You don’t need a blog post to tell you that driving traffic to your blog is essential for success. But you might need some help getting the traffic there.
After you’ve put a lot of energy into launching your blog and placed high-quality blog content on it, it’s hard to know what to do next. A great place to start is Facebook.
The social media giant offers some expansive opportunities for increasing blog readership and boosting your brand’s reputation. Through this far-reaching social media platform, you can expand your global reach to all of your target audience.
Here are just a few ways to get started.
1. Make Content Shareable
The very first step is to optimize your content for social media. Blog content doesn’t go viral just because you posted it to social media; it must be shareable before you post. Items like lists of helpful tips, weekly news bits, informative videos, and personal interviews are all forms of shareable content that provide value for the reader and improve your social reach.
2. Vary Your Posts
A commentary a day will not make your blog suddenly popular on Facebook. To be more accurate, it’s varied content that has the largest impact.
For example, take a look at a Facebook page from penny stock trader and entrepreneur Timothy Sykes. He posts to Facebook often, but the content varies quite a bit.
He shares updates on clients’ success, blog posts he found to be helpful, videos about his progress on a project, advertising for webinars, and other useful and varied items. The majority are linked back to his blog or website, and because he keeps things interesting, viewers are more likely to click on them.
3. Make Visuals More Prominent
According to research, the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it processes text. Viewers are more likely to interact with videos, infographics, and images than a simple Facebook text post.
Integrate more visuals into your Facebook marketing campaign. Create helpful or funny memes to deliver a message, craft infographics to explain complex information, and shoot videos that market your products or services.
These kinds of visuals should be front and center on Facebook, because they can do a world of good for your marketing when they’re directly connected to your blog.
4. Be Concise
Readers expect plenty of content from blog articles, but when it comes to Facebook posts, short and sweet is better. Quick, well-thought-out updates tend to generate the most engagement and click-throughs.
It’s best to follow the old Twitter guidelines here and post updates that have fewer than 140 characters, if possible. Short tidbits attached to your blog posts are best for teasing traffic to your blog.
5. Ask Questions and Respond to Them
Questions naturally get more engagement, which is essential if you’re trying to get more people to click on your blog posts. Great questions will be thought provoking but simple, and will always connect back to your blog article. This should make readers want to click on the link provided and read your blog.
For example, if you’re writing an article on real estate trends in the new year, you might ask a question such as, “Is the market really as bad as people say it is? What do you think?” Great questions like this not only get readers to open your blog, but also encourage comments on your Facebook page.
6. Share Lifestyle Stuff
The major theme that’s currently playing big on Facebook is lifestyle. From food videos to hair tutorials to DIY guides, viral content is consists of highly applicable pieces of content.
Take advantage of the lifestyle craze on Facebook and write your own lifestyle article to attract attention to your brand. Virtually any business can develop topics that apply to the everyday consumer if you use their imagination.
7. Host Contests
A blog is a great place to hold a contest, and your Facebook page is the perfect way to promote it. You can generate a lot of traffic on your blog by advertising the nature of your contest and the prize at the end.
People love free stuff, and they’re almost always willing to like and share a post if it gives them a chance to get it. Facebook offers some pretty amazing opportunities for spreading the reach of your blog.
With a few simple changes to your Facebook strategy, your blog can reap the benefits of higher search rankings, more leads, and increased traffic.