At PBEVENT last week I was having lunch with a group of 5 bloggers from quite different niches and for a few minutes the conversation centred around the topic of which social media sites send us the most traffic.
We went around the circle and shared the top sources of social media traffic for our blogs and it was fascinating to hear how for different blogs and niches the answer changed.
I thought it might make an interesting discussion post here on ProBlogger (and might help some of us to work out where to invest more time into social.
While traffic isn’t the only benefit of engaging on social – I know for many bloggers it’s a big reason to be engaging in social.
So here are my 2 questions for discussion:
- what is your blog’s niche/topic?
- what social media site/s sends your blog the most traffic?
Let me quickly answer for my two main blogs:
For Digital Photography School
- the niche is obviously ‘photography tips’
- The top social media source of traffic last month was clearly Facebook with Pinterest coming in at number 2 (but not even close to what Facebook sent).
For ProBlogger
- the niche is ‘blogging tips’
- The top social media source of traffic last month was again Facebook – but Twitter came in as a closer 2nd.
Aside: I was actually a little surprised by the result for ProBlogger because last time I checked Twitter was the #1 and I do put more effort into building a presence on the ProBlogger Twitter account than on our Facebook Page (we also have a lot more engagement and larger following numbers on Twitter). It looks like I might need to rethink my focus a little!
Blog topic/niche: small business online marketing/copywriting
Twitter is by far my best source of social media traffic. I’m starting to implement Google+ and have gotten some encouraging results, but not comparable with the traffic from Twitter (yet).
Hi Darren
When will you announce the winner of your Group Discussion competition earlier this year?
https://problogger.com/group-writing-project-write-a-discussion-post/
As for this discussion, Facebook in all things. Miles ahead of anything else.
My niche is personal finance. Twitter send me the most social media traffic. My Twitter strategy might be somewhat different than many others but frequent tweets work in my niche.
Internet Business Coaching – Focusing on small businesses.
For me it is Twitter. However, most clients of mine seem to do better with Facebook.
I think one of the biggest advantages with Facebook pages is Google Indexing. Twitter doesn’t really help with that. So what might be the reason for your Facebook increase ,is the fact the people are finding your Facebook posts through Google. Sometimes engagement doesn’t matter as much as search.
1. niche: WordPress training for Etsy sellers
2. Twitter is by far the winner, but that’s not surprising as it’s where I put in the most time. Then comes Pinterest, followed by Facebook.
My niche is Internet marketing solutions for upper cervical Chiropractors.
I get the most traffic from twitter followed closely by Facebook.
For total visitors, Facebook takes the cake for us.
I’d just like to point out that as a B2B company (with a B2B oriented blog), LinkedIn and surprisingly *SlideShare* send the best quality traffic. Reddit, to no one’s surprise, sends the worst (though I love the site!).
I am in the internet marketing niche and currently twitter is my greatest source of social media traffic. However, I think Facebook and YouTube will challenge that as I spend more time developing those pages.
I’m lifestyle. I get the most from Pinterest, but I don’t consider that a social network. So that leaves Facebook, with twitter a long-distant third.
My blog niche is grooming (with particular emphasis on shaving). Reddit is the largest referrer by far, followed by Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook.
I’m one of those bad, bad bloggers who doesn’t really have a niche.
By far, Pinterest sends me the most traffic, but that traffic tends to have the highest bounce rate, unfortunately.
Bounce rate is a good point! I too get my highest traffic from Pinterest (home decor niche) and find that people stay around longer via Facebook or referral from another blog.
Interesting question that has allowed me to investigate my case.
My niche is Modern History, but, strange to say, social networks affect very little in the amount of visits and page views per month, less by 2%, facebook in the first place.
Thanks for the inspiration.
My blog is a military spouse lifestyle blog. My top referrer is Pinterest followed by Facebook. Pinterest’s traffic is usually at least twice what I get from Facebook.
Bible and Theology.
I get the most traffic from Twitter. I Tweet frequently as well, using a mixture of personal interaction with others, and “automated” Tweets which were written in advance and so they can be posted while I am away form my computer. I don’t overdo this though as dozens of tweets a day can annoy followers.
The most traffic to my website is from Facebook but also G+ is good
Since I have an event planning and entertaining blog called Beaux & Belles, Pinterest drives more of my traffic with all its visual inspiration. That’s where I focus a lot of attention.
Brittany
http://beauxandbelles.net
I am still finding my niche although history would probably be my niche. Pinterest has driven the most traffic with Facebook a close second.
My website has to do with online marketing. My best traffic sources are Facebook and StumbleUpon. They seem to send traffic consistently.
1. My niche is African safari.
2. My top social media source of traffic has been facebook all along.
My husband and I have a health and nutrition consulting biz and I run a life + style blog.
Both of these blogs see large numbers coming from Pinterest:)
The best social media source of traffic is facebook.The twitter is on the second.There is a reason if you share a link on facebook it automatically show some images with the link.But there is no option to show images on twitter.Many of us we can not use to see the links but the image.
You can use Twitter Cards to have images and post snippets appear on Twitter. My traffic from Twitter has gone up significantly since I started using them.
Another variable is how much time and effort you spend on each network. If you puts loads of effort into your Twitter, but not your Facebook, then you are highly likely to get a lot more traffic from Twitter.
I get most of my traffic from Twitter, but I think it is down to me spending more time on there.
My main source of traffic is primarily Google Plus by a wide margin. This make sense considering it is my primary social platform. Twitter is a distant second. Over 80% of my traffic is via social.
Hi Sir !
My niche is technology and i get more traffic from twitter than facebook as followers share my posts more on twitter than facebook.
Mine is only a very new blog- little stories that pop into my head.
Facebook by a mile..
1. My niche is food and self-sufficiency
2. My top social media source in Pinterest, which has double the traffic than from its next closest, Facebook..
This is fantastic to know as I put the most time and effort into twitter!
My blog focus is on DIY ideas and crafts. I have found Pinterest to be a great source for traffic. Twitter tends to work better for ublicizing my more technical posts.
NTEN’s niche is nonprofit technology. We see lots of traffic from Twitter (and from blogs). For us, though, traffic isn’t the biggest priority. What impact are we having if people click off the site as soon as they arrive? We prioritize time on site over total traffic and for that Facebook is the winner. More people come from Twitter, but fewer stay. Fewer people come from Facebook, but more of them stay longer.
1. My niche is nail polish and nail art.
2. My top source of traffic is Facebook, followed by Tumblr. I actually have the most followers and I’m the most active on Instagram. But because of the way Instagram is set up, it’s near impossible (at least from what I can tell) to determine how much traffic comes from it. However, it’s a fun way to interact with people, and there are many people in my niche who are not bloggers but post their work on IG.
Niche — cooking on a cruising boat (private boat — not cruise lines or luxury yachts)
Social media — Facebook by far, Pinterest second, virtually none from Twitter
One other critical component could be demographics of readers — typical age of the audience (mine is 45+), gender (mine if 60/40 female/male) and whether for business or personal (personal).
My niche is blogging/social media and Pinterest actually sends me the most referral traffic! Facebook is second, but Pinterest sends me three times what Pinterest does.
I’ve been using facebook to convert my likers into traffic. Twitter is also good but since I already have bigger audience on fb, I get most of my traffic from there. I also heard Pinterest is quite good. I might try it one of these days.
My niche is mountain biking, and Facebook sends us the most social media traffic by far.
I’m into travel and lifestyle, with the travel part heavily concentrated on America travel, but from an Asian perspective. Not sure if that’s a niche cause from what I see I don’t get much travel. Facebook maybe, traffic from friends and family.
My niche is tall fashion and I get the most views from Facebook hands down. Next is pinterest.
Mine is in the travel niche and Facebook sends the most traffic so far. Twitter is the next one.
My niche is technology, cant really measure source and where my traffic is coming from. Anyone with idea on how to go about this?
Niche – Homeschooling
Social Media – I got the shock of my life when I checked this one today. Pinterest (64%) is at the top followed by a distant Facebook (20%).
I had to laugh at that. I’ve been spending a lot more time socializing on Facebook than Pinterest. I think I’d better re-evaluate my methods. :)
My niche is a parenting blog on cyber-behaviour and youth mental health. Social media that sends me the most traffic is Facebook (no1 by far) and then Twitter.
I’m a food blogger, and Pinterest sends the most referral traffic by far!
Meltwater has three blogs, and each has a different network as it’s main source of social media traffic:
1. Social Media Blog – Facebook, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter.
2. PR Blog – LinkedIn, followed by Twitter and Facebook.
3. Customer Success Blog – Twitter, followed by Facebook and LinkedIn.
The niche for my website is dating tips for guys.
Without a doubt the number 1 traffic source social media wise is twitter. For my niche especially it is a place where my target audience frequents.
My niche is food – not settling for mediocre flavor.
Although I’ve only been blogging for under 2 months, my number one social media traffic is from Pinterest. I believe it is because of the pictures. For me that’s what draws me in to want to make a particular recipe – if it looks good, I want to make it. And then eat it.
1. Niche is travel.
2. Pinterest by far sends us the most traffic. We have a very large following and invest most of our time there. FB is second.
Our Main Niche: Internet Entrepreneurship & Blogging
Best Social Media Source for Web Traffic: Twitter by far has provided us with over 80% of all social media traffic.
Niche – Travel blog with a focus on family travel and travel hacking tips
When I post a new blog post, I get the most traffic from Facebook by far. However, on days when I’m not actively sharing my posts on Facebook I get the most from Pinterest.
Hi Darren,
Interesting.
Twitter #1 and FB #2 here. My blog is the make money online niche. Sometimes where we engage becomes the biggest traffic source; at other times the opposite happens. I found responding to each tweet helped my twitter numbers jump. Being a live body can do that in a major league way.
G Plus seems to be lagging a big. They shut me down a few months ago – not sure why – and I am happy they did so. Helped me engage frequently on twitter and fine tune my strategy on Facebook too.
Thanks Darren!
Ryan
1. Style
2. Facebook by a long way but followed by Pinterest. Used to be Twitter but Twitter has now dropped off the top 5.
1. Travel, specifically for solo women travelers
2. Facebook, followed by Twitter. I would love to explore others, but at the moment, FB is it.
1. DIY, design, crafts, recipes
2. Overwhelmingly Pinterest is my #1, Facebook is #2, Google + is #3. I rarely see anything from Twitter unless I tweet an instagram photo of my post/project.
It’s so interesting to see this niche difference with social media!