Smaller News Sites Need Facebook to Be Seen
The internet has has significantly lowered the amount of print media that is in circulation. Now everyone looks for their news online, and many smaller news publishers are not able to make ends meet with printed material alone. In order to be seen, these publishers have to find alternate methods of distribution- and Facebook is one of the best.
Research shows that smaller publishing companies get much more exposure online due to Facebook than larger publishing companies. A Chicago study of local websites and newspapers showed that smaller news websites can get half of all their traffic through Facebook.This study proved what many of us already knew- that social media is absolutely necessary for small websites and blogs to be seen. These blogs and small websites get many of their readers based on shares, word of mouth, and likes. Bigger sites like www.chicagotribune.com already have a solid name built on many years of publicity and print media history, so people go online and search for their name when they want to find news.
Size of site: Average visits from Facebook: Average visits from Twitter: Total:
Small…….48.1%…….3.6%…….51.
Medium…25.6%…….5.4%…….31.0
Large……14.5%……..4.2%…….18.
The study, which was done by the Chicago Community Trust, shows that more bloggers and publishers should view Facebook as an important method for distributing news and driving more traffic to their websites.
Social media is a traffic driver. Small websites need to see the importance of using social media to promote themselves and be seen. Every small website should have a Facebook page- and it should be used frequently. A Facebook page will not do you any good if you do not use it often. Devoting attention and time to building up a solid fanbase by earning lots of likes on your page will help you be seen and distribute your article links.
What should you post? Posts that are informative, interesting or helpful are usually welcomed; while spam is not. People don’t want to see a dozen posts a day about how amazing your website is. Show them how great your site is by the material you post and by how creative and professional you are. If you want your page to be seen on Facebook, you must create an atmosphere that people will want to be a part of.
