How to Get More Website Traffic from Social Media: A Practical Guide

You’re posting consistently on social media. Your content is getting likes, maybe even some comments. But when you check your website analytics? Crickets.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most creators and business owners treat social media and their website as two separate things—posting on Instagram to “build awareness” while their website sits there wondering where all the visitors are.

Here’s the truth: social media isn’t just for engagement anymore. It’s one of the most powerful traffic-driving tools you have—if you know how to use it strategically.

The problem is that most people are creating content that’s designed to keep people on the platform, not drive them off it. They’re focused on vanity metrics like likes and followers instead of the metrics that actually matter for business growth: clicks, conversions, and customers.

But what if you could turn your social media presence into a consistent traffic engine for your website? What if every post, story, and video you created had the potential to send qualified leads straight to your site—where you can actually convert them into paying clients or customers?

That’s exactly what this guide is about.

I’m going to show you the specific strategies, tactics, and frameworks that transform social media from a time-suck into your most reliable source of website traffic.

Whether you’re a business owner trying to fill your email list, a blogger who needs more page views, or a service provider looking for qualified leads, this guide will give you a clear roadmap for turning your social media followers into website visitors—and eventually, into customers.

Let’s stop treating social media like a popularity contest and start using it like the business-building tool it actually is. Here’s how to get more website traffic from social media ⬇️

Know Your Audience

Creating content without knowing who you’re talking to is like yelling into the aether blind, hoping you’ll hit something. You need to know exactly who you’re talking to—are you trying to attract new people who have never heard of you or seasoned followers who have seen your content before?

Not knowing this will result in your content not hitting the mark, and not getting you any return on the time you invested to create it. For example, this post was directed to my seasoned followers who have been considering working with me:

@storytellastudios

INTRODUCING: 8-Hour VIP Days! ✨ The fastest way to get ALL your copy done in ONE DAY! 🔥 Babe, I know you’re tired of waiting weeks (or months) for your copy to be ready. That’s why I’m now offering VIP Days where you get an ENTIRE dedicated workday just for YOU! 💅🏾 For $1,000, you choose what copy you need: 📝 Up to 3 pages of website copy 📧 Email sequences that convert 🗣️ Brand voice guide 📱 A full month of content 📄 Long-form sales page ✨ Or whatever else your business needs! Here’s the magic: We start the day with a full brief → you go about your day, with a few check-ins to see my progress → you go to bed at night, excited to see your copy → and wake up the next morning with compelling, personality-fuelled, high-converting copy ready to launch! No more waiting around for weeks wondering when your project will be done. I dedicate 8 full hours to crafting copy that sounds like YOU and converts like crazy. It’s intensive, it’s focused, and it gets you results FAST! ⚡️ Perfect for: ✅ When you’re launching something new and need copy ASAP ✅ Finally tackling that website redesign ✅ Getting organized with consistent content ✅ Creating that sales page you’ve been putting off Ready to get your copy handled in ONE DAY? Book your VIP Day at the link in my bio, and let’s make some magic happen! 💫 #VIPDay #WebsiteCopy #CopywritingServices #FastResults #SmallBusinessOwner #WomenOwnedBusiness #BIPOCBusiness

♬ original sound – Cikho!

While this post was directed to new people who didn’t follow me yet:

@storytellastudios

Most people just scan websites (me included). But that doesn’t mean to skimp on website copywriting — if anything, it means you should invest so whatever site visitors do read is freaking FANTASTIC. Great website copy: – Grabs attention like a sample sale at Sephora 💄 – Tells your story so good, HarperCollins wants to bag it 📚 – Connects with your people like y’all are besties at brunch ☕️ – Turns browsers into buyers faster than you can type ‘PERIODT!’ 💸 So what do you say, you ready to turn your website into a client-attracting, money-making machine? I’d love to write your website copy (and maybe develop your brand voice, and write some social copy too?) We’re talking personality for days, conversions through the roof, and copy so good you’ll want to frame it. 🖼️ Inquire now at the link in my bio to learn how we can make your website work harder than Sabrina Carpenter’s PR team. #websitecopywriter #websitecopywriting #copywriter #copywriting #freelancecopywriter #smallbusinesscheck #blackwomancopywriter #smallbusinessowner #blackwomeninbusiness #smallbusiness

♬ discoo – neika

However, if I tried to attract the target audience for that video to go to my website and book? I would’ve been very disappointed with the results.

Create Content Designed to Drive Traffic (Not Just Engagement)

Social media is definitely a popularity contest, but you shouldn’t just try to get people to like, comment, and share your posts. As a business owner, your social media pages are an opportunity to drive traffic to your website with:

• Teasers that create curiosity gaps
• Educational carousels/threads and data/statistics posts that end with CTAs
• Controversial takes or hot topics
• Before/after results with case study links

So how do you have a good mix of engagement-focused and traffic-focused content? Follow the 80/20 rule: build trust with high-value content 80% time, and only ask for clicks with promotional content 20% of the time.

And how do you know what’s high-value content?

Do your research to find content ideas

You can use SEO & AI tools to find keywords and content ideas that’ll attract leads and establish your authority on a topic. My personal favourite tools:

• Semrush
• AnswerthePublic
• Claude AI
• Instagram & TikTok’s explore pages

Once you’ve done that, organize keywords and content ideas into top, middle, and bottom of funnel buckets. That way, you can target the right people with the right kind of content, according to where they are in the consumer awareness stage!

Optimize your content for social and AI

For your Instagram posts, write SEO keywords into your image alt text to help you rank. Use high-volume keywords to help you get discovered on the explore page. Write SEO keywords naturally into your caption, for every kind of post—static, carousel, video, and text-only! And all of this will help you optimize for AI-featured snippets and AI search results!

Repurpose Your Best Website Content

Repurposing content is such a time-saver and game-changer. You can break down long-form content into micro-content multiple times over! Just think:

• Blog posts could become a social content series
• A lead magnet becomes an entire month of YouTube videos
• Quotes, stats, and key takeaways become infographics

For example, I turned my blog post about How to Build A Cult-Like Community on Social Media into a YouTube video, Instagram carousel, and short-form video for all my social platforms!

@storytellastudios

Take notes from these 3 creators, ‘cause they do cult-like community SO well ❤️‍🔥@julez | social media @TALA @Moyo For more on building a cult-like community: 📖 Read my latest blog post 🎞️ Watch my latest YouTube video Available at the link in bio! #cultlikecommunity #influencer #creator #onlinecommunity #contentcreator

♬ original sound – Storytella Studios® 🪩💥

So look at your best website content—like blog posts, sections of your services page, portfolio pages, etc.—and repurpose it into content for your social media platforms.

Optimize your profile for clicks

For the past few years, I’ve been steadily building my Instagram page to show up immediately when someone searches for a copywriter. So imagine my glee when a few leads told me on discovery calls this year that I came up in ChatGPT searches! Talk about playing the long game!

And I know it’s all because I’ve been optimizing my website and social media platforms for clicks, and I encourage you to do the same.

• Write a compelling bio with a clear value proposition & a unique one-liner that shows your personality
• Include clear CTAs in your bio, and have a link that directs to your website and most important resources
• Use profile highlights and pins strategically—I’d suggest having no more than 8 highlights, tied to your content pillars, and having pinned posts that talk about you, your offers, and show some social proof
• Make sure your branding is consistent so people trust the click

Build Trust Before Asking for Clicks

That 80/20 rule I mentioned? SUPER important. People care about authenticity more than ever nowadays—and if they don’t think they can trust you, they won’t click on any of your links.

So, make sure to consistently lead with value so that the few times you do promote your business, it doesn’t seem like you’re up for a cash grab.

One easy way you can do this is to lean into Instagram stories to nurture your followers and build a cult-like community filled with your most dedicated followers, who are most likely to become qualified leads.

@storytellastudios

Making Monday’s more enjoyable with mini lessons — yes, I will accept apples as thanks 🍎🤪 Watch for a 3-min. info sesh on repurposing your content + making your IG stories more interesting when resharing your feed posts and reels #fyp #repurposingcontent #minilessonmonday #contentcreatortips #socialmediatips

♬ Presentation – wouldliker

Using polls, countdowns, question and link stickers encourage engagement and clicks that drive more traffic to your website—especially since the algorithm can hide your feed posts, this ensures your followers see your links as long as they watch your IG story!

And even when you do promote your business, focus on how your offers helps them, and lean into social proof like testimonials, results, case studies that show you deliver measurable value.

Master your CTA

The only way to get people to your site from your social media content is by giving them something to do after consuming your post—you do that with an effective CTA.

There are CTAs that just spark curiosity—like “I have so much more to say, but you’ll just have to wait for part 2”—while others create urgency. And it’s very important that you use the right one to achieve the goal you’ve set for a piece of content AND for the platform you’re posting on.

For example, on Instagram, you’d want to say “Link in bio” in your caption and use + link stickers in your stories, while on LinkedIn or Twitter, you’d put the link right in the post.

Leverage Short-Form Video to Drive Traffic

Video is dominating every platform because it’s getting more priority by the algorithm and more face time than static and carousel posts. So I highly recommend including it in your content strategy!

When you’re ready to hit record, use these video types that drive clicks:

• “Part 1 of 3” series (full version on site)
• Myth-busting with “full breakdown in bio”
• Quick tips with “complete guide” on website
• Product demos/results with “how we did it” link

Because social media is all about hooking people’s attention, your hook has to be ON POINT. So check out this blog post where I deep-dive into hook formulas when you finish this one!

Create Lead Magnets & Gated Content

If your social content is like the appetizer, and your offers are the main course, you need something in between. A little something sweet—it may seem counterintuitive to offer “dessert” before dinner, but in this online game, you need a lead magnet to attract qualified leads.

Offering something valuable in exchange for a click—such as checklists, templates, guides, tools, or a quiz—can drive more website traffic. Many creators have mastered their content to drive clicks; just look at any video on the explore page.

The repeatable formula you can swipe (while avoiding the cheesy, sceevy, salesy vibe) includes:

• Hook stacking to grab attention
• Delivering value; i.e. free education
• Showing social proof through testimonials, case studies, or product walkthroughs
• Naturally seguing into your lead magnet promotion and CTA

And what I don’t think enough people talk about is making sure your landing page continues the messaging from your last social post, so it feels connected and cohesive! Look into landing page best practices to maintain traffic from social media.

Measure The Right Metrics

Likes and follows are nice and all, but that doesn’t directly translate to clicks. You want to look at your link click-through rate, bounce rate, time spent on your site, and even comments that ask for more information about your offers.

Go into the analytics section of each social platform you post on and analyze your metrics every month, at the least, to see what your top-performing content is. This will help you repurpose your best stuff and course correct where necessary.

Wrapping it Up

And that’s how you can get more website traffic from social media!

Every single strategy in this guide—from hook stacking and optimizing your profile to creating lead magnets and mastering your CTAs—works together to build trust while strategically creating curiosity gaps that only your website can fill.

You can’t just show up once a week with a “link in bio” post and expect floods of traffic. But when you consistently provide value, optimize for the right metrics, and create content specifically designed to drive clicks (not just engagement), you turn social media into a reliable traffic engine.

Start with one or two strategies from this guide. Maybe it’s optimizing your profile and bio, or creating your first lead magnet, or simply being more intentional about your CTAs. Test, measure what’s working (click-through rate, not just likes), and double down on what drives actual traffic.

Stop treating social media like the destination. Treat it like the highway that leads qualified, interested people straight to your digital doorstep.

Now go turn those followers into website visitors—and those visitors into customers!