This blog is part 1 in a series aimed at helping you use social media to increase traffic to your blog. Why? One of the most frequent questions we get from publishers is, “How do I get more pageviews?” We’re going to aim to let you know what tools publishers are using and why — and what kinds of followings they have. Your pageviews depend in large part on the strength of your social following.
Leveraging Facebook to capture traffic isn’t terribly complicated. In fact, it’s quite simple really. Just put your content on Facebook! Just do it. In fact, you and your publication should each have a profile. You’ve already done the hard part by creating interesting content. After all that, it’s pretty easy to make a catchy Facebook post and link to your stuff, and if it’s any good then people will look at it and if it’s really good then people will share it. By creating a community for fans of your content, they can — and will spread your content for you. If they follow you, follow them back. If they have a blog that you like, comment on it. Build a connection and build a community. That’s how you build a strong fan base. Be active. Be visible.
In a recent experiment, conducted by sampling our active publisher base, we discovered that the most successful of them not only had a Facebook page, but that they consistently had a greater number of posts per week, as well as a significantly greater number of Facebook likes than our newbie publishers. Getting Facebook followers ensures that “x” amount of people (however many people liked your page) will more than likely see what you’ve posted.
During this experiment, we observed a very telling trend regarding the number of Facebook posts per week.
On average, pro publishers made 3 more Facebook posts per week than newbie publishers.
Now this might not seem like a lot, but it is a significant difference when you take into account how many more people 3 extra Facebook posts can reach when it’s shared.
In addition, a similar trend was found regarding the number of Facebook likes that publishers had.
On average, pro publishers had between 150,000-300,000 likes and the newbie publishers had 500-6000 likes.
The trend is pretty clear, isn’t it? Crossing that 150,000 threshold is pretty important.
Publishing isn’t just about creating content; it’s about creating a community for your fans to discuss and share. Think about it, 1 Facebook like doesn’t just mean 1 more person saw your page. It means that there’s a possibility for every one of your followers’ friends to see your stuff as well. Sharing increases exposure exponentially, not linearly.
On the flip side, having an inactive Facebook site can be detrimental to your blog. Nowadays, if you want to be taken seriously as a content creator you need to have a social presence. That’s just the way it is. In fact, some brands and advertisers won’t even give you a second glance without you having a serious social presence.
Take advantage of what Facebook provides. It’s a loudspeaker. It’s free. It’s a totally easy way to reach an enormous user base. Show people your awesome content on Facebook and ask them to share it with their friends.