Facebook page health is a bit of an elusive concept. To be clear, this is different from Facebook’s Page Quality checker.  You’ve probably heard a consultant or social media guru mention Page health about how much reach you get from your page. But what elements make a healthy page? And how do you do that?

There’s no actual “Facebook Page Health” metric. When people talk about Facebook Page health, they’re generally talking about their page reach and engagement. Maybe reach is declining, and they don’t know why.

How do you know if there’s a problem?

The answer is more of a diagnostic process. Facebook page metrics should be trending up – a healthy page is one that is growing. If your critical social metrics are flat or declining, it’s probably time to evaluate. What key metrics should you look at? Well, it depends on what your goals are, but here’s a shortlist of metrics that other publishers find valuable:

• Reach
• Engagement
• Click-through rate
• Audience growth
• Video views
• Referral traffic

None of these are useful on their own, but together they can create a holistic picture of what’s working and what isn’t. If you’re looking for some more insight into KPI selection, this may help you.

What do you do next?

If you don’t see the results you want, it can be tempting to start posting more frequently to bring the numbers up. Posting too much can often harm the page and get even more of a drop in key metrics. For example, if you see a trend of less reach per post,  increasing the post volume will likely make the problem worse – not better.

In short, try to figure out exactly what is going on.  Maintain your post volume to decrease the number of variables and makes changes easier to identify. Here are some things that you can look at:

• Optimizing content selection to increase Page and Post Reach
  • Are you adding value?
    • Don’t bludgeon people with a sales pitch every day.
  • Look at your audience. Are you delivering appropriate content for the people that follow you?
  • Is the content representing your brand well?
• Try new headlines, images, and post copy.
• Posting cadence – are your post times correct?
  • When is your audience online?
  • Are you posting during those peak times?

What about engagement posts?

Oh, the engagement posts. If your Facebook page health is struggling, it’s tempting to beg for the engagement you want in the form of a good meme or clickbait story. Who doesn’t love a good meme, right? It’s probably not a solid long-term strategy, however. As with most things, it’s all in the delivery! When done well, engagement posts can be valuable and compelling! Some examples of engagement posts that add value:

• Shareable infographics
• Polls
• Open questions
• Lives

You want to use these strategically. Please don’t overload your audience, and make sure that engagement posts are well-constructed.

You’ve got this!

Facebook may feel like it’s entirely out of your control at times. Take some time to comb through your content, refine your selection process, and know your audience. Reaching the right people at the right time is the way to win, and you can create a strategy that works for you and your team. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest social media news.

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