9 years, 5 months ago-
Posts
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Most everyone has seen their Facebook reach and engagement decline from what it was a year to two ago. The Facebook algorithm changed around that time as Facebook started to figure out ways to decide which content, in a huge sea of content, was most relevant to show. The industry phrase for the slowing trend (in likes and engagement) pages have been seeing is “Facebook Zero”. The belief is that Facebook will keep throttling content until a pages reach is almost zero unless you pay.
I have heard some bloggers, even if they have a large following, say that is already happening to them. I have heard people with a page of 10,000 fans see 0-100 for reach.
On the other hand, I have heard from a few bloggers that their Facebook page is doing the same or better than it has in the past.
I am curious what everyone else is seeing. Has your reach and engagement tanked? Is you page doing really awesome? If it’s doing really good, do you have any insight into why that is? I am hoping that we can share tips for success for engaging with a Facebook audience.
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Facebook has been really disappointing for me across all three of my pages. I don’t have huge followings but my post reach should be higher than what it is. I even had a long term reader comment the other day that she had missed me and wondered where I’d been! I post every single day . . . it’s that FB wasn’t showing her my posts! Boo!
Something I was wondering with the latest FB mobile update is about page views. Now when you open a link from FB on the phone, it goes into a FB reader. I’m curious if that’s impacting our page views? Has anyone else noticed this change?
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I did notice that in the last couple of days on the Facebook app. I am not sure how they are pulling that into the app (if it counts as a page view or not). I can’t find any info on the Googles about it but I admit that my searching-for-an-answer time has been limited.
Aimee @ Irresistible Pets said:
Facebook has been really disappointing for me across all three of my pages. I don’t have huge followings but my post reach should be higher than what it is. I even had a long term reader comment the other day that she had missed me and wondered where I’d been! I post every single day . . . it’s that FB wasn’t showing her my posts! Boo!
Something I was wondering with the latest FB mobile update is about page views. Now when you open a link from FB on the phone, it goes into a FB reader. I’m curious if that’s impacting our page views? Has anyone else noticed this change?
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I’ve been trying to find some info on it too but haven’t had any luck. I just noticed that my FB mobile traffic is actually up this week over last week. Hmmm.
Jessica/YDWWYW/PetTalkMedia said:
I did notice that in the last couple of days on the Facebook app. I am not sure how they are pulling that into the app (if it counts as a page view or not). I can’t find any info on the Googles about it but I admit that my searching-for-an-answer time has been limited.
Aimee @ Irresistible Pets said:
Facebook has been really disappointing for me across all three of my pages. I don’t have huge followings but my post reach should be higher than what it is. I even had a long term reader comment the other day that she had missed me and wondered where I’d been! I post every single day . . . it’s that FB wasn’t showing her my posts! Boo!
Something I was wondering with the latest FB mobile update is about page views. Now when you open a link from FB on the phone, it goes into a FB reader. I’m curious if that’s impacting our page views? Has anyone else noticed this change?
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Oh, I probably shouldn’t even weigh in on this issue, but of course, I will. Facebook makes me crazy!!! I don’t have a personal page, only my author fan page. My reach has dwindled to where my updates only go to a few of my followers. I used to have a tremendous response to my posts, but now it will be seen by fewer than 100. I refuse to pay Facebook any money to promote my site. They charge by the day and if you don’t pay $5 or more, it is useless. I don’t have $35 extra each week to throw at one of the richest companies we know. Grrrrr…okay, I’m better now. ☺
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I don’t have too many followers—just under 800—but have found that the number of people who see my posts from Networked Blogs are down to about 14. In contrast, they used to be seen by over 50. To get people to my page, I’ve been sharing a lot of those silly cat nemes and videos. Doing this has increased my Likes and I’ve seen an increase of page reach but not on my posts. I’ve found that a photo with a link does much better than a straight blog share but heard Mr. Google frowns on that.
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After a period of mourning, I have decided that crying about how FB isn’t the same as it used to be for pages is a waste of energy. It remains, even with drastically culled organic reach, the only social network where I can attract and cultivate personal relationships with readers. I do not spend a dime (anymore – it’s been at least 6 mos), but I go there every day, and sing a personal song a of joy when someone new leaves a comment. 🙂
That said, I have no expectations that FB will drive significant traffic to my blog – it never has. SEO and Twitter are better uses of my time in that regard.
Bottom line: Facebook interaction feels natural to me, so I’m not ready to give up the ship. It could be much worse.
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So, it seems I have a few more thoughts on this topic:
1) I don’t believe those who consider their blog a business are Facebook’s main revenue concern, it’s the big businesses who have a product/service to sell, and who have high click-through rates. That said, Facebook’s got every right to expect a little something more from these companies who’ve been getting a free ride. Sadly, small businesses and blogs (to some extent) have been left to feel powerless and confused. I can’t believe, however, that in the long run, Facebook wants to alienate these customers. As a result, I have to believe that their algorithms will only become better individualized (as far as organic reach) to specific pages. In addition, their advertising/targeting will become more reliable. For example, instead of simply targeting demographics, target those readers who are most likely to share and engage with content (and whose friends will too).
So, I wait. Just the same way I wait for Apple to get all the bugs out of the next generation iPhone before a run and buy it (with my husband’s $). 😉
2) When I go to a business’ (emphasis BUSINESS vs. hobby blogger) Facebook page (from their social media icon on their website), and they haven’t updated in forever, or they don’t bother to try and engage with their readers, it sends up a red flag. So, I guess what I’m saying is, if one is going to link to FB from one’s business site, make sure it’s current. Note: I have not noticed this with any pet bloggers, only small businesses.
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I like your thinking on #1 Elizabeth. Way to be optimistic 🙂 Unfortunately, I am not so sure that the little businesses are even on their radar. Maybe but also maybe not because its about making shareholders money so big companies that pay matter most. I don’t believe that the answer is to totally give up on Facebook though. Like it or not, that is where the majority of our (pet blogs) demographic lives. Like Kimberly says, you have to try in harder, and in different ways, to truly connect with your audience.
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I have a page on Facebook, but I’m only keeping it to have a presence in case they decide to improve the algorithm again. I let WordPress post automatically and pop in once or twice a week to like and share with a few supportive people.
I noticed about 18 months ago that the traffic from Google+ where I was only posting a link once a week and doing very little was overtaking Facebook, so I decided to cut right back on Facebook effort and put it into Google+. It works much better for me.
I had more traffic from Tsu than Facebook this week and I only joined there a few weeks ago. In case you don’t know, Tsu is a new network – invitation only. There have been a few spammers because of the promise of payment, but Tsu has just banned most of them. There are a lot of bloggers and small business people who are disillusioned with Facebook and looking for an alternative. It’s growing fast!
If any of you would like to give it a try the link to my profile will work as an invitation:
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Thanks. I will check it out. I understand the disenchantment with Facebook. Something important to ask though: Is my AUDIENCE switching from Facebook to it? (The demographic of people on Facebook is pretty much the demographic that reads blogs). I assume your target audience is not just other bloggers? People with “business” pages are getting very disallusioned with Facebook but most casual users are not….or not enough to overcome the barrier of switching to another network. They know how to use Facebook and the majority of friends and family are on there. I do think it’s always good to see what’s around the corner because someday there might be something that knocks Facebook off of it’s pedistal though 🙂
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If you have a strong Facebook following, the factors to consider are very different from mine. I probably came to Facebook a lot later than you. My experiences are very different from yours, I know many casual users who are trying other platforms.
My stats tell me that I’ve done better building an audience anywhere but Facebook. I know some other people do well there – I can tell when they share a post and I suddenly get lots of hits from Facebook!
I think different platforms suit different people and none of us have the time to be a wizard at all of them. I think you can find animal lovers interested in reading a blog on any social media platform.
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I guess I am what’s considered an early adopter to Fb; I joined in mid-2009. When my page began to take off, I spent a little in advertising the first year to grow it. Even though my site was not considered a business at the time, I managed it as such and used professional standards for community engagement. This set me apart from other similar pages that seemed more interested in relentless drama. As a result, by 2011, I was averaging more than 5 million post views a month (see screenshots here: http://pawsitivelytexas.com/pawsitively-texas-reaches-more-than-44m… ). To date, I’ve achieved more than 100 million post views.
That said, Fb’s recent changes have killed reach for many pages, big and small, for profit and not. I really expected to see a class action lawsuit against Fb. Yes, they are a business and have a right to earn money, pay back their investors, and stockholders. Where I feel they were so wrong is that they encouraged us to build our pages and to advertise. To build a large page audience, we worked very hard to deliver quality content … all the right things. Then, without warning, Fb drastically reduced our audience reach.
I get the need to make content manageable. In my personal circle of friends, some post every single thought or thing that happens to them which fills up the newsfeed. I follow quite a few animal pages, as well as other interests and businesses and they too post often. So I get Fb’s micro-manage attempt to determine what is relevant news we need to see. I WISH I could meet with the Fb team and offer user suggestions. They really could give us better options to archive and organize our own feeds so we can find what we want quickly and easily. In the early years of Ning (the provider of the BP community) we used to be able to chat directly with the CEO and petition network wants and needs and they were often added to the development roadmap. Zuck and co could make Fb even better if they would accept and act on user feedback.
Facebook is still my main social media site; there are still benefits to enjoy. One of the greatest strengths they currently offer is targeted advertising. Community engagement can be strong, because this is still where millions of people hangout daily. How and what we post does impact engagement and reach. Posts can still go viral. Here are two previous BP discussions and tips I shared that I’ve found helpful for increasing community engagement:
Included are screenshots so you can see examples of how a post can go viral (more than 200,000 post views): http://community.blogpaws.com/group/blogtalk/forum/topics/the-power…
And a few more tips in comments on this post: http://community.blogpaws.com/group/social-media-challenge/forum/to…
My page is still growing; not quite as fast as it was did, but this week, I surpassed the 58,600 followers’ mark. HOW you post is just as important as WHAT you post. Fb page admins must use a variety of post types to continue to increase and grow engagement. Don’t lose faith, just harness the strengths Fb does still offer and use them to your advantage.
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Yes, Aimee, I questioned the same. But Google Analytics is still showing traffic from Fb, including mobile. In fact, Mobile Facebook is the top referrer of these three (per GA):
m.facebook.com / referral
l.facebook.com / referral
facebook.com / referral
Aimee @ Irresistible Pets said:
Facebook has been really disappointing for me across all three of my pages. I don’t have huge followings but my post reach should be higher than what it is. I even had a long term reader comment the other day that she had missed me and wondered where I’d been! I post every single day . . . it’s that FB wasn’t showing her my posts! Boo!
Something I was wondering with the latest FB mobile update is about page views. Now when you open a link from FB on the phone, it goes into a FB reader. I’m curious if that’s impacting our page views? Has anyone else noticed this change?
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@Clowie I agree that it is difficult for those newer to Facebook and that you have to find what works for you (and define what “works” means for you.
It is a fact though that a large (if not the largest) number of people who fit the demograpgic of people who read pet blogs are on Facebook. Whether that fact influences one to work purposefully/hard or move on is up to them of course.
For the record, Facebook is not easy for me because I have been there longer. I took a big hit like everyone else. I decided to hunker down, dig in and change my way of thinking about it. A year later I am in a good place. I admit that I did start that effort with a fan base but Facebook wasn’t showing them my stuff….so I might as well not had any 🙂
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Yes, this is on my to do list to start a group in conjunction with my blog’s new focus, so perfect timing.
Kimberly Gauthier said:
Has anyone tried creating a group? I think another reason why FB has continued to drive a lot of traffic to my blog is because of the group that I have. Narrowing a focus isn’t for everyone, but it definitely worked well for me. My raw food group members follow my blog and FB page as well. There are three bloggers who regularly write about raw (me and 2 others) and we’ve all see a boost to our traffic and FB activity because of the group.
Something to consider if you have time to moderate. When it took off, I had to let go of other groups that I had, because it takes a little extra time to be the playground moderator at times 🙂 Luckily, 99% of the people who join the group play nice and that’s been helpful too. I suspect I wouldn’t have had the same success if people didn’t get along in the group.
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Yeah with Dar as my comoderator, we are planning this. I have several readers request a group on Facebook, too. I have no drama zone policy. Dar and I have managed huge communities in the past and ran our own message board forums, so I am really excited. TY for input 😉
Kimberly Gauthier said:
As long as everyone gets along, it’s really a fantastic way to increase readership and learn new things. One of the reasons why my blog is scheduled out so far is because of the blog topic ideas I get from the group.
With all the drama on social media sites in the dog/pet world, many dog lovers are seeking a place to learn where everyone is helpful, open minded, patience and kind. I’ve joined and quit so many FB groups, because of how unkind people can be (easy to do since we don’t have to actually face the people we offend and hurt). That was the inspiration behind starting my group in January – we’re near 900 active members.
So this is a great time to start a group. It’ll grow like gangbusters. And I’ve found that other group moderators are willing to help – there is a great need for these groups without the drama.
Carol Bryant said:
Yes, this is on my to do list to start a group in conjunction with my blog’s new focus, so perfect timing.
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I didn’t mean to imply that Facebook was easy for you. I know the time and commitment needed to run any successful social media account. My meaning was that our perspectives on whether Facebook is the place to put that effort are different because of timing and different experiences.
I’m sorry my remarks have offended you, it was unintentional – I’ll stay away from your thread now.
Jessica/YDWWYW/PetTalkMedia said:
@Clowie I agree that it is difficult for those newer to Facebook and that you have to find what works for you (and define what “works” means for you.It is a fact though that a large (if not the largest) number of people who fit the demograpgic of people who read pet blogs are on Facebook. Whether that fact influences one to work purposefully/hard or move on is up to them of course.
For the record, Facebook is not easy for me because I have been there longer. I took a big hit like everyone else. I decided to hunker down, dig in and change my way of thinking about it. A year later I am in a good place. I admit that I did start that effort with a fan base but Facebook wasn’t showing them my stuff….so I might as well not had any 🙂
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