What is the value of having a social media feed displayed on your website?

[crackingmedia]

This is something I asked myself this evening. You see a lot of sites with a Facebook or Twitter feed displayed, but I struggle to understand their value.

OK, it shows that you are active on this or that social media channel, but unless you are posting great content consistently on the social media displayed, the impact of your feed could detract from the web page it is displayed on. It could also cause a visitor to that page on your site to click away from your site into the noise and distraction of that social media channel.

I don't have an issue with using social media icons to link to your channels, but they are more discreet and the sort of thing people will look for if they are interested enough in your web pages to want to connect with you. Also, social sharing icons are good, but I do not see the value in social media feeds.

Do you agree or disagree? I am more than will to be persuaded otherwise.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[neenor]

I've seen so many sites with blogs and social media accounts which are hardly ever updated e.g. blog posts that are more than 6 months old. It really makes you think they don't look like they could be bothered. I think seeing that a company is active on social media etc gives the impression that they are active and therefore makes your site look more up to date. I therefore don't think it's just the content quality that's relevant.

[EGOL]

You see a lot of sites with a Facebook or Twitter feed displayed, but I struggle to understand their value.

     Same here.

OK, it shows that you are active on this or that social media channel, but unless you are posting great content consistently on the social media displayed, the impact of your feed could detract from the web page it is displayed on.

   Yep.

And, instead of building value on Zuck's site you could have spent all of that time building value on your own site.

It could also cause a visitor to that page on your site to click away from your site into the noise and distraction of that social media channel.

Yep.   I would rather give that space to a nice-size Adsense unit.  Then if somebody leaves my site I am gonna be paid.

I don't have an issue with using social media icons to link to your channels, but they are more discreet and the sort of thing people will look for if they are interested enough in your web pages to want to connect with you.

I am not looking to "connect" with anybody.

Also, social sharing icons are good, but I do not see the value in social media feeds.

I agree.  If somebody wants to share, I am fine with that.  If you have great content and people who share it then that can be like tossing gasoline on a fire.   I am trying to set my own site on fire and not try to build one on social media.  One good fire is all I can handle.

Do you agree or disagree?

I agree.  Completely.

But,  lots of people enjoy "connecting" and "sharing" and interacting with people.   If you enjoy it, do it.

I enjoy creating content for my  websites... for a break I post on SEO forums.  I am not posting about my niche on social sites because I don't enjoy it and I really don't want to interact with people.  There is always someone there who is trying to use me.

On SEO forums I answer what I want, when I want, there's no obligation.  People don't try to use me.  I learn a few things and use what I learn to make money on my website.   When I ask a question here, some awesome people help me.  So, I get back what I put in.

I am more than will to be persuaded otherwise.

I think that it is a pretty safe bet that a social evangelist will try to persuade you.

Bottom line...  I think that social sites are like spending money on jewelry.  Buy it if you like it, spend an amount that buys what makes you happy.... but don't dare consider it as an investment and don't buy jewelry when your roof is leakin' or your fridge is empty.   It's OK to make vanity purchases if that makes you happy... sometimes you can sell something back for a little less than what you paid for it but the market for "used jewelry" is never good.

Finally... I want to hear from anybody anywhere who is making a good return on social media posting.  Tell the truth.  I don't see the big important sites allowing their traffic to be siphoned off to social.  Do you see bigass feeds on amazon, CNN, huffpost or NYT.   I think that they are focused on makin' money, not on getting social.

So, I think that people who can make a lot of money posting on social rare, and if they have done good accounting and record keeping to prove their profits they should be held right up there with the Pope. 

[ThompsonPaul]

Love the whole "like spending money on jewelery" analogy! Especially the part about not spending on it when your roof's leakin' or your fridge is empty. So gonna steal that

Paul

[EGOL]

lol... glad you like it.

I am still waiting for the social evangelists to tell me why I am wrong.  

[ThompsonPaul]

As someone who helps a lot of clients with Social Media, Peter, I'm going to agree with you wholeheartedly.

Specifically as relates to a SM feed widget, they can be a disaster! Their coding and external API calls can slow down page rendering horrifically, they create significant clutter, and as you point out, they server to pull hard-won visitors away from your site where you had a chance to convert them. (And that's assuming you have consistently valuable feed content in the first place.)

The one time I've found them effective is if they are placed on specific pages the sole purpose of which is generating SM engagement i.e. NOT in the sidebar of every page.

Social media engagement can definitely be used to help build a reputation or to drive more effective customer service. But far too many folks are just "doing it because they can" without actually building a strategic plan for how the work will benefit them, and measuring and adjusting to know whether it's actually working.

Paul

[crackingmedia]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated. Glad I am not the only one who doubts the value of this tactic,

Peter