One of the more advantageous developments from social media behemoth Facebook occurred recently when they increased News Feed exposure for links people share with their friends. While this may seem trivial, any non-profit sporting an FB presence should be closely monitoring the number of links from friends versus links from “Pages”—it’s more than likely that the ratio is ten-to-one or greater. What does this mean in practical terms? Simply put, Facebook puts friends “first” in a News Feed.
All this passing-on of links has catapulted Facebook into first place for referral traffic among social media sites—indeed, a recent study from Shareaholic shows that the site “now drives more than 25 percent of all website traffic.” When you consider that fact, it would seem that using Facebook to increase traffic to your website would be a no-brainer, and it certainly is.
However, many NPO social media managers who have gone to great and laborious lengths to create fantastic website content may be unclear on just how to leverage this powerful opportunity.
- Like the “Like” Button
Put a “Like” button on all your website content, even those parts that may seem unimportant. It’s easy to do—add them by generating code on Facebook’s developer site—and the payoff can be huge. In fact, social media mavens consider it by far the most effective way to drive website traffic. WordPress users can also take advantage of slapping the buttons everywhere through any number of plugs that do all the work for them.
- Use Sharing
Embed “sharing” links in various pages on your site to drive your supporters and their friends to your site. Simply enter https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u= and at the end enter the specific URL for the page you want to highlight (perhaps it’s a special event landing page or annual pledge drive). Then embed the URL into a piece of text or an image on your site and test it to make sure it’s indeed working.
- Seek out Comments
By adding Facebook commenting to pages on your site, each time someone leaves a comment on the FB plugin a link to your website is automatically shared. You can create the code by following instructions on Facebook’s comments plugin or, if you’re a WordPress user, with the platform’s similar plugin.
