Maximizing WordPress Blog Traffic through Facebook Link Posts

TL;DR: A link post on Facebook is created by pasting a URL into an empty Facebook post, which automatically generates a clickable post with a page title, thumbnail, and description. You should use link posts to drive traffic from Facebook to your WordPress blog, as they are designed to offboard users from Facebook and can be monetized through ads, affiliate offers, or other monetization strategies on your site. Crafting compelling thumbnails and titles for these posts can significantly enhance their effectiveness.

A core principle of driving traffic from Facebook to your WordPress blog lies in the effective use of link posts. These posts act as a bridge to entice users to click away from Facebook and onto your site, where they can be monetized through display ads, affiliate offers, products, or any other monetization strategies you employ on your WordPress blog.

Although the “link-in-first-comment” tactic is popular for gaining traffic from Facebook, it’s essential to understand that this method is largely a workaround. Facebook’s link posts are specifically designed to offboard traffic from Facebook to another website, making them the more straightforward and effective option.

When a post that uses the “link-in-first-comment” approach goes viral and is shared via share buttons (an essential feature if you want your blog to go viral), it ultimately turns into a link post for others who see it being shared.

Therefore, the appearance and content of your link posts are crucial if you aim to drive significant traffic and monetize your WordPress blog effectively.

Anatomy of a Link Post

A link post on Facebook is created by pasting or typing a URL (link) into an empty Facebook post. Facebook then automatically scrapes the Open Graph data from the page (assuming it’s set!) to get the page title, thumbnail, and description, resulting in a pre-formatted post that is mostly clickable.

Similar scraping processes occur on other social networks like X/Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., when you post a URL.

To understand what happens when Facebook scrapes a URL, you can use our Social Preview tool or the Meta Sharing Debugger tool. This tool allows you to see what Facebook extracts from your URL and helps fix common errors such as missing thumbnails. If you use Meta’s tool directly, you can view the number of engagements on posts already shared on Facebook, offering insights into your competition’s viral posts.

The Importance of Thumbnail and Post Title

So your WordPress blog post needs a link post title and thumbnail. These components are critical in grabbing attention and driving clicks.

The thumbnail should “stop the scroll” while the post title must entice users to click through to your monetized blog page. Therefore, it’s vital that the thumbnail is eye-catching and curiosity-inducing (read our guide on what makes a good image here) enough to make users pause and read the post title, leading them ultimately to click on the post.

Crafting appealing post thumbnails and titles is both an art and a science, and there might be a slight learning curve to understanding what resonates with your Facebook audience and goes viral. Even those who have achieved early success with Facebook traffic had to experiment and learn what works in the first few months of managing their Facebook pages.

To gain insights, study what works for other successful Facebook pages in your niche using Facebook’s built-in search tools. This research will guide you in crafting more effective link posts and ultimately drive more traffic to your WordPress blog.