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Facebook facts speak for themselves: over 300 million active users, with an Alexa ranking of second, behind Google.  People spend an average of over 20 minutes on Facebook everyday (most other websites get an average of 10 seconds) and the fastest growing demographic is the over 35s, who tend to have and spend more money.  Facebook also recently became the top source of traffic for entertainment and news sites, as well as many other of the internet giants. 

The simple fact is that any website or blog owner would be foolish not to tap into these extraordinary numbers and claim a piece of the Facebook pie for their own site.  Here we tell you exactly how to use Facebook to your advantage and generate valuable and quality traffic to your WordPress site. 

How To Use Facebook To Your Advantage

Officially you’re not supposed to directly sell or promote anything on Facebook. However, the boundaries are pretty blurred and it’s relatively easy to create a snowball effect in traffic levels as well as increasing your conversion and sales rates.  The really good thing about Facebook is that it allows you to directly connect, interact and establish trust with your potential customers and website visitors, targeting your niche market. 

When someone joins your Facebook friends network you are effectively tapping into their network of friends, and so on, until the message about your site becomes viral. That’s because every time someone joins your Facebook friends, all their friends are notified, creating more interest.  You can then directly target your niche market to raise your profile and send messages to them about promotions, new posts and anything of interest.  It’s easy to see how your traffic can snowball within a short period of time.

Facebook Plug ins

So we’ve explained how the Facebook phenomenon works, so here’s how to put the theory into practice.  The key to Facebook success is making it easy for your users to link between Facebook and your WordPress website, as well as showcasing their favorite posts on their Facebook page.  This enables you to build a large Facebook friends network and use these contacts to your advantage.  The easiest and best way to do this is to make use of the various WordPress plug ins created specifically with Facebook in mind.  Here’s the top 5, which are all available on our plug ins resource page:

1. Add to Facebook: at the end of each post, this plug in inserts a link that the user simply clicks to add the post to their Facebook mini feed.  You can choose either a Facebook icon or the words “Share on Facebook.” 
2. Facebook Comments:  this is really useful for connecting your WordPress site with your Facebook page.  All the comments from Facebook about a particular post are imported to your WordPress blog, allowing visitors to see the conversation.  This is great for adding external links to your site, which can boost your search engine ranking, as well as creating great content and lively debate that brings readers back for more.  You’re also boosting your loyal readership, who you can then directly target with promotional campaigns and new ideas, creating a quality following that’s interested in your niche.
3. Facebook Dashboard Widget:  this widget can be added to your sidebar, allowing you to see what your network of friends (and customers) are up to on Facebook without having to log in.  This allows you to keep an eye on what’s being discussed, easily jump in when you feel you can comment and perhaps attract more people to your blog. 
4. Facebook Photos:  as soon as you add photos to your Facebook page, this plug in automatically displays them on your WordPress website in a “photos” tab.  Then as you create new posts, it’s easy to insert any photos direct from your Facebook page without having to leave and log in. 
5. WP-Facebook Connect: for full synchronicity between your Facebook and WordPress website, this plug in is really simple to use.  It adds Facebook functionality to your site, allowing you to sign in through your Facebook account, publish any comments via the newsfeeds and display Facebook profile photos as comments avatars.