Blogging 101: Rock Your Facebook Reach

*This is a post that was lost in the archives of drafts that never got published! Here is a collection of great facebook tips, I started writing a year ago. I’ve updated it a bit and thought I’d share before facebook changes their algorithm again and it’s all out of date!

I used to think there were enough blog posts out there about blogging tips, blogging 101 or how to grow a facebook audience. But the thing is, I have learned so much this past year about blogging and social media. I’m realizing more and more that there is a lot of stuff I’ve had the opportunity to learn …but maybe you haven’t!! I can’t assume you’ve learned something, because maybe you haven’t! I am sure there is so much I have yet to learn, and I wish you’d just tell me what you know! Let’s share, OK??

First things first, you must know that there is no easy way to grow your facebook fan base or short cuts to acquiring “quality” followers. You can pay for advertising and likes, which I have done, but the results are questionable. Your goal is to grow your like count to an impressive (brag worthy) number, with “quality” followers.

By “quality” followers, what I mean is, you want people to like your page that actually like YOU. You want to find YOUR PEOPLE, the people that care about the stuff YOU are sharing. Once you find THOSE people, they’re going to be excited about the stuff you share, which means they’re going to click on it… like it… and share it too! These people are more than numbers. These people are followers, not just a means to an end. The problem with paying for likes, is that you may unknowingly attract people that really don’t care about who you are or what you’re sharing.

Here’s the thing, if you’re producing great stuff and sharing great content, people are going to want to follow along! Make it your goal to always be improving, learning and growing. Keep your content fresh and interesting. Here is a conglomeration of other tips that are now going to spill out of my brain!… Don’t say I didn’t warn you :)

• First off, do you have a facebook fan page? Get one! It’s easy and free, Start Here Pick a catchy name that corresponds with your blog. I prefer uniformity across social media. Our facebook page is All Things with Purpose, the same as our web address. All Things with Purpose is too long for a twitter handle, so I shortened it to be the same on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram: @Purposeblog. Sometimes facebook lets you pick an actual web address right off the bat, sometimes they make you wait till you have a certain number of followers before they will offer it to you. In the mean time, your address may be something like this: facebook.com/34324iouowqrewqf23432q4uerqwreuq121210088
  you get the picture.
  facebook.com/34324iouowqrewqf23432q4uerqwreuq121210088 = BAD facebook.com/allthingswithpurpose = GOOD

• Next, invite all your friends and your mom to like your page. If they don’t like your page, who will? Be sure to send endless annoying invites every day until every single person responds with a like …or blocks you. Take it as a personal offense and lose sleep over it when someone ignores the invitation. Oh, they definitely saw your invite, there’s no way it slipped through the cracks. Oh wait, no. Don’t do any of that. Chill out dude.

• Upload a picture and include the link to your post in the text. This grows your image library/content on facebook vs. just sharing a link.

• Join a facebook blogging network! Find a group that’s main purpose is to share each other’s content. You leave a link for others to share, and in exchange, you share someone else’s. You can also give shout outs to each other by sharing the link to their actual page: https://www.facebook.com/allthingswithpurpose If someone else shares this on their page, it will appear in the news feed and include a like button right on it. Be sure to join a group for your similar niche audience so sharing the posts makes sense for your followers.

• Here’s how facebook works: If you post something to your page, but facebook “decides” it’s not important, it may never show up in the news feed of any of your followers (keep an eye on the insights/reach). In order for facebook to share it or make it ore visible, you need people to show interest in it. Family members and friends can help you out with this, as well as other bloggers. Liking, sharing and clicking through a post signals to facebook that this is an important post and they will in turn, share it with more people.

• Facebook really just wants you to pay for advertising. They’re really trying to make you cave and pay to “boost” a post or advertise a post in exchange for the visibility. Getting friends or bloggers to share your posts is kind of a way around this. A way to “cheat the system” if you will.

• Utilize the page insights! Keep an eye on your reach. Track which kinds of posts get a better reach. Do you have greater success with photos, links or just a text only status update? It is somewhat debated which of these gets a better reach. Some people think sharing a status or photo with the link in the comments gets a better reach. Keep an eye on it and decide for yourself!

• UPDATE! Since I first started writing this post over a year ago, facebook now DOES NOT allow you to host giveaways with “liking” your page as an entry. However, you CAN still have people “visit” your page as an entry, which a lot of times still results in a like.
  Host a facebook flash giveaway or join in on a round robin style giveaway. The round robin styles have been really successful for me. For the cost of a prize (usually a 15 to 25 dollar e-gift card), I gain 100 to 200 new followers. For suggested wording and to see how I’ve done it, see my Sample Google Doc This is created by the coordinator and shared with other bloggers who would like to join in. Anyone that wants to join, adds their info at the bottom then copies the text into a facebook post. You can choose a winner by using this site: Facebook Flash

• Scheduling posts! It wasn’t long ago that I didn’t even know this existed. I remember feeling really dumb when I had to ask someone to explain it. This is important for participating in giveaways that need a strict start time as well as times you will be away but still want to remain active on your facebook site.

• Share content that get’s people talking! Ask fun questions or look for advice! People LOVE to share advice. The more people are showing interest on your page and interacting, the better reach you are going to have.

• Optimal facebook images are LANDSCAPE. Use horizontal/landscape images as often as you can, they will show up better in the news feed. The actual dimensions of images in the news feed are 472x394px Here is a helpful site for staying up to date, since facebook is always changing things on us! Facebook Sizes and Dimensions
• Facebook likes it when you share popular/trending content. The next time you see an article or video trending – share it on your page! Facebook will probably share it with a lot of people, which will in turn help your reach and get more people interacting with it. Make sure the next post you share is a good one, you’ll probably get some carry over, heightened reach.

• If you want to give advertising a try, be sure to hone in on your niche audience. Use the specific settings and options they give you so your page is being shown to people who will actually care. When I run an ad campaign, I do it over the weekend, I set the budget to about $5 a day and I select my demographic to include married women between the ages of 22 and 38. Yea, I may change this around a bit each time, and yes this may seem really narrow, but I’m being real here. 20 year old guys don’t care about my site. 16 year old girls aren’t going to care about it either.

• Make friends! Like other pages and leave nice comments! I used to think the idea was to be selective and particular about the pages I like… then I realized there is so much more to this whole, blogger community than meets the eye. Like pages with your personal account, and as your page.

• Change things up everyone once in a while or change what your’re doing if things don’t seem to be working. Facebook likes it when you are REAL as apposed to computer like. Are you too scheduled and predictable in your posting? Switch it up! Do you regularly post to facebook through a third party service? Facebook likes it when you upload or post a link directly through your page. What you’re doing may seem to work for a while, but if you get too routine or predictable, you may need to change it up.
• Make it easy for people to like your page. Be sure to have social media buttons, facebook like box or pop up like box in an eye catching spot. The easier you make it for people, the more likely they will click.

I in no way claim to know everything there is to know about facebook. I’ve put a lot of work into building my followers and likes, yet I’m still at the bottom of the food chain. Facebook is CONSTANTLY changing their algorithm and what works today, may not work tomorrow!

Leave your facebook questions or tips bellow!

Did I miss something? Let me know and I can add it!