While social media can be an excellent way to make connections and spread the word about your business, there are several common mistakes people make that hinder this process. Outlined here are what some of those mistakes are and how to fix them.

1. Not Having Links

One of the biggest mistakes people make when using social media is not linking properly. This comes in two main variations. If you have a company website or a main blog you’re trying to promote, the biggest mistake you can make is not having buttons on either the side or bottom the page that link to major social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook. These icons work as an easy and quick way for viewers to share your content. A similar mistake is not properly including links on your various social media outlets that link back to the main site you’re trying to promote. A simple URL is not sufficient for this. Rather you want to make sure that you have the address in hyperlink form to allow for easier access. Sometimes people do not even check that their links work.

2. Using the Default Settings for Everything

Now there is nothing inherently wrong with most website default systems, and leaving some of your settings on the default is perfectly fine. However, you want to avoid leaving all or most of your settings this way. Why? Because it suggests that you did not put time or effort into crafting how your online presence as viewed by others. You might have excellent content, but first impressions are paramount. A webpage that shows you have put some time into customizing it helps show that you are serious about maintaining your presence online.

3. Too Much Customization

This is one of those cases of too much of a good thing. While as previously mentioned, customization is needed to signal to people that you are willing to put time and effort into your page, too much customization can be equally bad. There are a couple ways this can be problematic. One is the general concern that someone who spends excessive amounts of time on customization might not be devoting enough to other pursuits, like producing actual content. There is also the problem that excess customization can be distracting or unpleasant to look at. It might even cause people to avoid certain aspects of your page. For example, no one wants to read a personal biography the length of an essay. So stick to some basic customization, but do not go crazy with it.

4. Lack of Consistency

A key to a good social media presence is posting consistently. A mistake some people make is posting in spurts of activity. They may have a flurry of five or six postings at once followed by days of inactivity. This leads to people having a hard time sifting through everything posted during the frenetic periods followed by growing disinterest at the lack of new material in the down times. To avoid this, try to post at a consistent and manageable pace in order to provide a steady but not overwhelming stream of information to readers.

5. Seeming Inaccessible

A mistake some people make with social media is seeming too remote. People like accessibility and want to feel a connection with those they follow online. To prevent this, make sure there is some way to engage with readers. This can be as simple as allowing for a comment section at the end of an article to following those who follow you on twitter. The point is to make sure there’s a way to show people that you’re listening to them. Additionally, you also want to avoid using overly technical terms and corporate lingo when writing for large groups of people because many individuals may either not understand some of the terminology or they may simply find it contrived. Stick to plain English (or whatever language you choose to write in) when posting.

6. Not Completing Your Profile

Not completing your profile is another social media mistake individuals make. While some may think putting time and effort into something that is not actual content may be a waste of time, it’s actually very important for people who are interested in matching a face and personality to the content they are reading. This goes back to again, connecting with your readers. A photograph and some basic information can go a long way towards telling people who you are. Besides, your profile page is your most important promotion tool on any network. It is your bill board that works to promote you night and day. Take time to get it right.

7. Not Completing Your Articles

This may seem like a rather odd mistake, but it does sometimes happen that individuals will not complete the articles they are working on. This is most likely to happen when the article is in the form of an ongoing blog about a particular topic where failure to continue posting can leave readers hanging. However, it can also happen that people suddenly decide to write a much shorter article than originally intended leaving readers disappointed at the small amount of information available. Therefore, when writing article, it is important to remember to allow sufficient time to complete it to a standard that both oneself and the viewers will be satisfied with.

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