In the middle of 2014 my Facebook Page saw a surge in Facebook Likes, from around 20,000 to well over 60,000, within the space of a few months.
People ask me what happened, and the honest answer is I didn't have a clue!
A few have suggested that they must have been paid for, and that those likes will all be from Facebook "Like Farms" in countries like India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but far from it. In fact, none of those countries appear in the geographical list given to me by Facebook, which is topped by Brazil(!), the UK and the US.
The demographics are also believable. 58% of my page's Likes are from women, which reflects the general bias in equestrian sport, the staple fodder of my page. Of those women 88% are engaged according to Facebook. Fake Likes are generally not "engaged".
I started to analyse where the Likes had come from.
The big jump within a small period of time interested me. Surely those Likes should give us a clue as to what was happening?
I narrowed the date range for reporting to Facebook to concentrate on the period during which most of the new Facebook Likes appeared. There was a steady increase in the early months of 2014, but then in April the graph rises steeply.
I used Facebook Insights to find out what sort of numbers were involved.
The Net Likes were made up entirely of Organic Likes, with no Paid Likes whatsoever. I have no idea what Facebook charges for 500-1000 Likes Per Day but I know I couldn't afford it!
The next graph indicates what sort of activity led to these Facebook Likes.
This is where it got interesting. There are some Page Likes - Likes by other Facebook Pages - and On Your Page Likes - people visiting my page and clicking the Like button - but the overwhelming majority came from Page Suggestions made by Facebook themselves.
Why? I wasn't paying for them, as the Insights clearly show. I drifted off onto the Web in search of some answers.
To cut a long story short, it seems that my page was temporarily featured on Facebook's International Page Suggestions list.
This is the list of pages which new and existing users of Facebook are "pushed" by Facebook, encouraging them to Like them because the pages featured share some of their interests, or appear to!
Despite a lot of research, and various discussions on other sites, it is still not clear how or why a page finds itself on that list. One thing is quite clear though: it is temporary. This would explain the peak in Net Likes over that period, and the fact that most of them are still engaged with the site.
According to other sites, here are some of the other factors which may enhance your chances of getting on the Page Suggestions List.
The above points may help your page to be featured, but I can't guarantee anything!
I am an equine photographer, website designer and hosting provider living in Lincolnshire.
I work with clients who are sole traders and others which are FTSE companies. They are equally important to me.
If you need commercial photography, editorial photography, event photography, lifestyle, equestrian or wedding photography, then I can help you, with over 30 years experience in these areas.
I also teach photography. I mentor photographers with a range of experience, from beginners to working professionals and run an equine photography course which gives members access to articles about the business of equestrian photography.
I have a varied set of skills, having worked for well known web design, SEO and analytics companies in parallel to my photography.
I design, host and maintain websites for clients as varied as farms, interior designers and equestrian centres, as well as for bloggers and sportspeople, including many riders.
I am the Public Relations Officer for the Midlands Area Point-to-Point Association, a role which utilises my PR and social media skills to promote horse racing both online and in the National press.
If you think that I could be the right person to help you, whatever your project, then please get in touch and we can discuss what you need and the ways in which I can help.
You can find out more about me here.
