STOP Sending Your Traffic to Social Media: Here’s Why You’re Killing Your Business
🚨 WAKE UP! If you’re still sending your hard-earned organic traffic (or worse your paid traffic) to social media platforms, you’re making a HUGE mistake. Businesses across the UK are throwing away their most valuable asset—traffic—by funnelling it into social media sites instead of their own websites.
It’s time to face the facts. Social media is a tool, not the final destination – it’s great for building and curating online communities, marketing and creating connections but shouldn’t be relied on as the final location.
Your website is the powerful tool that you control, and it should be where you drive all your traffic. When you direct traffic to your website, you take control of your conversion rates, search engine optimization (SEO), and your entire customer journeys for relevant searches.
Now, let’s break down the six big reasons why directing traffic to social media sites is one of the worst things you can do for your business. By the end of this, you’ll understand why your website is the digital powerhouse that will explode your growth and why you need to focus on organic search, qualified traffic, and your SEO strategy.
🚨 HOLD UP! Before we go any further, let’s get one thing clear: social media marketing is SUPER important for your business.
Phew! Glad we saved that.
But seriously, if you want to see a real increase in traffic, especially from mobile devices, you need a strong and consistent presence across all the major social media platforms. Facebook Ads, paid ads, and email marketing all play critical roles in your marketing strategies and can be an excellent avenue for generating qualified traffic. They have their place in the marketing funnel, no doubt about that.
BUT—and this is a big “but”—social media is NOT where your traffic should stay. If your endgame is just likes and follows, you’re making a HUGE mistake.
Let me show you why funnelling traffic to your website is the key to driving business growth, boosting conversion rates, and building sustainable success.
1️⃣ Social Media is Borrowed Space—Your Website is Your Real Asset
Social media profiles may feel like a safe space for engagement, but the truth is, you don’t own anything on those platforms. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all the other popular platforms control your access to your audience.
Social media platforms can pull the rug from under your feet at any moment. Think about this: one algorithm change and your referral traffic could drop overnight. Or worse—your account could be suspended or banned with no warning.
When you funnel traffic to social media, you’re giving up ownership of the customer experience, your brand messaging, and your potential to capture leads.
What You SHOULD Be Doing:
Your website is a powerful tool that you OWN.
By driving traffic to your website, you can build a content strategy that nurtures your target audience, helps your business rank higher in search engines, and generates organic traffic.
- Evergreen content: Publish long-form blog posts that stay relevant and continue driving traffic through relevant searches and popular long-tail keywords.
- Meta descriptions and keywords: Optimise your blog posts with the right keywords relevant to your business, ensuring you rank for search queries that your target demographic is searching for.
- Search intent: Craft content that aligns with your audience’s search intent, guiding them from a general search to a highly targeted purchase on your site.
Bottom Line: Own the traffic and the customer journey by making your website the focal point of your marketing strategies.
2️⃣ You Have Limited Control on Social Media—Total Control on Your Website
On social media platforms, your posts are fighting for attention against memes, ads, and other noise. You don’t decide when your target audience sees your posts or how often they interact with your content. The algorithms are built to serve the social platform’s interests, not yours.
There are benefits to social platforms acting in this way though, like the ability to use Facebook Ads. It only benefits Facebook if your ads perform and perform well – otherwise you’ll pull the plug on spend with them. Hold that thought -we’ll circle back to this soon.
On your website, it’s a completely different story.
Your website is your storefront. From the layout to the copy, you have complete control. You guide your audience through a conversion funnel, built specifically for your business and relevant traffic.
Why Your Website Wins:
- Custom user experience: Tailor every element of your site—from informative video descriptions to visual elements—to deliver an experience that converts visitors into customers.
- Internal links: Build a strong internal linking strategy that keeps users exploring your site, boosting your SEO and driving engagement deeper into your funnel.
- Quality leads: With a well-optimized website, you can collect qualified leads directly, whether through email marketing campaigns, email newsletters, or high-converting lead magnets.
By focusing on valuable content and offering a seamless user experience, your website becomes the main source of traffic, while social media can act as a tool to drive people there.
3️⃣ SEO is the Kingmaker—Social Media Does NOTHING for Your Organic Traffic
Here’s the kicker: social media platforms do nothing to help your business rank on Google. It’s a one-way street where you’re throwing away your chance to generate organic traffic.
When you prioritize sending people to your website instead, you leverage the power of SEO.
Why SEO is a Game-Changer:
- Keyword research tool: Use a tool like Google Search Console or Ahrefs YouTube Keyword Tool to find relevant short and long-tail keywords that your audience is actively searching for.
- High search volume keywords: Target keywords with high search volume to drive large amounts of qualified traffic to your website.
- Guest blogging: Write guest posts for reputable sites that link back to your website, increasing your search rankings with quality backlinks. Social media profiles can’t compete with that.
By creating a content strategy optimized for SEO, your site can rank for relevant keywords, increasing your organic search traffic. Search engines reward websites that offer consistent value—something social media can never achieve.
4️⃣ Conversions Happen on Your Website, NOT on Social Media
Let’s talk conversions. How many sales do you really close directly from a social media post? The answer is probably close to none. Why? Because social media isn’t built to convert. It’s built to engage.
Your website, on the other hand, is designed for conversion optimization.
Why Conversions Happen on Your Website:
- Tailored landing pages: You can create long-form content, product pages, or list posts on your website that are designed to convert visitors. You can track how visitors interact with these pages and optimize your content accordingly.
- Lead magnets: On your website, you can offer lead magnets to capture emails, build an email list, and nurture your leads through regular newsletters.
- Internal links: Use strategic internal linking to guide visitors through your type of content, pushing them deeper into your funnel.
A well-optimized website can help you increase your conversion rates, and tools like Google Search and Google My Business can funnel qualified visitors directly to your products or services.
5️⃣ Social Media is Unstable—Your Website is a Solid, Long-Term Asset
Social media is a volatile environment. Features change. Algorithms shift. You can’t control who sees your posts or how often they engage with them.
Your website? It’s a stable, long-term asset that you can build and grow over time. Your website should be the center of your online universe, not an afterthought.
Key Reasons Your Website is the Stable Choice:
- Consistent user experience: Your website can be designed to provide a seamless, responsive site design for users on both desktop and mobile devices. This is crucial, given that mobile devices now account for a significant portion of search volume.
- Evergreen content: Create Evergreen content that continues to drive traffic for months, even years after it’s published. Social media posts have a shelf life of hours or days.
- Core Web Vitals: Google considers your site’s Core Web Vitals when ranking pages. A well-optimized site that loads fast, looks great, and functions smoothly will consistently rank higher in search rankings.
Bottom Line: Your website is the only reliable video hosting platform, lead generation machine, and SEO powerhouse that works for you 24/7.
6️⃣ Practical Steps to Shift Your Focus to Your Website
Ready to shift your strategy and start driving traffic to your website, where it belongs? Let’s talk actionable steps to get you there.
1. Audit Your Website for SEO
Start by running a full SEO audit on your website. Use SEO tools like Google Search Console to check for broken links, optimize your meta descriptions, and improve site speed. Look for content gaps where you can add more value and drive more organic traffic.
2. Create Long-Form Content with SEO in Mind
Begin creating high-quality, long-form content that targets your audience’s biggest pain points. Use a keyword research tool to identify popular long-tail keywords and integrate them into your blog posts.
- Cross-post content: Repurpose your blog content for use on social media, but always link back to your website as the source of traffic.
- Capture visitors: Offer free resources like eBooks, email newsletters, or even webinars to collect emails and build a solid list for future email marketing campaigns.
3. Leverage Google My Business and Google Maps
Claim your Google Business Profile and Google Maps listings to ensure your website is listed in local search results. Optimize it with business details, your business email address, and a custom domain that’s easy for visitors to remember.
Conclusion: Stop Wasting Traffic—Your Website is the Key to Business Growth
Here’s the bottom line: Social media should NEVER be your final destination. It’s a tool to direct qualified traffic to your website, where you control the experience and drive conversions.
Your website is your most valuable digital asset—where conversions happen, organic traffic is generated, and your target audience turns into paying customers.
Stop sending your traffic to social media. Own your traffic. Own your customer journey. And if you want to dominate your market, it starts with putting your website at the heart of your strategy.