Facebook Drives One Quarter of All Internet Traffic

 Posted on August 21,2015 in OVC Lawyer Marketing

A generation or two ago, the world was a different place. We checked newspapers for sports scores and movie times. We learned about current events from Walter Cronkite and, later, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. We gathered information about businesses from friends or neighbors, then looked in the phone book for a number to call. Today, virtually all of the same information and infinitely more is available with a few clicks of a mouse or a few taps on a touchscreen. The internet has become an unimaginably vast resource with limitless possibilities, yet research suggests that nearly one third of internet traffic is driven by social media sites and apps. If you want users to find your company’s website, a presence on Facebook, Pinterest, or Google Plus is more important than ever before.

Social Media Delivers

While it may not seem important to the casual observer, the way in which a user accesses your company’s website is an extremely large piece of the marketing puzzle. It is vital to know where your potential customers are beginning their internet journey so that you can be better equipped to meet their expectations from the outset. Recent market studies suggest that more than 30 percent of hits to published websites originate through eight of the most popular social media networks. These include Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Google Plus, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and, of course, Facebook.

While the remaining seven certainly contribute to a website’s traffic, Facebook dwarfs all of them combined, comprising nearly 25 percent of all internet traffic. Not 25 percent of all social media-driven traffic. All traffic. What is more, the social networking monolith increased its traffic share by more than 10 percent in 2014.

Consumer Expectations               

This connection between consumers and social media seems to be a two-way street. As a business owner, creating and maintaining a strong Facebook or other social networking presence is recommended from an advertising perspective. Your visibility increases brand recognition and can reach potential clients who were previously unaware of your existence. However, prospective customers have expectations regarding the companies with whom they will do business, and a social media presence is increasingly becoming one of those expectations, even among consumers who know your brand. In fact, most expect a company to show an active presence on at least three social media platforms.

Capitalize on the Facebook Trend           

If your brand does not have an active Facebook presence, it is time to change that. With an active user base upward of 1.4 billion, the potential exposure is boundless. In addition, a Shopify study found that Facebook also boasts a 1.85 percent customer conversion rate, by far the highest among all social media commercial traffic.

For more information on promoting your brand through the efficient use of Facebook and other social media outlets, contact OVC, INC. Our team of dedicated professionals has been providing cutting-edge marketing solutions to attorneys since 2008. We are equipped to combine top-quality website design with SEO and social media strategies to produce an effective marketing campaign that will help grow your brand. Call us today at 630-635-8000 to schedule an appointment.

About the Author: Greg Wildman is the President of OVC, INC. Since 1999, Greg has developed hundreds of websites for attorneys from his company's inception as Online Video Concepts, LLC to the modern era's OVC, INC. Greg's knowledge of law firm marketing has helped many attorneys establish online presences through custom website development, Search Engine Optimization, legal directory partnerships, social media marketing, content writing and more.