How to use Facebook to Promote your Website
There are now more than 800 million Facebook users with more than 50% logging into their accounts every day. Facebook is definitely the channel to go to if you want to promote your website. There is more than just posting the URL of your website in your status every now and then. Read on to see how you can take advantage of Facebook’s features to draw traffic to your website.
Facebook fan page
Create a fan page for your website
A fan page is a public page where you can connect with your “fans”. On your page, enter details about your website, products or services such as the niche, location, summary and logo. A fan page works in a similar way like your personal profile – you connect with your “fans” by posting updates and photos on the page. The only difference is that you send invites to your “fans”; you have to just wait for them to “like” your page. But the plus side is that you can customize your page with flash, html and even Facebook apps.
Create a welcome tab
Another advantage of a fan page is that you can create a welcome tab on your fan page. You need an app for this but there are many free ones around including Pagemodo. Once you have this app, you can post a welcome note, summary of your business, photos or videos in the welcome tab to greet visitors as they arrive on your fan page.
Tell everyone about your page
There is a “share” button on the left hand side on your page to help you do this. Once clicked, a message will appear on your profile which your friends will see. Another method is to become a fan of similar pages which you can share a link at. Just be careful not to overdo it as you will lose your reputation and come across as spammy.
McDonald’s and iTunes have two of the best Facebook fan pages. If you have a lot to share with your fans, you can emulate McDonald’s who has a catchy Flash page to promote their menu, games, contests and so on. If you prefer a minimalist one, then take a look at iTunes’ page. The design and colors are kept simple but the page is powerful and feature-packed enough that you can even search for songs and movies on the page.
On your website
Create a “like” button for your site
If you have a “like” button on your website, your readers can click on this button if they like your website. This activity will then appear on their Facebook pages as “John Doe likes Website A”. Their friends will then see this status and there, you have introduced your website to the masses. If you’re lucky, they’d be curious enough to click on your website and possibly even like it.
Create a “like” button for your articles
This is something similar like the above but this time, the “like” button is at the end of each article instead. If your readers like what they were reading, they’d click on this button and the activity appears on their Facebooks too. This is a great way to get people to share your articles because most often, people are simply not that bothered to copy and paste the link of an interesting articles on their Facebook profile, unless the article is really exceptional.
Create a sidebar widget
This widget is a photo mosaic of all the people who have liked their website. It lists your friends who are fans of its page too, along with the total number of fans they have. People tend to follow whatever their friends are doing; this behaviour cannot be explained, maybe it is just human nature. So if they see that their friends have become fans of a website, they are likely to become fans too.
Facebook is a social media platform that doesn’t look to cease popularity anytime soon. It is amazing what Facebook can do because if you have gained just one fan for your page, you’re actually introducing your page to the 100+ friends that he/she most probably has!
There are now more than 800 million Facebook users with more than 50% logging into their accounts every day. Facebook is definitely the channel to go to if you want to promote your website. There is more than just posting the URL of your website in your status every now and then. Read on to see how you can take advantage of Facebook’s features to draw traffic to your website.
Facebook fan page
Create a fan page for your website
A fan page is a public page where you can connect with your “fans”. On your page, enter details about your website, products or services such as the niche, location, summary and logo. A fan page works in a similar way like your personal profile – you connect with your “fans” by posting updates and photos on the page. The only difference is that you send invites to your “fans”; you have to just wait for them to “like” your page. But the plus side is that you can customize your page with flash, html and even Facebook apps.
Create a welcome tab
Another advantage of a fan page is that you can create a welcome tab on your fan page. You need an app for this but there are many free ones around including Pagemodo. Once you have this app, you can post a welcome note, summary of your business, photos or videos in the welcome tab to greet visitors as they arrive on your fan page.
Tell everyone about your page
There is a “share” button on the left hand side on your page to help you do this. Once clicked, a message will appear on your profile which your friends will see. Another method is to become a fan of similar pages which you can share a link at. Just be careful not to overdo it as you will lose your reputation and come across as spammy.
McDonald’s and iTunes have two of the best Facebook fan pages. If you have a lot to share with your fans, you can emulate McDonald’s who has a catchy Flash page to promote their menu, games, contests and so on. If you prefer a minimalist one, then take a look at iTunes’ page. The design and colors are kept simple but the page is powerful and feature-packed enough that you can even search for songs and movies on the page.
On your website
Create a “like” button for your site
If you have a “like” button on your website, your readers can click on this button if they like your website. This activity will then appear on their Facebook pages as “John Doe likes Website A”. Their friends will then see this status and there, you have introduced your website to the masses. If you’re lucky, they’d be curious enough to click on your website and possibly even like it.
Create a “like” button for your articles
This is something similar like the above but this time, the “like” button is at the end of each article instead. If your readers like what they were reading, they’d click on this button and the activity appears on their Facebooks too. This is a great way to get people to share your articles because most often, people are simply not that bothered to copy and paste the link of an interesting articles on their Facebook profile, unless the article is really exceptional.
Create a sidebar widget
This widget is a photo mosaic of all the people who have liked their website. It lists your friends who are fans of its page too, along with the total number of fans they have. People tend to follow whatever their friends are doing; this behaviour cannot be explained, maybe it is just human nature. So if they see that their friends have become fans of a website, they are likely to become fans too.
Facebook is a social media platform that doesn’t look to cease popularity anytime soon. It is amazing what Facebook can do because if you have gained just one fan for your page, you’re actually introducing your page to the 100+ friends that he/she most probably has!
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