How to Get More Facebook Likes

Facebook is undoubtedly the king of all social networking sites, and like a virtual New York, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere! One of the key measures of Facebook success is the number of likes you get on your page, posts and status updates. But these likes can be elusive - so reeling them in requires some strategizing. Whether you're just trying to get more likes on your personal statuses, or attempting to promote your business online, this handy guide will help you to successfully navigate the finicky world of Facebook likes.

Post often, but not too often. Posting often increases your visibility on people's timelines, making it less possible for your posts to be overlooked or skimmed over. If you can become known for posting interesting and funny status updates, photos and videos, people will be more likely to stop and take notice when your name appears on their feed. The more people who actually pay attention to what you're posting, the more people who'll be inclined to like each post.
A word of warning though, posting too often will just clog up people's feeds and they'll become tired of it, which may lead them to hide you from their timeline or possibly unfriend you - not what you want at all!
Post more photos and videos. People are very visually-oriented, so photos and videos are more likely to capture people's attention than wordy status updates. It only takes about half a second for a person to take in a picture, so it requires very little effort, and they can respond to it almost immediately. Interesting or funny videos are also a great way to get likes, but you may need to include a comment which entices people to watch the video in the first place, something enigmatic and intriguing like "This video is so funny I snorted milk through my nose" or "I can't believe this video is for real...needs to be seen to be believed!"

• Tagging friends and acquaintances in pictures is also a great way to get likes and possibly make new friends. People are narcissistic and like to see pictures of themselves (as long as they're flattering!) so get tagging and start rolling in the likes.
• With camera phones and apps like Vine and Instagram it's now so easy to upload your own high-quality videos featuring you and your friends. Again, people are more interested in things involving themselves, so a tagged video of your friends reenacting Katy Perry's new music video will probably get more likes than if you posted the official Katy Perry video itself.

Ask your friends and family. If you're trying to get a new page off the ground, the first thing you should do is invite all of your current Facebook friends to like the page. As admin, Facebook will give you the option to do this directly from the page.

• Make sure to include a comment where you ask people politely if they wouldn't mind supporting your new business and liking the page - people will respond more positively if you're nice.
• You could also encourage them to invite their own friends to like the page - even if only a couple of people actually do, it will increase the page's exposure exponentially.

Offer incentives. Offer an incentive for people to like your page, such as a special offer, coupon, or something creative. Make this offer exclusive to fans of your page, so people will have to like it in order to reap the rewards. This can be very effective and if the incentive is good, people will share it with their friends and families.

• For example, if you run an online clothing store, you could do a promotion whereby fans of your page receive a special discount code which entitles them to 10% off their next purchase.
• Or if your run a pet grooming salon, you could post a printable flyer which your fans can use to get one free dog wash. People love to get something for free, and once you've done it once, people will continue to check back with your page to look for more offers.