Use social media to drive visitors towards your website, not away from it.
The #1 mistake people make is to send people away from their business website to social media. It’s the wrong direction. You want visitors to stay on your website so you can make the desired conversion.
Once visitors have arrived at your website through your hard won SEO efforts, do not send them away by prominently displaying social media buttons and encouraging visitors to leave by clicking on them. They may never come back, and in that case you may have lost a sale.
The right direction
If you have a Facebook page, put prominent links on Facebook to your business website. On other social media sites, make sure your website URL is included in your profile. If you are active, people will look up your profile and click to visit your business website.
The first thing visitors should see is an attractive, interesting home page that draws them in and makes them want to know more about your products and services. The first thing they should NOT see is a prominent invitation to go away to read something like meaningless tweets or see pictures of you at a family BBQ. This will NOT convince people to do business with you.
Where should social media icons go?
If you display social media icons, do not display them at the top of your business home page. The page footer is a good place for social media icons. Or, you could just put them on your “About Us” page or your “Contact Us” page. If people want to see your social activity, they can easily find the icons there and click on them.