Whether you have a Twitter page, Facebook profile, LinkedIn account or prefer conducting business on niche online communities, tell your website visitors about your other locations immediately. Don’t make them hunt all over your site looking for a particular network.
Sure, sometimes that means your visitors will spend more time on your site but this will only happen once. Some people look for a Facebook icon (for instance) and leave if they don’t see the familiar blue and white icon immediately. Never put your visitor to work. This isn’t a treasure hunt. Your most important information should be front and center.
Yes, ideally you want to funnel your traffic from social networking sites to your main website but you should never dictate how someone wants to connect with you. Facebook and Twitter have limited search features and sometimes it is easier for a new visitor to search on a search engine, find a main website and enter a social networking profile that way. Plus many social networking platform users access those sites through homepages (particularly in the case of prominent institutions or well-known organizations) so that they are secure in the knowledge that they are entering the official page and not some sham.
Keep it easy for those willing to connect with you and they might do just that.
