How To Drive Blog Traffic With Facebook
I was casually checking Google Analytics to find out how my blog has been doing since the launch considering that I’ve not put that much time into it (I was a part-time blogger at the time of writing this), and I realized that not only I smashed my initial goals in terms of monthly page views, but I also got a huge amount of traffic from Facebook which was unexpected.
To be exact, 70% of my overall traffic came from Facebook and the ROTI (return on time invested) has been amazing in comparison to other social media channels I promoted my blog on.
This post will outline exactly what I did and how I got nearly 5,000 people to check out my blog (from Facebook only) without spamming my list of friends.
Keep in mind that this article contains affiliate links that award me a small commission (at no extra cost for you) in the event of a purchase. But I take great pride in promoting tools and resources that I personally love and have tried!
How I Used My Facebook Account To Drive Website Traffic
1. Announce your blog to the world
The first thing I did on the day my blog went live was to announce it to my friend via a simple Facebook post. To be entirely transparent, I felt awkward self-promoting myself and a bit scared of putting myself out there at the same time.
I know this must be a hurdle for many of you in terms of using Facebook as a traffic source, but you should never be ashamed of something you created. And in time, you get used to it.
Whether you already launched your blog or you’re preparing to do so, create some buzz around it amongst your friends and make at least one post in which you simply announce the existence of your blog. (Plus, you never know who you can help or inspire!)
2. Create a Facebook page
The next very obvious step is to create a facebook page for your blog and invite all your friends. You might that’s a bit much, but it makes total sense. Here is why:
Inviting your friends to the page is a great way to personally reach out to them ( most of them will probably never see the post in their busy timelines). If they are truly interested in your content, they will like it and allow your posts to be shown in their news feed.
You can use the Facebook page to promote your newest posts and updates on your blog and avoid spamming your entire list of friends this way.
Promoting to 2000 people when only 10 are interested isn’t going to bring you any real traffic. Narrowing down who you’re trying to reach and allowing people outside your friend’s list to see your newest posts will result in a higher click-through rate.
Don’t forget to add a Facebook page widget on your blog once you set it up. This will allow visitors to keep in touch and they will be reminded of your blog months from now when their busy lives take over.
My Facebook page just recently passed the 3,000 likes mark (but was at just 1,000 likes at the time of this article being written) as I’ve been regularly updating it with all the new posts. I’ve also been promoting it in Facebook groups (more about that below).
The best part is that after you set it up it takes so little time to keep it active.
You can schedule all your posts to be directly posted on there too (using their in-app scheduler or a tool like Smarter Queue) and I spend a few minutes every Sunday answering comments and sharing other’s people content as well.
P.s. Want more blogging and social media tips on your feed? Come say hi on Facebook!
3. Link your Facebook page to your profile
After I created my page, I linked it to my personal profile so it would show up below my profile picture, an obvious place for curious eyes to look. You can do so by setting the “Work” section as “Owner” of your Facebook page.
(For me it looks something like: Ana S ~ Owner at The She Approach )
Why should you do that? First of, you created something awesome and you should be proud of it! Second of all, it tells your visitors, your new friends and other random people that come across your profile that “Hey. This is what I do and you should check it out!”
More often than not, people look you up using your name, instead of the blog name (especially if you were featured somewhere else online). So this makes sure they can find a direct link to your blog, as well as your official Facebook page.
4. Join Facebook groups
Undeniably, most of my Facebook traffic comes from participating in blogging support groups. The concept was such a strange idea to me until recently, when I came across a blogging and business group founded by Melyssa Griffin.
Not only did I discover a super sportive community, made some awesome connections, and learned so much from other bloggers, but I was able to promote my blog, help others with my content and replies and get massive traffic from participating in daily threads.
These groups have special threads that keep everything organized and that will allow you to share your latest blog posts, archive articles, social media accounts, and more.
Below are just a few of the blogging groups I am now in and that made such a difference in my overall blog growth. Want the full list? Click here!
Here are a few ways in which Facebook groups are going to grow your blog:
- You can learn from other people that openly share their strategies
- You can ask questions (and actually get answers!)
- You can connect with like-minded people
- You can find and help people that have problems your blog can solve
- You can promote your blog posts and get genuine interaction and more traffic
- You can grow your social media accounts
- You can participate in weekly or daily promo threads
What are you waiting for? Grab my free list (above) of 65 Facebook groups you can join today, start networking and promote your blog!
The trick is to join a mixture of groups for bloggers (they are going to have specific promo posts) and groups in your niche where your audience hangs out.
For example – for my pet blog, I joined a couple of “dog owners” groups as well.
If you’re interested in building a community around your blog and boosting your traffic without having to spend precious time every single day, I recommend that you check out my traffic ebook bundle where I teach you how to take advantage of passive traffic sources and automate the promotional process so that you have more time to create awesome content.
Is your blog traffic stuck? Find out how to get more pageviews with my eBook bundle pack, which includes:
Since writing this post, Pinterest has now taken the first spot in my social media traffic sources and that is the platform where I currently spend the least time on.
If you’re curious to know how I do that, there is an entire chapter on it in the blog traffic eBook above detailing my strategies and best tips. I also share my exact process for setting up a new Pinterest profile and using it to drive traffic to your website in my Pinterest eBook.
5. Be active in Facebook groups
Even more important than joining these Facebook groups, is to be active in them, interact with others and give back to the respective communities. You can’t just drop your links and hope for the best.
Participate in the discussions people have, try and help out where you can, and read other’s people posts from the promo threads.
I follow the rule of 20% creation and 80% promotion for all my blog posts. Therefore I only post a couple of times a month but I promote my content massively. I tend to spend anywhere between 5 minutes and 30 minutes a day in these groups, interacting and promoting my blog while also learning, and it obviously pays off!
If you’re struggling to get blog traffic from Facebook try following the guidelines above and let me know how it goes! Or join my free challenge for bloggers below!
But a few tips for engaging in Facebook group you need to know:
- Read and respect each group’s rules to make sure self-promotion is allowed (or in what capacity).
- Try to be helpful. Answer other members’ questions and provide value, before dropping a link to one of your articles.
- Participate in daily threads and engaged with others as well (as some require reciprocating).
- Pick a couple of groups and give those priority. Becoming a “regular” in certain communities means that you can build better connections.
- Use your time wisely! Have pre-written templates for your comments and posts, if you find that they often repeat, or monitor your time to make sure you are making the most of it.
6. Invest in Facebook Ads
When it comes to running a successful Facebook page, if you’re only relying on organic engagement to grow is going to take you a lot of time due to current Facebook algorithms.
That is why investing in the occasional Facebook ad or boosting a post that is getting good feedback is a great way to raise awareness, boost up your likes, engagement and blog traffic.
At as little as $15 per month, you can see a nice and steady growth and since people have already interacted with your ads, Facebook will show them your future content for free. It’s a win-win and an experiment that is worth trying!
So far I have created adverts for some of my most popular blog posts and opt-ins (to get people on my email list so I can continue the conversation with them there) and have boosted random posts to get more traffic to certain blog posts and increase my fanbase on Facebook.
I am however not an expert in FB ads and I am still in the experimenting phase with a lot of what goes on behind the scenes. But if you’re looking for an expert’s opinion on these topics, I recommend looking at Bobby Hoyt’s Facebook Ads Course where he explains everything you need to know about creating a successful ad, targeting the right people and much more!
The FB Side Hustle Course is a step-by-step guide that will show you how to start a side hustle managing Facebook ads for local businesses (and for your own blog too!).
I am going through the course as we speak and have learned so many new things that will help me spend my money wisely in the future because I truly believe that Facebook ads are a great way to reach people and even retarget those who have been on your website before.
That being said, if you don’t have something to sell on your blog just yet (like products, services or even affiliate links), I would put off using ads until you do.
Focus on growing organic traffic to your blog with Facebook and other sources, and when you’re monetized, you can go ahead and learn about ads as well. But you want something on the back end that can make you the ad budget back.
7. Start your own Facebook Group
Building a community on Facebook that you can easily reach and connect with is so important! By creating a group, you are creating a safe space for people to come together and share their frustrations. And you can be the one to help them find a solution.
So instead of joining communities run by experts, you get to curate your own. Groups are generally much easier to grow than Facebook pages, because people are more likely to join to see the exclusive content, rather than like pages.
I started my own Facebook group for bloggers – that you can join here for free – and it has already grown to over 2,300 members. I then use and manage that group with my page as an admin, which means you get extra exposure for your page and blog to begin with!
More benefits of starting your own Facebook group are:
- You get to make the rules!
- As the group admin, you can promote your content or offers (where in some other groups that is not allowed).
- You get found in Facebook searches by new people every day.
- You are seen as an expert and leader in your niche.
- You can foster a community for your blog that expands past your daily blog readers.
- You can invite people to join your group, or group members to like your Facebook page!
- You can offer value back to your community through exclusive content, FB lives and more!
And these are the main ways that I use my Facebook account, page and group to drive traffic to my blog! Was this helpful, or would you like me to write in more detail about my strategies?
More Social Media Tips & Traffic Strategies For Bloggers:
- 65 Facebook Groups That Every Blogger Should Be In
- Getting Started With Pinterest – A Guide For New Bloggers
- 3 Ways How to Grow Your Blog With Clubhouse
- Why Bloggers Need to Start Using Instagram Reels to Promote Their Blog
- How to Explode Your Blog Traffic Using TikTok
- The Best Apps To Schedule Social Media Posts
What is your biggest traffic source and how much do you invest in it? Let me know in the comment section below!
Because I lost all love for Facebook probably 2 years ago, I’ve never considered to create my own Facebook page for my blog. But thanks you I might change my mind. Thank your for the post.
Michelle Morchella
Yesss Michelle!
I am so happy to hear that! It really can raise your brand awareness and it’s a great place to start with Facebook.
Not to mention that you can automate that every new post is shared there, so it shouldn’t eat away at your time.
Totally! I agree that marketing and promotion are as important as good content. Acquaintances and friends would usually be the one to like and share your posts, but one has got to start somewhere, right? 🙂
Awesome post!
Very true! In terms of engagement, people who know and trust you are so much more likely to share your content and interact with it, so until you build a loyal readership you should focus on reaching out to people you know.
I’ve just realised I haven’t had my blog linked with my personal profile. Uppss! I love Facebook groups, they’re the best for interacting and also promoting the blog. I’ve been hearing about the 20 / 80 rule for a long time and have been trying to accomodate, sometimes it’s hard though… 🙂
Dash Xx | Mode Lily
Hi Lily,
Yes, I know what you mean. I love creating more but sometimes you have to put in the work to make it worth it.
Thanks for stopping by! x
These are really great tips! I always try to maximize Facebook groups and they’ve worked for me so well!
Xo
Ash | http://www.theashtreejournal.com
So glad to hear Ash!
Any groups you absolutely love?
This is such a great post babe! I used to be down on myself cos the only traffic I was getting to my blog (well thats what I believed) was coming from these FB groups, but I see it as something so positive now and see how it spreads the word. Such great tips babe!! xx
http://www.susanalopessnarey.com/the-red-dress/
Hi Susana,
So glad I could be helpful! Keep it up.
You’re doing great with your blog!
I’ve only just started getting into Facebook groups, so thanks for the list! 🙂
Ela | http://www.stealingyoursunbeams.wordpress.com
Hi Ela,
So glad it’s been helpful! There are some real gems in there.
I recently joined a few of the groups you’ve recommended and it’s been great so far!
Emma | http://www.brooklynisburning.co
Hi Emma,
That’s awesome!!! I am a bit of an addict. I am honestly a part of all the groups I recommended and the time invested in them always pays off.