Your Website and Facebook Page in Harmony

Facebook Promotion Tips for Animal Rescue Groups and Shelters

As we have discussed before... your website is a passive form of promotion,
i.e. fans have to "decide to visit".

Facebook posts are an active form of promotion, because all your fans have to do is check their newsfeed page (which they do frequently) and your posts are mixed in with all the posts by their friends and other pages they have "Liked".

That doesn't mean you should give up on your website.

Instead, have your website and your Facebook page work in harmony.

Take a look at the top of our website. Every single page has a link to our Facebook page. It is an app that will even show you pictures of your friends who are already fans of our page.

We put this on EVERY page, because we know some secrets. For instance, we track ALL the traffic to our website (there is a tracking code at the bottom of every page), and by doing this, we understand that people can enter our website via ANY of our pages, and rarely visit more than a few pages when they are here.

Yep... web surfers often have the attention span of a gnat. They will land on a page, click on one or two links... and be gone.

If you only have a link to your Facebook page on the home page of your website, many, many of your visitors will miss it. Again, you never know which page a web visitor will land on, so don't miss an opportunity to invite them to your FB Page.

One thing I failed to mention earlier is that there is a "grace period" when you "Like" a new page on Facebook. In other words, you will see posts by newly "Liked" pages in your newsfeed. After awhile, if you never interact with those pages, other pages will have higher priority and be seen more often.

So... if you can get a visitor to your website to like your Facebook page, they will be exposed to your group (via their newsfeed) for awhile. If your posts entice them to interact with your page, your group's posts will continue to have priority in that fan's newsfeed. Bottom line... don't waste a website visit by NOT asking them to visit your Facebook page. Make sure your FB link is on every page of your website.

OK... now on to another problem. Many groups have all sorts of tabs on their Facebook page... it can be a link to their petfinder page, an online store, page of adoptable animals, an online contest, your group's "wish list", and much more.

But most of your fans DON'T visit your page... and thus, miss seeing those tabs.

Many groups have all of this same info on their website. So a good strategy is to entice people to visit your website through your Facebook posts.

You are most likely familiar with sharing a link on Facebook. When you find a link you want to share, Facebook will pull the Title, Descripion, and a Thumbnail image from that page, and display it on your wall.

This is done all the time, but often, the links shared are to other people's websites. Groups frequently post their own information... in the form of "posts" on their Facebook wall... just putting all the info a fan needs, in the post.

But this doesn't encourage fans to visit your website.

If you own a website, and can create pages... YOU control what title, description, and photos show up when someone links to that page.

Why not put information on a page on your website,
and then YOU post a link to it on your Facebook wall.

For example, groups often do something like this:

We are having an adoption event at Petco, 123 Main St, Saturday the 8th, from Noon to 4pm. We have many animals ready for their forever homes, so please stop by.

Fosters are needed immediately for the dogs recently rescued from the Sunnyside Puppy Mill. If you can help us out contact Jill at jill@email.com or Rhonda at rh@email.com . If you can't help foster, please share and spread the word.

The problem with both of these posts is simple. The fan gets ALL the info they need, right from their newsfeed... with no incentive or reason to visit your Facebook page or your website.

Compare the above posts, with ones like this:

We are having an adoption event at a Petco this Saturday. For location, times, and a sneak peek at the pets available for adoption, please visit www.myrescuepage.org/petco.html

Fosters are needed immediately for the dogs recently rescued from the Sunnyside Puppy Mill. They are adorable and will melt your heart. See photos and more info by visiting www.myrescuepage.org/sunnysidedogs.html

See the difference?

Bottom line is this...

Every change you get... encourage your website visitors to visit and "Like" your Facebook page... so that the person's exposure to your group lasts longer than just the single website visit. (i.e. they see your posts in their newsfeed).

AND...

Whenever possible, try to encourage people who see your posts in their newsfeed, to visit your website... where they can be exposed to more information than they would have seen in a single Facebook page post.

We have tried this... and it works. People may come to our website, looking at a specific t-shirt design, THEN see our RESCUED magnets, and decide to buy one.

Or... they arrive at our site looking at our Gourmet Dog Biscuits, then click on the "Earn $$$ For Your Rescue/Shelter" link for info about us helping out their group.

Fans may come to your website looking for Petco event information, but then click on your "fosters needed" link after they get there. You just never know.

Your website and Facebook page should work in harmony with each other, to maximize your exposure to your fans, so more animals can be helped!

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