The problem with social media is that profile pages are often cluttered and difficult navigate, and it’s hard to find information. With social media, the entire point of its existence is to connect people with the world. But, if these pages are messy and full of useless information, then it makes it all the more difficult for people to find you, find what they want, and interact.

With that in mind, your Facebook and Twitter profile pages need to have one thing to counteract this plaguing problem. And, of course, the one thing that Facebook needs is different from what Twitter needs, simply because they’re two different platforms.

So, what is one magical thing that will transform your social media pages from American Idol contestants into full-blown rock stars? Drum roll, please…

Facebook: A Clean and Informative Landing Page

You’re doing all of the right things: you have a Facebook page; you encourage your email subscribers to “Like” you; you post regularly; you even have a booming customer comment trade.

So, what’s the problem? The problem is not with your page’s functionality, but with the appearance and design.

At the end of March, custom landing pages will be gone, and your Timeline will become your landing page. This is why it’s important that you choose the right profile image, pick a cover photo that speaks to your visitors, and clean up your About information so it’s clear, intriguing and informative.

Getting rid of the clutter and keeping your copy direct and simple will help new customers get a better understanding of your products and what you do. It will give them a taste of your brand and a reason to “Like” your page. Your Timeline should not be about selling; you want to provide an exceptional user experience and overall enjoyment to keep visitors coming back.

Twitter: A Clean and Informative Biography

Twitter is a genius social media platform, and the implications for business marketing are virtually endless. But, again, there’s an inherent problem with the design and functionality of the service: Twitter accounts limit the characters in a biography (mimicking the shortness of Tweets).

For most businesses, it’s quite challenging to distill down their message, history, products and services into a neat little 160-character sentence, but Twitter stipulates that this must be done anyway. So, it’s imperative that businesses on Twitter somehow slash their ample and robust mission statements into a clear, concise, and informative snippet. The problem is, however, that most businesses miss the boat on this.

For Twitter, the one thing you may not be doing is taking advantage of the small character length in the biography. Try rewriting your bio so that it’s keyword rich (for search engines and Twitter users), while getting right to the point. An easy way to do this is to focus on one aspect of your company instead of trying to cram all of it in there. Promote your best-selling product or service, or highlight why your company is different from the rest.

This is also a great place to add a personal touch to make the message stand out from the noise of the Internet. If you grab the visitor’s attention and interest right from the start, he or she will be more likely to click through to your website to learn more about you and your business.

Do you have a tip for readers on how to engage your audience on Twitter or Facebook? We would love to hear it.

More content you might like: