There is a current trend by administrators of Facebook Pages to condemn Facebook for limiting the reach of their Page content on the platform. They have even dubbed it “the reachpocalypse” and some have openly questioned whether Facebook is worth using at all as a communications tool.
Some new research from Shareaholic reminds us that yes, indeed, Facebook is still relevant. According to a review of over 400 million users visiting Shareaholic’s network of over 300,000 publishers, Facebook users still love clicking on links that appear in their feed. In face, Facebook is by far the single biggest social media referral source – and it continues to grow:
What does that mean? It means that while Facebook Page administrators may need to accept the fact that they will need to pay to increase the reach of the content they post on their page, regular users sharing and liking URLs on their Facebook profile are still a huge (and free) source of potential traffic. Whether the link posted to Facebook is done so organically or through paid ads, the data tells us that Facebook drives a lot of traffic to websites and blogs.
So how can you court more Facebook traffic? Here are some quick tips:
- Ensure all of your content is equipped with prominently displayed Facebook like and/or share buttons;
- Optimize your content for distribution on Facebook (here is a handy guide to current Facebook images sizes);
- Encourage your visitors and/or supporters to post your content to their Facebook profile;
- Keep posting valuable content to your Facebook Page and work to optimize audience engagement;
There is no question Facebook should be a very important part of your communications strategy. Even if you don’t run a Facebook Page, content shared on Facebook is often clicked on. So make sure you take that fact into account when planning your wider communication strategy.