How to Advertise on Facebook - Free Advertising Online

If you're looking for free advertising online then let me teach you how to advertise on Facebook.

I'm going to show you how you can use your wall, groups and fan pages to bring traffic to your website.

By the end of this article you'll know how to advertise on Facebook and have some of the best free advertising online!

The Power of the Facebook Wall

Facebook is a social network, so if all you're going to do is advertise then you will most likely fail and not get much traffic. But if you're "social" and show that you're a real person through pictures, videos, sharing random funny things you like, commenting your friends and so on... then a link here and there won't seem like a desperate attempt to get people to your site. But let's start looking at where you can advertise by focusing on your "wall" which is just your profile.

When you go to your profile it says "What's on your mind?" in that little box and that's how you post to your wall. When you post anything it not only shows up on your profile but it also pops up in ALL your friends' news feeds, so it can catch the attention of many people. And yes, it pays to have a ton of friends, but you're capped out on 5,000. But that doesn't matter because the more people that comment and "like" your posts the more people end up seeing your link. Because if Susie comments on your link, all her friends see that she commented on it in their news feeds and it can just build from there!

But you can also have an army of readers spreading it around Facebook by simply adding a Facebook "Like" Button to each of your pages on your site. In fact, look up on the top right of this page... I have one too ;). If someone clicks the like button then it'll automatically post it to their Facebook wall and start the viral sharing chain with their group of friends. The more likes you get, the more free traffic you get and that's the power of the Facebook wall. I recommend that you do NOT post your links on your friends' walls, let them do it for you ;).

Facebook groups have recently gotten a face lift which has made them an even handier tool for getting free advertising online! The changes have made it so that the groups are more active because with the default settings it will send people a message any time something new happens in the group. So what you want to do is search on Facebook in their search box then click at the bottom of the drop down menu where it says "see more results for *your keyword*". And then off to the left click "groups" and it'll show you the groups that fit your keyword. Go ahead and join a bunch of these and I'll show you how to advertise on Facebook through their groups.

As I mentioned before, you have to be social on a social network! So be active in the group by talking with others, commenting on other posts and so on. And then from time to time it's ok to post a link if you've contributed a lot to the group. Post it with a little introduction as to what's on the page and maybe even ask a question to get a conversation going under your link. With the new group set up, your link will pop right back up to the top of the group page if your post just recently got a comment. The most recently active posts stay up top! And most people in the group will be sent a message when you post in a group, so that draws their attention to you.

But if you don't want to worry about having your links deleted or you can't find a group that really fits what you site is about then you can make your own. That way you can really laser target the type of people who will be seeing your links and plus you get to control everything in the group. And that includes the handy little chat feature. You get a separate little chat box on the bottom which allows you to instantly chat with all your group members at once. I wouldn't use it often, but if you have a really important page you want your group to look at then it wouldn't hurt to get a little chat discussion going and then post your link in the chat.

A Facebook Fan Page (or just a Page), is pretty much like having a profile that focuses on one topic, but you're not limited to 5,000 friends ;). When someone clicks that they "like" a Page on Facebook then have just joined as a member of your page; they're a fan. So it's kind of like a group, without realizing you joined a group and it looks like a personal profile. And you can find Pages the same way you found a group above, just by clicking "Pages" on the left in your search results. So feel free to join a bunch of these that relate to your site and we'll get started.

As always, you'll have to be active and post and comment about things that relate to the page; you don't always want to be posting links. But if you feel like a site you have really adds something to the Page then post it and ask people what they think or tell them what they'll gain by clicking your link and so on. You want people to interact with the things you post. And there will be A LOT of people on some of these pages... sometimes in the millions! So your post may not stay on top for long but thousands of people will get a chance to look at it.

But you're always welcome to make your own Page so that it really fits your site and you have control over it. Plus when YOU post on your own Page it shows up on all the fans' news feeds just like when you post on your wall. So this kind of reminds them to keep checking out your stuff without them having to come back to your Page. But since you're NOT limited to 5,000 fans, this is even more beneficial, in terms of numbers, than posting on your wall (where you're limited to 5,000 friends). It's really a beautiful thing!

These simple methods are proven ways to get free advertising online. So, from time to time, post on your wall, in groups and on pages and you'll get a good amount of traffic. Now you know how to advertise on Facebook!