Think Twice Before Sharing Links On Facebook February 01, 2013 | Posted in How Not To Post | Leave a Comment

As a Facebook Page owner, you want to drive traffic back to your main business hub, your website or blog. You also want to pass on industry news to your audience.  What do you need in order to achieve these objectives?  A link within a post will do the job.

Technically, sharing links at Facebook is easy. Facebook even generates image previews to make them stand out in the news feeds of your fans. So what's the drawback? Why do we advise you to use link posts infrequently? Let us explain with an example...

I've been watching the Great British Bake Off special. Lots of delicious baked goods all being made for a good cause.

Small things can make a big difference to people who are less well of than we are. What can you do that will help someone today?

Lesley

https://www.facebook.com/greatbritishbakeoff

Read the original post at SiteSell Facebook here...

 

Facebook Lesson

Our example post received just a few likes, and no comments or shares at all. Consequently the reach was low as well. One reason for the poor engagement level was the post's content. It would appear that the majority of our international audience has never heard of "The Great British Bake Off," a popular TV show in Great Britain.

Although Lesley used the topic as a lead-in to a question with potentially broad appeal ("What can you do to help someone today?"), the post apparently didn't resonate with our audience.

However, the post's content isn't the only reason for the low engagement level. Research shows that from all the different types of Facebook posts (photos, videos, links, questions, status updates, etc.), links are the least effective ones. And yet many brands continue to post links, often as the main type of posts on their Facebook Pages.

This graph from TrackSocial demonstrates the differences in usage and engagement of the various Facebook post types...

Our advice? Think twice before sharing a link. If you must post one, improve engagement and/or reach numbers by following this advice...

Tip #1: Do you want to achieve more likes and shares? Find an eye-catching image to post with your link. Upload your image and weave the link into the image description.

Tip #2: Do you want to achieve a higher reach number? Make a simple text status that contains your link. How do you do that? Type your text with the link into the status update box. Before you post, remove the automatically generated link preview by clicking on the "x" in the top right corner of the link preview.

All the best,

The SiteSell Facebook Team