
My next step is to be more proactive on social media and implement the necessary adjustments on the blog itself. All in all, im gradually making a 180-degree turn on the site itself and my social circles alike.
I routinely slack off when it comes to social media, but I am actively working to change that and your post only served as additional encouragement.
Hope you have a nice weekend, Lisa!
Hi Elvis, that sounds like a lot of work on your database? But if it helps it is worth it! I’m glad you say it’s a gradual 180-degree turn because it all takes a lot of time and effort to do it right. And then Google takes time to crawl your site, etc.
I’m glad to hear my post was encouraging for you Elvis. Thank you!
I appreciate your coming back, your feedback and enjoy your upcoming weekend as well!
Likewise!
Hi Lisa,
That is a refreshing blog post about social media marketing. You got it all covered already as to what all we need to have on our blogs to make them social media ready.
Social Media is the best way to brand your blog and your business. So, you must not miss this Moreover, I am a great fan of Search Traffic, I do value social traffic a lot too because it is what helps you to know your readers, and let readers know you better. And, also, you get yourself popular in your niche if you do things right.
Thank you for this excellent article.
Hi Atish, Nice to see you here! Glad to hear about search traffic as that is very important and having them working together is key today with all the competition. Thanks for your input and have a wonderful rest of your day Atish.
Excellent insights Lisa. Social media is the best way to grow any business online and it’s also the fastest and easiest marketing channel if done right.
When you have an effective marketing strategy such as growing your online presence using your website and social media campaigns, it works like a charm. As you said, one should make sure that their site is properly optimized to run successful campaigns on social media sites like Facebook.
Site speed is definitely one of the biggest factors that can make or break your site’s success. Not only Google rewards faster sites but your website visitors will thank for making your site speed and performance faster.
Coming to using social sharing buttons, it’s important to use only essential and limited sharing options. People don’t share anything if you provide every social sharing button under the sun. Less is always more.
I really appreciate your efforts to create a nice and compelling infographic. Loved it. Keep using more of them in important posts for better user engagement.
Keep rocking Lisa.
Hi Anil, nice to see you here! I always see you rocking it at Your Facebook Group. I like how you say IF done right! It does take time and some people think they can start from stratch and make it happen overnight. That does NOT happen. But if done right you can get results!
Great point on the social share buttons, I try to keep it to 3-5. It’s hard to cut some! But I’ve done it. I still see many with Google+, LOL.
Thanks for the compliment on the infographic, my first with Canva. I’m trying to do more of that and of course videos.
Thank you also for coming by Anil and I may reach out you on a post about Facebook Groups.
You are my Facebook Group Expert!
Hi Lisa; Even hobby bloggers can benefit from these tips if they want to be discovered among the millions of websites out there. I didn’t know about the “orphaned content”, but usually link to a related post or two, anyway. Thanks for the info!
Hi Debbie, yes, I believe they can as well. It’s easy to check with WordPress Debbie. Let me know I could email you a screenshot on how to find out. It’s right in the dashboard where you look for “posts”. You are most welcome and have a great rest of the week Debbie.
Hi Lisa,
Yes, I think so my blog is ready to fire social media marketing. And for my blog, I constantly updating my content and also adding social media share buttons to my pages and post along with the call to action buttons too. These little considerations help me in getting more social share and engagement on my posts and pages.
Overall, you have shared such a great post on keeping any blog ready for social media marketing. Really, you have made each and every point very clear, that’s the best part of this post.
Thanks for sharing such a great post.
Hi Jitendra, it sounds like you got it all covered. Do you have a team in place or just flying solo? You are most welcome and I appreciate your coming by and for your input here. Have a great day Jitendra.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your kind reply. Yes! I have a team because and that works remotely. And trust me managing a team remotely is such a daunting task. What about you?? How are you managing everything so far?
That’s awesome Jitendra, I have a few freelancers I use, mostly for idea generation with social media. A few for blogging too. It would be too hard to so it completely solo! Have a great weekend.
Some great tips! I have social media accounts running alongside my blog that I try and keep updated, but seriously need to work on keep everything up to date and reviving old content – keeping everything relevant. Just have to keep on at it every day! Sim x
Thank you Sim. Welcome to Inspire to Thrive! You are right – everything needs to be updated and it will take time. Just give yourself time to do even if it is just 30 minutes a day, It will get done by and by. Some are awaiting for a long block of time to do it but it may never come. Thanks for coming by and have a great day Sim.
Hello Lisa,
You just mention the top reason why many clients don’t see result no matter who’s handling their social media platform – they don’t have metrics for measuring growth or not willing to play their own part.
I like the fact that you discuss it with their website administrator. Some of them I have met in recent time will want you to handle everything by yourself even though it wasn’t part of the deal.
Thanks for sharing.
It’s time to cross-check my website again to be sure it’s social media ready.
Cheers.
Emenike
Hi Emenike, how have you been? You are correct that some you meet will want to handle everything themselves. I think that is getting harder and harder today since there is so many components to social media today. (as well as websites too!) You are most welcome. I hope this helps you get your website in tip top shape for social media marketing Emenike. Thanks for coming by and have a great day and new week.
Hi Lisa,
Social media marketing is essential for bloggers.
You can’t hope your blog will pick up steam just because you have great content (which you must, of course).
People have to know it’s there.
You’ve given a great roadmap for getting your website up to snuff for social media marketing.
Even though my blog does most of these things, I have some sites that do not.
So I’ll use your checklist to get them up to date and back in the flow.
Thanks.
-Donna
Hi Donna, yes, we can’t just hope along. There are so many things that need to be done today to market and promote a website. I always say, it’s either money or time you have to invest. I hope the checklist will help you with that Donna. Have a great weekend!
Many people simply ignore the power of share buttons on their websites and their content actually being quality. You hit it on the head there lisa.
Craige
Hi Craige, yes, it amazes me how many websites I see with those share buttons that do not go to their own Twitter page but the home page of Twitter or to a Twitter page that’s never been used. I have seen some recently with Google+ which has gone away 6 months now as well. Thanks for coming by Craige and have a great day!
All smart steps, Lisa. We really need our old site up to snuff as far as page speed and recent content. Blogs are news sites, like it or not. Imagine tuning into news and seeing the latest article from 4 years ago? No way.
Page speed is a biggie because folks want content yesterday. I am on a VPS, have a CDN, crunch images and just link to podcasts and videos, speeding things up by avoiding heavy embed codes. Excellent points here.
Hi Ryan, thank you. That’s an excellent point, blogs are like news sites and people want to see fresh content. I know I am turned off if I do a search on Google for something and come across something that is dates from years ago or with no date! I use a CDN as well and VPS, it costs more but is worth it in the long run. I hope you have a great weekend Ryan. Thanks for coming by.
Hello Lisa,
Great Post. Interlinking is the best way to link your every content and pages. It is also one of the best on-page SEO. Interlinking helps to reduce bounce rate and also help search engines to crawl your site easily. I am very much focused on optimizing my images. Plugins like ShortPixel and WP Smush optimize images effectively to load faster. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips here.
Regards,
Vishwajeet
Hi Vishwajeet, thank you. That is what I am working on here – internal links. I had many old posts that needed them and I’m trying to also update those along the way. It all takes a lot of time! I have a plugin as well for images. But I try to minimize plugins as they can slow down the website too. Thanks for coming by Vishwajeet and enjoy your day.
Hi Lisa…
This time you came with the right one. I also do social media for my clients. You know most of the time I dispirit just because of the bad result which comes due to the unoptimized website. As it takes so much time to create a social media campaign so we all make sure that our web pages optimized enough for the better conversion. As you mentioned about page loading time, it’s indeed one of the important factors that affect the user experience. Thank you for sharing such information.
Trisha
Hi Trisha, thank you. I can understand your loss of enthusiasm if the clients websites are not updated!
You are right about it taking so much time to create social media campaigns, between the copy, the correct URL’s and the images, it all takes a lot of time. That’s why so many smaller business cannot keep up with it. The loading times do change often as well. Even with my own site here I have to check it at least monthly. It can be images or plugins used on the website that can slow things down. You just never know unless you do those page speed tests.
Thanks for your input on this one Trisha. Hope to see you around again here. Have a terrific day.
Hi Lisa, you mention internal linking to prevent orphaned pages. And you’re right. Pages that aren’t linked to from anywhere are as good as non-existent. They won’t rank.
Fun fact: if you have XML sitemap you don’t need any internal link for a page to be discovered; because it’s in the sitemap.
However, links in sitemap don’t pass Page Rank and such a page still won’t rank.
Internal and external links are crucial!
Great post, Lisa:)
Hi Nikola, thank you. Wow, that is an interesting fact about the sitemaps and page rank. I didn’t know that. Thank you! Those links are most certainly crucial for SEO today. I appreciate your coming by and have a great day Nikola.
Every website owner or blogger should be ready to enter into the world of social media marketing. SMM is the need of every business running online and offline.
One should optimize the sites and create landing pages according to the relevant social media campaigns. Thanks!
Hi Sona, Yes indeed. So many older websites are not ready for social media marketing today. The simplest thing of the social icons is one indicator as well as having mobile ready and landing pages on the website. Thanks for coming by on this one and have a great day Sona.
Hi Lisa, I like the title since it arouses curiosity. However, interlinking is a problem in that several marketers do not know how to create links. And I believe that is why it is a trending topic. Moreover, speed, as one of Google ranking factors is critical for social media marketing successes. All other points are indispensable.
Thank you Moss. Yes, I’m finding that with several of my clients. No idea how to do links, internal or external. The things we take for granted Moss! Oh yes, the page speed is really important today. Thanks for coming by on this one and have a great day Moss.