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Do you ever look at your Facebook Likes button on your blog posts or website pages and wish you could increase that number? Did you know you actually can? Let’s learn a little bit about how the Facebook like button works and how you can take advantage of that to get some more likes an traffic!
How the Facebook Like Button Works
When a visitor to your website clicks on the Facebook Like button on a page, that page’s title, short description, and a thumbnail is pulled into an update box.
The visitor then can add a comment or just post it to their Facebook profile.
This, of course, increases the count on the Like button. The best part is that anyone who is friends with or subscribes to the visitor’s profile on Facebook will also get a chance to see the page they just liked which will hopefully lead to more visits & likes.
How to Increase the Facebook Like Button Count
A click on the Facebook Like button is not the only thing that moves the meter. The following Facebook activities will also increase the Like button count and exposure for your post, thus increasing the traffic and social shares!
1. Adding the Facebook Like button to your posts / pages.
The most important thing you can do to encourage Facebook Likes and shares of your content is to add the Facebook button to your website. You can do this by getting the code on the Facebook Developer’s Like Button page or use plugins such as AddThis, ShareThis, and Digg Digg (for self-hosted WordPress sites only).
2. Sharing the post / page link on your Facebook fan page.
Whenever you share the post / page link on your fan page, the Like button count will increase. This is why you always want to use the manual sharing method vs. using apps like Networked Blogs or other automations that will share the link to your profile but not actually increase the like count.
3. Sharing the post / page link on your personal profile.
Again, whenever you share the post / page link on your personal profile, the Like button count will increase. This is because the Like button counts shares on Facebook the same as likes.
4. Sharing the post / page link on any related Facebook fan pages.
Some fan pages allow fans to add links to their wall. If your post / page is directly related to a topic that has a fan page, then post it on the page’s wall. Even if the fan page only shows their own updates front and center, putting yours under the Everyone (Top Posts) header, it still increases your Like button count.
5. Sharing the post / page link in related Facebook groups.
If you can find related Facebook groups to your post / page topic, then you can join them and post your link in them! You will want to look at the group first to see if they allow link postings – if you see lots of links, you’re probably free to add yours. If not, you might have to join the discussion for a bit then share it. This will also increase your Like button count, even if the group doesn’t look very active!
Bonus Tip: Just ask for likes!
When you have that one amazing piece of content that you hope will do well on Facebook, it never hurts to ask your friends or fans to like it when you share it on your personal profile or page. It’s a great call to action that will draw their attention to your post / page and, if nothing else, lead to a bit of extra traffic. The best part is, if they like the update on your personal profile or page’s wall, it increases the Like button count too!
What other ways (besides creating awesome content) can you think of to encourage more likes for your posts and pages?
