Those who know anything about search engine optimisation (SEO) will know that the "popularity" of a website is one of the key determining variables of a website's ranking in search results on Google and other search engines.

To become more popular, website owners try to get more popular websites to link to their websites.

Pre-Web 2.0, this was difficult. It was all about begging other website owners to give you links, getting difficult articles on news sites and blogs, and listing on barely popular directories as a Hail Mary.

Web 2.0 ushered in the Social Media boom, and it has allowed website owners to build their social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, and others. By building their presence on such social networks, and having those social networks link to their websites, website owners have started to more easily build popularity of their websites.

The theory goes something like this: these social media sites are much more popular than most business websites. So if people click from these sites to a link on your website, the popularity of the website will increase, hence will its ranking on Google and other search engines.

Tests show that this works!

So, how can you get more clicks to your website from your Social Media posts. Here are 5 quick tips:

1. Place your link higher up in your posts:
   
   If you are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google +, and want to post a description and a link to a blog or a page on your website, put the link higher up in the description. People have short attention spans, and will probably not read all the way to the bottom of your description. Putting the link higher increases the chances of gaining a clickthrough, which is our SEO aim!
2. Use pictures for Twitter and Facebook:
   
   Twitter and Facebook users in particular respond better to posts with media, especially to pictures. Facebook is the same. Try to optimise your social media posts with interesting images of relevance. In the case of Facebook, research shows that posts with pictures receive 104% more comments, 54% more likes, and 84% more click-throughs!
   
   
3. Use #hashtags:
   
   Popular subjects are often followed by many within their private Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds. So if you are talking about a popular topic such a Web Design, include the hashtag #webdesign in your post to increase your chances of reaching a wider audience.
   
   
4. Be succinct:
   
   Again, people have short attention spans. Be short with your posts and to the point. This means people will more likely read it all, and if interested, more likely to click your link to read more if absolutely interested! These are the users you are looking for, as they will spend more time on your linked page, and possibly click through to other pages on your website. Google loves this sort of engagement!
   
   
5. Be diverse:
   
   While the key is to get people to link to your website, don't only post links to your websites. There should be more posts linking to other interesting stuff than there are to your website. This way, users stay engaged and are more likely to click through to your website when you do post a website link. The split should be 80/20 (away from your site/to your site) according to many people, but as long as there are more "away" than "to", you are on the right track.