Can you still generate traffic using Facebook? This continues to be a topic of debate as updates to search engines and Facebook itself impact how users view and share your content.
Confusion around the marketing value of Facebook makes it difficult to decide if it’s a worthwhile investment. But as Facebook continues to grow, you’ll need to understand the best way to utilize it for faster growth in your business.
Sorting Out Facebook
Facebook is still a source of a lot of traffic for businesses. With over an estimated one billion active users, it’s still the big player in social media. But advertising your business on Facebook doesn’t guarantee an equally large reach.
Businesses are often confused by their metrics. A small amount of Facebook traffic to your site might make you consider abandoning the platform for your marketing.
Facebook (like any other social media platform) is unique in how its users behave. Understanding this user behavior is essential to getting the most out of your Facebook marketing efforts.
Still a Big Traffic Source
Facebook isn’t necessarily the largest source of traffic, despite its large user base. Google still provides the greatest share of traffic. Some estimates put its referrals as high as 18 billion each day.
But Facebook still beats other platforms including Yahoo, Bing, and YouTube for traffic referrals. The likes and shares that Facebook generates are great ways for businesses to distinguish the type of content that will convert at higher rates.
Simple Steps to Maximize Facebook Traffic
You’ll get the biggest return on your Facebook investment by understanding what users want, need, and are willing to share. Using tools like BuzzSumo lets you search shared content by keywords. This can be done for all social media platforms and it’s a great way to tailor your Facebook activity.
Having the analytics in place to track your referrals is critical to understanding Facebook’s value to your business. You need to measure the number of Facebook referrals as well as their behavior once they’re on your site.
Understanding your audience is vital to deciding how to use Facebook for increased traffic. Industries like clothing, blogs, or online courses are more likely to get the types of shares that businesses seek on Facebook.
But others simply don’t have the same user base that will foster that kind of activity. So you need to match your audience’s behavior to the content you deliver.
Finally, you need to foster engagement with users through your content. Once you get your content in front of the right people, you should respond to comments, likes, and shares to build relationships over time.
When users becomes familiar with your brand, product, and message, they’re more likely to move on to your website from Facebook. This takes time, but it’s worth the investment.
Facebook may not be the right traffic source for your business. But if it is, it can be one of the best if you’ve defined your audience behavior and are delivering content that generates higher conversions.
Don’t dismiss Facebook just yet. As the platform continues to evolve, its number of users keeps growing. Use these steps to get high-quality traffic referrals.
If you’re struggling with using Facebook to increase your traffic, let us know your questions in the comments below.
