Facebook vs Search Engines: Rethinking Priorities

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Photo: PublicDomainPictures.net

There was one point in time where I would have recommended to absolutely focus mostly on search engine rankings in terms of traffic. However, that may be coming to a close soon. By the way, that doesn't mean you shouldn't still strive to rank well. But you may discover (like I did) that more recently Facebook is now the highest referrer of incoming traffic.

Where is your traffic coming from?

Up until recently, without a doubt, one of the larger search engines had always been my biggest referrer. Another large search engine was always close behind. Most people found me organically through search. Facebook was bobbing back and forth between second and fourth place among search engines and content sites. But this past month, I noticed a huge change. The major search engine fell a couple slots as the main referrer, my traffic grew overall, and Facebook became the main referrer. Did I fall in rankings? No. Upon further research, I discovered I was still getting generally the same amount of traffic from the major search engines and in some cases more. However, I was getting much more from Facebook than ever before.

Focus on your strong points

Take a look at your data to see where the bulk of your traffic is coming from. Is it Facebook or is it a search engine? You may be as surprised as I was at the answer. Wherever your strength lies, that is where the most focus should be. However, don't completely abandon the other traffic sources because you never know when things will change again. Since Facebook looks to be a very strong point for me right now, I will focus more on that aspect of my promotion. In digging deeper, it appears that the traffic is coming from my niche pages on Facebook as well as my personal profile and other people's profiles. Will I change what I am doing on Facebook? No. Whatever I am already doing is working. So the only change I should make is to be more consistent with it. Simply put, I need more focus.

What if Facebook is your weak point?

Once you have discovered and utilized your strong points, set aside a little time for the weaker ones. You don't have to be on Facebook all day to use it to your advantage. Create a few niche pages that fit your writing style. Link them to relevant pages on your site or blog. You can set up RSS feeds to automatically post to your facebook pages and profile. That way, you can focus on answering questions and posting other interesting things for your audience. This helps to make the most of the small amounts of time you may have to spend on this. This was my strategy in the beginning and apparently it has paid off. Never underestimate what a few minutes per day can do over time.

Has your Facebook traffic grown recently? Share your tips in the comments section.