To get more free traffic and improve your organic reach from Facebook you must increase the amount of engagement that you get with your posts. This includes commenting, liking, and sharing your posts. Clicking links and tagging you in other posts also helps you to improve your organic reach.

When your posts have a lot of engagement this will help to get them increased exposure in the news feeds of your audience. Getting more shares and likes will help you reach the extended network of your audience.

  • Tip #1Post at the right time – When you add your posts at the time your audience is the most active, you significantly increase your chances of getting more shares, likes and comments. There is data driven research to help you identify the best social media posting times so that you can align your posting schedule with these. Go to Google and search for “best times to post on Facebook”. You will see the results of data-driven research that you can use.
  • Tip #2 – Post Fan-Centric Content – Find current content that will engage your audience. A good way to do this is to ask yourself some questions:
    • What real-world events can I use?
    • What facts or statistics will interest my audience?
    • How can you make your audience laugh?
  • Making posts about yourself or your business is not going to drive much engagement. Use an 80/20 rule here – 80% of your content is for your audience and 20% is about promotion.
  • Tips #3 – Identify Your Popular Posts – Identify which of your posts were the most popular with your audience. See what type and format of content really resonate with them.
  • Learn all that you can from your successful posts so that you recreate engagement with your future posts. Did you use an appealing meme? Did you answer a specific question in detail? Did you show your audience how to do something useful?
  • Tip #4 – Make Your Visuals PopThe vast majority of content on Facebook is image based. The types of images that you use in your posts are going to make a significant difference to your engagement levels. People tend to scroll down their news feed a lot and if they see an interesting image they will stop to take a closer look.
  • Tip #5 – Make Responding to Comments a Priority – Research has shown that businesses that respond to comments on their posts have a lot more success on Facebook than those that don’t. Four hours is a reasonable time for a comment response and will meet the expectations of a Facebook audience. Replying to the comments that you receive on your posts shows that you care about your audience and you are listening to what they have to say. When you respond promptly, you will encourage more of your audience to leave comments on future posts. You can set up a chatbot to respond fast for you if you want.
  • Tip #6 – Align Your Website Content With What Works Well on Facebook – If you know that a certain type of content creates a great deal of engagement, add this type of content to your website or blog. To replicate this on your site does not mean that you have to compromise on quality. Use titles for your posts that pique the interest of your site visitors.
  • Tips #7 – Use a Compelling CTA in Your Posts – You need to tell your audience that you really want to hear from them and that their opinion matters. One of the best forms of CTA is to ask a question in your post. Plan for a sequence of posts where you will pick the brains of your audience.
  • Tip #8 – Use Video – Posting videos to Facebook provides an opportunity to drive free traffic. Facebook users consume over 8 billion videos each day. Users would rather watch a short video than read a lot of text. Don’t upload your videos to YouTube and then post the links to Facebook. You will get far more views if you upload the video to Facebook itself.
  • You can also drive engagement by using Facebook Live. Users really like live content and you can get significantly higher numbers of views and traffic.
  • Tip #9 – Make Your Posts Short – If you need to explain something in detail, create a brief post and a link to your website where more information is available. When Mobile Facebook “scrollers” see a really long post from you, they are likely going to avoid it. Even desktop users will not appreciate long Facebook posts.
  • Here are some good examples of short posts that are likely to get a high level of engagement:
    • Asking your audience a quick question
    • Providing a quote or interesting statistics from an article that users can click through to read the full article
    • Images that contain witty and snappy statements
  • Tip #10 – Know What Your Audience Wants – Facebook Insights can provide you with the information that you need to understand your audience. This powerful resource can provide you with a lot of detail which you can use to connect better with your audience in the future.
  • Tip # 11 – Ask Your Audience a Question – Facebook users like responding to questions. It’s human nature to provide an answer when you are asked a question. When you ask the right questions, you will find that your audience responds with a lot of comments.
  • Tip #12 – Facebook Stories – When you create good Facebook Stories, you will build a stronger desire within your audience to see more of your content. There is evidence from Facebook that shows a high percentage of users became more interested in a business or individual after seeing their stories.
  • Increasing your engagement is the best way to get more free traffic from Facebook. Implement these techniques today and watch your traffic and engagement levels improve.
Facebook: The 12 Must-Do Traffic Tips