I like it! Yup, I like that too!

I hit "like" a lot when I'm on Facebook. I also make a lot of obvious comments or sometimes ask questions I know the answer to. Why?  

Because I'm all about gaming the algorithm. ;)

How Facebook works

We've talked about this before, but here's a quick recap on how Facebook works. Facebook doesn't show you everything because there is simply TOO MUCH content between all your friends and the pages you like (plus the ads, of course). Instead, Facebook tries to figure out what it is that you want to see and they do that based on:

- Things you have previously liked or commented on. If you liked it before, you're more likely to like it again.

- Things that are popular with lots of people. If lots of people like it, it's probably interesting.

Customize your feed

If you feel like you're always seeing content from the same people and not from others, change things up by going to some posts by people or pages you want to see and liking or commenting.  This post came up in my feed today and clearly the post worked for them. It showed up in my feed as well as in many other people's feeds because so many others liked and commented. As a result, people should continue to see this content again in their feeds for awhile (unless they go back to not liking or commenting).

Post by Knitty.

How can you get more people to see your content?

Always put a call to action into what you're saying to encourage your audience to do something.  If you don't do that they are likely to read what you have to say and not do anything because it won't occur to them.

A few other simple things

- Like your own content as yourself.

- Ask a few of your close friends, dedicated clients, etc. to turn on notifications for your page and hit like and comment on your posts, and offer to do the same for them.

- If someone shares your content, like it and comment and thank them. You should do that because it's nice, but also keeping in mind that the more engagement the post has, the more likely that person's audience is to see it.

Facebook is a busy place with a LOT of content.  It can be hard to stand out in the crowd and you can't expect to get incredible reach without being willing to spend some money on advertising. That being said, simply liking stuff can go a long way.  

Leave a comment and let me know if you find your feed can change based on what you've been liking and comment on.  Then go and like a few new things you'd like to see more of!

Getting more engagement with Facebook questions

Facebook content needs to be regular and it needs to entice your audience to engage with you.  In this video we talk about using Facebook questions and the things you need to keep in mind when writing the questions.

Do you ask questions on your Facebook page?  Leave a comment below and tell us.  And if you found this video useful, please share! 

Facebook: three tips to get more likes on your business page

“Build it and they will come” doesn’t work in the online world.  There are countless Facebook pages out there, all vying for our attenting.  So how do we try to get more people liking our pages?!

1) Ask!

A great way to spread the word about your page is to ask your friends to like your page.

Go to the admin panel of your page (the link is at the top right of your page) and select build audience and then invite friends.

By inviting your Facebook friends to like your page you will start the ball rolling. Once your friends start liking the page, their friends may notice their interactions with your page and start liking as well!

2) Browse Facebook as your page

From the manage tab of your admin panel, select “use Facebook as your page”.  Then start browsing other business pages.  Answer questions as your page and people will start to notice your name, possibly clicking through to your page and consequently liking it.

3) Post regularly

Post something daily on your Facebook page and include questions or calls to action. The more you can get people to engage with what you’re saying with a comment, a like or a share, the more they will continue to see your posts in their feeds and the more your words will spread through their networks.

The average percentage of your audience who see a Facebook post is a mere 16%. By posting regularly you increase your chance at being visible to your audience.

There is no magic solution to getting thousands of followers on your Facebook page, but if you create good and regular content your audience base will steadily grow with faithful, engaged and happy followers.

Have you tried any of these tactics to increase the followers on your Facebook page?

Social SEO and You – Part 2

Image via CrunchBase

I’m thrilled to welcome Brandon for part two about Search Engine Optimization.  If you missed his first post, check it out here.

Brandon is a consultant, business marketing grad, strategist, house music junkie, avid reader, speaker, and coffee fiend. He likes to make and break stuff, currently working in the Light Apps division at Corel and the CEO of his own start-up Incentify.

You can find him @BrandonWaselnuk

SEO in Facebook Posts

Facebook is a wonderful platform that almost every business has taken to. It has many benefits and few drawbacks; one of those benefits is boosting your SEO ‘juice’ as some cool kids would say.
When looking at your Facebook posts there’s two pretty big questions most ask when thinking about SEO:

• How do Facebook Posts get SEO?


• How do I Increase the odds of Feedback on my Posts?

How do Facebook Posts get SEO?

The first step in getting any SEO on your Facebook posts is to make sure they are flagged as ‘Public’ posts. Anything that isn’t can never get SEO as they are closed behind the firewall basically.

The More a Post is Shared

Any post you make now has the ability of being shared (and you can track who shared it!) the more people who decide to share the more SEO that post gets. Remember though, it’s a pretty drastically high amount of sharing you require if you’re hoping for your post to show up on a Google search, however if someone is doing a Facebook search, they can come across your Page rather than a competitor if your content is more often shared.
Note: The idea of getting someone to share your posts is simple but difficult in practice. A few tips and tricks are to think like your readers, what would make them enact the need to share what you’ve said with their friends? Also consider the ‘selfish sharing’ factor, something I got from Scott Stratten (unMarketing) it’s the idea that people share things that are important to them, regardless of whether they think all their friends will care. So connect with the individual in your posts if at all possible.

The More Comments and Likes a Post Receives

The more commenting you get the higher your SEO, it’s pretty basic. Much like above, it’s all about giving your readers a reason to engage with you, think like them, what’s a good conversation piece?

How Do I Increase the Odds of Feedback on my Posts?

These are two simple rules to consider, on top of the tips above, but definitely help when you’re thinking about making your posts count.

Increase the ‘Awesome’

Better content means more feedback, engagement, sharing and more, not frequency. There’s no equation for awesome unfortunately so it’s up to you and your understanding of your market, what’s awesome to them? Find it and talk about it to help give your page the boost it needs.

Note: Consider looking at competition for the ‘angle’ they are taking, you can pretty easily see by the number of fans they have VS. The comments and likes a post gets what their feedback % is. Then you have a benchmark to work against.

Ask Questions

Asking open ended questions is usually a really great way to get your audience engaging with you. You can stimulate conversation from there and start to learn who in your audience is really connected to what issues (worldly, work related, or other depending on your page’s function).

E.g. ‘The newest article from SEOMOZ (a popular SEO blog) talks about Google+ implications to SEO. What are your thoughts on all this G+ news lately?’

It’s Too Long

Again, I think that’s enough of a run through some SEO for one blog post. I hope you’ve enjoyed the discussion on Facebook and I’d love to answer any questions you may have, so please comment and/or send them my way!

Fantastic Fanpages: Volkswagen Netherlands

Every once in awhile I see a Facebook/social media campaign that blows my socks off and this one by Volkswagen in the Netherlands really does!



Why do I think this campaign is so amazing (other than the fact that it’s different and fun)?

1) They are totally speaking to their audience on Facebook and making something fun and gimmicky for them.

2) The contest requires at least 20K likes on one model which means you are compelled to invite and share with friends.

3) They given you an incentive to keep coming back to check on how the contest is going.

What’s more… I visited the Volkswagen Netherlands page and they do a really fun job on a regular basis! Check out their most recent photos:


They clearly make a regular effort to reach out to what’s going on with their fans - a volkswagen inspired pumpkin carving and a volkswagen ready for movember.  I LOVE IT!

Let’s for a minute compare how Volkswagen Netherland’s page looks to some of their counterparts:



And now Volkswagen USA



And Volkswagen Canada



zzzzzz

They aren’t bad pages, but in comparison to their European counterpart, they just aren’t doing anything amazing.  I thought it particularly interesting to compare the same brand and how different management can makes such a different impact on your audience.

What do you think? Are you impressed with Volkswagen Netherland’s Facebook presence?