This is day 16 of the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media. Yesterday we spoke about building a Facebook Page that stands out. Today we’ll talk about using your Facebook Page to get more traffic and subscribers for your blog.
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As we talked about yesterday, Facebook is the largest and fastest growing social networks on the planet. You’re probably doing a lot of the things listed below to get traffic to your blog, but just in case…
How To Get Traffic With A Facebook Page
Facebook Pages are built so that various types of organizations can build a presence within Facebook. You can create custom tabs, message fans and build community with a variety of tools.
Below are a few examples of strategies and tactics you can use to create more blog traffic with a Facebook Page:
- Notes application – This application allows you to automatically import an RSS feed from your blog onto your Page. This way, when you publish a blog post, it gets published instantly on your Wall tab. If you’re not sure how to import your feed, watch this video tutorial. If you have multiple RSS feeds that you’d like to import, read this post about importing multiple blog feeds.
- Networked Blogs – This application serves a similar purpose to the Notes Application, but with the added benefit of creating a community around your blog by allowing readers of your blog. The NetworkedBlogs application supports multiple blogs. To add your blog to NetworkedBlogs, click here.
- Static FBML – This application gives you limitless ability to create custom Facebook Page tabs that link to various parts of your website. For example, you could create a tab called “Must Read” with links to your blogs most visited pages. Note: In tomorrow’s post, you’ll learn how to use Static FBML to create an incentive for Facebook users to “become a fan” of your Page.
- Clicky Click – There are many ways, both in your fan updates and posts, that you can increase the likelihood of fans visiting a particular page on your blog. Smashing Magazine has an excellent article on creating “Read More” links.
- Interactive SideBar – In addition to tabs, you can create an interactive sidebar, so that fans can easily find their way to your most important content – within your Facebook Page or within your blog.
- Email Subscription Forms – Email subscription forms can be placed within Tabs using the Static FBML application.
- FanBox – Facebook Pages give you the ability to create a Fanbox for your blog. This way, when a Facebook user visits your blog, in one click they can become a fan. But how can this create traffic back to your blog? The person who fans your Facebook Page from your blog is already a reader of your blog, and will be more likely to share updates from your Page with their Facebook friends.
- Show And Tell – Don’t be afraid to ask fans to share updates and blog posts with their Facebook friends. Heck, even show them if you have to!
Strategy Is Key
Keep in mind is that just because you get more fans and traffic does not mean you’ll get more business. Spend time creating a compelling experience for fans and visitors so that they’ll be more likely to return. And as this graph by Chris Garrett shows, fans go on a journey with you before they spend money:
How To Grow Your Facebook Page
It would be great if your Facebook Page automatically did the work for you. But unfortunately, you can’t just “set it and forget it”. As the above graph illustrates, Facebook users are human beings with impossibly complex reasons for how they choose to engage with your organization.
To help you formulate an effective strategy, start with these questions:
- How can we create content that is compelling enough to share? What barriers to sharing have we unknowingly created?
- What is the easiest way for potential fans to connect with us? SMS? Twitter?
- Which pages on our blog would create the most value for our fans?
- What small commitment do prospects make with our organization before they buy? Do they sign up for a webinar or email newsletter? Do they sign a petition or take a survey?
- How can we use Facebook Ads to promote our Page instead of selling our stuff?
Also read: How to build a Facebook community (14 “levers” you need to be pulling) and Why Merriam-Webster Should Make “Social Media” A Verb (or Advanced Facebooking For Stunt Doubles).
If you don’t want to miss out on the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media, please sign up here.
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Excellent tips here John.
One of the things is this new era of info-sharing that I believe will provide extra quality traffic from Facebook or Social Media in general is to follow your example here..
With 'Web 1.0' you had to make an investment up front to get tiny little glimpse of this kind of information. What I love about 'Web 2.0' is the way people like you do with your information. You give us the tools that not only will get us started but bring us that extra step. This is real value delivered through Social Media.
You mentioned Chris Garrett here, he provide this kind of value. I participate in Chris's forum, and it has provided me with tools that open a lot of new doors for.
One of the experts on Facebook that I admire, Mari Smith really over deliver on her information. Which gives her an incredible trust.
Keep providing us with more quality information through your great training program.
Cheers.. Are
Thanks Are -for the comment and the continued visits here.
John some really great tips about making better use from your Facebook page. A great follow up to a previous post.
Time to get back to Facebook to implement some of this great info. Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Paul
Have started up FB page few months back and found great potentials in it. Both Twitter and Facebook took me by storm last year and thanks to your advise here, I'll plan to optimize Facebook more in 2010 definitely! John, have you tried Facebook Ads to drive traffic? For what purpose and did it worked?
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Facebook ads are great for getting fans on your page.
Hello,
Wow , i will use this techniqes on my facebook page …
A little tip to generate massive traffic to your websie – using free google tools!!!
http://www.ezprofit-traffic-pump.com
Cheers,
Den G
ahh man – you keep making Facebook more inciting – I guess I'll have to start using the sucker.
You could use your profile too.
Have started up FB page few months back and found great potentials in it. Both Twitter and Facebook took me by storm last year and thanks to your advise here, I'll plan to optimize Facebook more in 2010 definitely! John, have you tried Facebook Ads to drive traffic? For what purpose and did it worked?
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Facebook ads are great for getting fans on your page.
ahh man – you keep making Facebook more inciting – I guess I'll have to start using the sucker.
You could use your profile too.
[...] is day 17 of the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media. Yesterday we spoke about getting more visitors to your blog with your Facebook Page. If you remembered, I promised that I’d show you how to create an incentive for visitors who fan [...]
[...] You can customize the looks of your page with Static FBML plugin. I still have not used this, but will experiment with it this coming week. Here is an article from Mashable that explain some of the basics of Static FBML and another article from John Haydon that includes some uses of Static FBML. [...]
[...] How To Get More Traffic From Facebook From John Haydon: Even more strategies and tactics from John that you can use to create more traffic to your blog or website from your Facebook Page [...]
Great ~ i have few account from facebook which this really bring lot of traffic to my site :
I am a total newbie when it comes to social media but i have done a lot of seo and want to expand my traffic sources. This looks like an excellent guide on how to do that and i’ll definitely follow your course.