Facebook Like Button for WordPress

You may have seen this on some websites already, they’re pretty awesome. Facebook officially unveiled their Open Graph API and tools over a month ago. Over 50,000 websites have already started using this technology. I’m pretty sure this number will grow as businesses discover new ways to use these tools with their website visitors.

To install the wordpress Like button there are plugins that work very easily, for any website owner. Here are a few that I found:

Like – Let your readers quickly share your content on Facebook with a simple click. It supports multiple languages and has many options for you to customize.

Facebook Like Button – Adds the facebook Like button and has a nice admin panel. Also supports multiple languages.

Facebook Like Button Plugin – This plugin allows you to have global settings and be able to speficy what posts have the button and exclude it from other posts and/or pages.

These are only a few plugins. Look them over and see what one fits your needs best. Facebook has added many social plugins for you to use. I love all these new features!

How are you using Facebook on your websites and blogs?

The Basics of Facebook Ads

So many businesses are seeing success with targeted Facebook ads. Facebook ads offer businesses flexibility and optimization of their ads. You can chose dates and budgets for your ads, as well as who you want to target.

What’s in an Ad?

Screen shot 2010-06-08 at 8.19.11 AMThe Title
No longer than 25 characters, is the bold blue headline. A strong title can include your business name, the name of a product, a call to action, or a target audience’s interest.
The Destination URL
Every Facebook ad must have a destination URL that is directly tied to the ad, so this may not be your home page. This is key to getting your ad approved. If your link is not revert to the ad you are likely to get rejected. If you want to promote something on Facebook (event, page, application or group) then you will need to chose the option “I want to advertise something I have on Facebook”
Image
It is highly recommended to add an image to your ad to make it more appealing to the eye. The ad system will resize any image you add to 110 by 80 pixels.
Body Text
This will appear just below your image and has 135 characters available. It should include details to your offer, product, service or event.

Screen shot 2010-06-08 at 8.21.11 AMTargeting
The targeting options need to directly match your advertising goals. You can set a number of filters to assist you in reaching the best audience for your ad. Options include; Location, Language, Demographic, Education and Work, Likes and Interests, and Connection Targeting. As you edit each of these areas Facebook will update you on your estimate reach alone the right hand side.

The Like button on ads
Many ads will have the well known like button. This allows users to express their liking over ad. Their friends will also see this action on their version of the ad. There is an “X” in the top right corner where users can close the ad. These actions assist Facebook advertising improve their system.

Reporting
Once you run an ad you will have access to reports from Facebook on how you ad is doing. These reports include standard metrics like Impressions (the number of times your ad was shown) and Clicks (the number of times your ad was clicked on), and Conversion metrics. You will be able to view demographic and profile information on those that have clicked your ads, for example; age, gender, location, interests, books, etc.

Facebook has a webinar recording available to you on “How to harness the full potential of Facebook Ads and Insights”. Great information to those who want to run ads on Facebook.

If you would like more information on Facebook ads here is the resource center from Facebook.

My Recent Social Media Workshop

I recently had the pleasure of offering a workshop to local women’s business group. We held the event at a great local cafe, Sertinos, where we enjoyed some wonderful food and coffee before the workshop. I covered Twitter and Facebook basics for all the business owners in attendance.

Check out a few pictures of the workshop on my facebook fan page!

Just a little food for thought, I found this group through social media! Had I not been on Facebook and meet another woman business owner and she not recommend this group I would not have know about them. I would have never had the opportunity to hold a workshop! If you are in the Tucson area and are a women business owner please check out Sharon Michael’s Group, Women Who Want To Successfully Work For Themselves

Google Friend Connect

Add more social media to your website! This is a free Google tool that lets website owners of any experience level add personalized social media features to their website.

I really like the members gadget. This gives you the ability to easily add a member feature to your website. You can also customize what information you ask for. This gives you the ability learn more about those visiting your site, priceless information!

Watch this short video for a quick overview of the options Google Friend Connect can bring to your website.



Schedule Your Facebook updates

I have been testing out a few systems lately and asking questions to all the big brands and one has provided a solution. SocialOomph has now added the ability to schedule updates for your Facebook profile and any page your are an administrator for.

This makes me so happy, not only for myself but for my clients too. We can now streamline our tasks even better.

What can you do with the new Facebook feature?

  • Schedule status updates — Free up time. Now you can keep your Facebook status updates fresh by scheduling them to appear on your Facebook account at the dates and times of your choosing.
  • Schedule page wall updates — Be productive. You can schedule updates to be posted to the wall of any Facebook Page of which you are an administrator.
  • Secure Facebook Connect access — Peace of mind.

This is only available to Professional members so get your free 30 day trail and see all the possibilites there are with SocialOomph.