As a Social Media Coordinator, I probably have more Facebook pet peeves than the average user. It’s become second nature for me to notice all of the errors that brands are making in their posts – errors that often times can be easily avoided to increase the overall professionalism of their content. So, to help your company or small business identify and fix these mistakes, here is a list of 6 small changes you can make that leave a big impact.
- Don’t add too much copy
I’m going to be blunt – nobody cares about your post when it’s in the form of high school research paper. Limit your copy to only a couple lines that your fans can quickly read or skim over. Get to the point and grab their attention sooner rather than later.
- Eliminate or shorten your links
For me, this is the queen mother of my Facebook pet peeves. Nothing clutters up a post faster than a link that is so long it requires ellipses at the end. However, many businesses just don’t realize that you can actually eliminate the link after Facebook creates its preview.
Check it out:
Step 1 – Copy your link and paste it into your post.
Step 2 – Wait for Facebook to create a preview of your link.
Step 3 – Delete out the link but keep the preview.
It’s important to note, though, that this method will not work for you if you plan on adding an image to your post. If you would like to add a photo, simply copy and paste your link into a URL shortener (I usually use Google’s) and then insert the new link it creates for you into your post. This link will be about half the size, which gives your post a clean look and prevents it from appearing on an episode of Hoarders.
- Add your own text when sharing a link
This one is often overlooked. When sharing a link, avoid the ‘share now’ button and opt to add your own caption. Let your readers know why this article is relevant, exciting, surprising, helpful or significant. Why would they benefit from actually clicking through and reading it? Why are you sharing it in the first place? If you give them some insight into why they should open it, you are more likely to get engagement.
- Optimize your photo sizes and quality
Whether you’re posting to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, each social media channel has an optimal photo size. This means that your picture will look the best on their sites if it has particular dimensions. Moreover, try to use high-resolution photos whenever you can. Blurry or pixelated graphics don’t receive as good of a response as clear ones for obvious reasons.
Photo size and quality is particularly important in Facebook’s case. Its algorithm for businesses is set up to favor posts that have high-resolution, perfectly-sized photos. So, if you want to get your posts seen and receive a higher organic reach, take the time to ensure you are posting quality content.
Bookmark this cheat sheet by Sprout Social! It tells you which sizes work best for each site.
- Add periods before tagging other Twitter users
Twitter users, you also commit some pretty serious social media sins! This one in particular is often just an honest oversight by those who don’t know any better.
If you start a tweet by tagging another company or user, it will not get seen by all of your followers unless you add a period before. This is because Twitter thinks your tweet is just for the specified user unless you indicate (using that period) that you would like it to be seen by your entire audience.
Now, in the case of customer service, you will often not need your tweet to be seen by everyone. In that scenario, it is okay to exclude the period before the at sign.
- Proofread, proofread, proofread!
I can write an entire blog post on the horror stories of not being conscientious when posting. However, you can hold off on the Michael Myers music in one simple step: PROOFREAD. In addition to catching major mistakes, you can also eliminate spelling errors, forgotten words or awkward language – all little mistakes that decrease the quality of your content.
By implementing these 6 fixes into your social strategy, you will improve the appearance of your posts, increase their visibility and reach the proper audiences!
