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October 2, 2014

Don't Neglect Facebook

by Donna Huber

I know we are all frustrated about how few of our fans are shown our Facebook Fan page posts. I also know that most bloggers don't have the money to boost a post so we have tried any and every trick to get more of our readers seeing our posts. I also know some have been debating if keeping up with a fan page is even worth it. Let me tell you a little about my unintentional experiment.

A month or so ago I failed to post anything to my fan page for a couple of weeks. I was busy during the day and tired in the evenings and as I didn't really think it matter to my numbers any how. I think I was wrong. Before this little experiment I was averaging 1200 or more page views a day according to Blogger stats. It was immediate but I saw a decline in page views and then one day I barely got 400 views. And I was suddenly all "WHAT?!?!"

There are other things that could explain the drop, but the only thing I was doing differently was not posting to Facebook. I have my Facebook fan page posts set so they are automatically tweeted and I thought maybe the drop was because I wasn't getting the extra tweet each day. Since this seemed like a great time to experiment, I tried just tweeting that day's post an extra time in the evenings (mimicking the timing of a Facebook post). It helped slightly, but my numbers were not good. It looks like the Facebook post was reaching an audience. I started posting each day on my page and within a couple of weeks I'm now back to my 1200+ page views a day.

While the audience reached may be small on Facebook, it does appear that they follow the link. I also try to post a non-linked post at least once during the week and once on the weekend. Sometimes it is a question and sometimes it's just an update on what I'm reading. I think this has helped engage my readers (they like, comment, or share) and this means that more people are indirectly seeing that post and the readers that interact are keeping my posts showing in their news feeds. Also every couple of weeks I will share a post to my personal profile from my page - something I think they will find interesting. This sharing always has the effect of greatly increasing that post's reach.

Before giving up your fan page all together take a closer look at your numbers and the effect it has on your blog. You, like me, may find it has a greater impact than you first thought. You don't have to put a great deal of time into it, but don't neglect Facebook all together in your publicity efforts.

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