Adding Your Blog to Facebook
Posted at 3:12pm EST on 02/13/2009
…is a BAD THING! I personally do not recommend adding your blog’s feed to Facebook. Both Typepad and Google suggest otherwise, but let me explain.
There is one reason and one reason only why you want to feed your content somewhere else: more revenue.
Pros and Cons of Feeding Your Blog to Facebook
Pros
- You get to give Facebook complete rights to your content
Cons
- No statistics of views
- No subscription options for other Facebook users
- No control over ads (you are giving Facebook more ad revenue though!)
- Doesn’t add to your site’s feed count
So need I really explain more why feeding your blog to Facebook is bad idea?
I was doing it for a while and then I realized all of the things above, so I stopped feeding it. There’s absolutely no point in doing it.
But, here’s an alternative solution which still reaches the Facebook audience, but is far more effective.
- Sign-up for a Twitter account
- Sign-up for an account at TwitterFeed.com
- Add the Twitter app on Facebook
- Link your Twitter feed to your Facebook account so all updates go to Facebook
- Use TwitterFeed to pull your latest posts title and URL and feed it to Twitter
- FINAL: Your Blog’s Feed->TwitterFeed->Twitter->Facebook
Final product looks like this on your Facebook profile.
50s Pam
Feb 13th, 2009
A very valuable post, Jonathan. Can you clarify: Is “networking my blog” the same or different as “adding my feed” on FB?
Jonathan Dingman
Feb 13th, 2009
Thanks Pam!
I think something like adding your blog to “NetworkedBlogs,” the facebook app, is a good resource because you’re not feeding the content.
The primary issue at hand is where your content lives. Feeding your content into notes on Facebook, is giving Facebook complete access to your content for absolutely nothing in return.
Something where you can create a community of followers, like NetworkedBlogs, is a much better way to go in helping build community
50s Pam
Feb 13th, 2009
Great, thanks! I am going to do the Twitter process you described as well. Really appreciate this tip!
Thaya Kareeson
Feb 13th, 2009
Thanks Johnathan! I never thought about giving up my rights to Facebook until I read this post. I’ve stopped importing and deleted all my notes in Facebook now. Thanks again!
Jonathan Dingman
Feb 14th, 2009
Sure thing Thaya! I’m hoping more and more people read this article and realize what they are doing by feeding their content into Facebook.
People are giving Facebook all this free content and not even thinking about duplicate content because, well, it’s not duplicate content, but it’s still content that takes time to create and that the creator should be benefiting from, not Facebook.
Weekend Links - Feb 14, 2009 | OMNINOGGIN
Feb 14th, 2009
[...] Adding Your Blog to Facebook – …is a BAD THING! I personally do not recommend adding your blog’s feed to Facebook. Both Typepad and Google suggest otherwise, but let me ex… [...]
Guillaume
Feb 16th, 2009
Good article. As I am wondering if I should do ti this will help to decide what to do.