1. Make Your Images Big
Facebook posts that include images get around 120% more engagement than posts with no photos. Make your images prominent, and you’re going to get lots more Facebook likes, shares, comments - and click throughs.
Use full sized images in some of your Facebook blog post updates. Check your Facebook Insights, and your blog site metrics to assess your successes with full sized images (and any of the methods in this article). Use the best methods to keep generating the most blog traffic for you.
To create a full sized image Facebook post, upload the image directly.
Link to your blog post in your text update. Use a shortened link such as a bit.ly to keep your post text looking cleaner.
Example:
Here’s a great example of a full sized blog post image from HubSpot.
The image is cute, relatable, and generally follows the rule of thirds to make it visually appealing.
Tips for Making your Images Big:
Upload a visually appealing, related image to increase click throughs to your blog.
Check your Facebook and blog site metrics to analyze the success of your full sized images. Repeat the types of posts that work best for you.
Use a shortened link in your full sized image posts, to keep your text cleaner.
2. Make your Updates Short
Yes, you’re driving traffic to your blog article, and your blog article will have lots of text. On Facebook, though, short, witty updates generate the most engagement, and click throughs. Ideally, keep your update one sentence, and under the 140 Twitter character count.
Remember that lots of your Fans are using Facebook on mobile, too. Keep this in mind when you’re creating your text. Make your blog updates a short, clear and intriguing teaser for your blog article.
Example:
Here’s a great example of a short, teaser update from the Huffington Post.
The Facebook update gives you a good idea of what the blog article is about. It’s funny, enticing, and short. The article headline in the link “11 Commonly Used Made-Up Words That Drive Us Insane” further tells the gist of the article.
Tips for Making Short Facebook Updates:
Follow the rule of thumb to keep your Facebook updates under 140 characters. This will force you to condense your text.
Make your update a teaser of your blog. Write out 4 or 5 short one-sentence summaries of your article, and choose the most intriguing to post on Facebook.
Keep your mobile readers in mind.
3. Ask Questions
Questions naturally invoke a response, don’t they?
Use questions to generate click through actions from your Fans. Make your questions witty, short and intriguing. Keep your readership in mind, and always keep your question related back to your blog article.
There are many types of questions you can ask, from fill-in-the-blank, trivia, personal views, etc.
Example:
The Next Webuses a short, intriguing question for its readership.
The question “What will happen to the Like button?”, coupled with Mark Zuckerberg’s photo clearly summarizes the gist of the blog article. It leaves Fans wanting to learn more by asking them for their knowledge or views on what’s going to happen. Making a question for the update generates more curiosity than if the update was just the title of the blog, for example.
Tips for Asking Questions:
Keep your questions short, easy to read, and relatable to your Fan Page. Use the word “you”, for example.
Questions naturally invoke a response. Use succinct, curiosity-invoking questions to get clicking through, sharing, Liking or commenting actions.
Mix up your question types, from opinion getting, trivia (from your article), or even problem solving.
4. Use a Short Quote From Your Blog
Give your Fans a taste of your blog post. Include an intriguing quote from your article. Quotes in general are some of the most shared content on Facebook. If a Fan shares your update, they’re more likely to have clicked through to your site, too.
Find a quote in your article that’s concise and gives a flavour of its contents. You can even make it more personalized, by including a photo of the person or writer making the quote.
Example:
Mashableuses this tactic to personalize their article.
The quote they chose tells Fans who the article is about, by showcasing the interviewee, and what the article is about.
Tips for Using Quotes:
Choose a quote from your blog article that clearly summarizes a main point.
Use a quote that invokes controversy to generate more engagement on your Facebook Page, and get more clicks to your blog.
Personalize your quote by including a face of the author or interviewee.
5. Skip the Link
There’s no need to keep the link in the text of your post (unless you are posting a full sized image).
Make your update clean. Delete the link in your text before you post it. The image and summary of your article is clickable directly to your blog article.