Like Gating is Gone! And I Couldn’t Be Happier!

Approximately 90 days ago, Facebook announced on its Developer’s Blog that it would do away with Like-Gating by November 5, 2014 (that’s in 2 days).  “Like-Gating” is requiring someone to like your page in order to see content or enter a contest.  Many pages used this method of acquiring likes but was it getting them the right kind of likes?  Like-Gating is almost as bad as participating in Like Ladders or Like Exchange Groups.  You want to know why organic reach is down?  BECAUSE YOU HAVE A BUNCH OF FANS WHO LIKED YOUR PAGE FOR THE WRONG REASON!  If you sell apples and run a contest giving away oranges to everyone who likes your page, don’t complain when you orange-loving fans are not engaging with your page about apples!  It’s an extreme and silly example, but I hope you get the point.  If you have not yet read my post on how Like Ladders kill your reach and visibility, please take some time to read it now. It’s long (and I apologize in advance for that) but it has a lot of info and explains how Facebook works when it comes to what people see in their News Feeds. Continue reading

Like Ladders and Exchanges Make You LESS Visible on Facebook!

stop-like-laddersThis topic has been coming up a lot with my clients lately, so I thought I would create a reference post with my advice on how Like Ladders/Exchanges could be hurting your reach on Facebook.

First, let me clarify what a Like Ladder or Like Exchange is.  It is a very common practice among small business networks on Facebook.  The basic principle is to post your Page in a comment thread and ask for Likes.  In exchange you agree to Like all the other Pages on that same thread.  These definitely work for getting your number of Likes up, but most of the time Continue reading