How we feel about Facebook Instant Articles

By now you’ve probably already heard about Facebook instant articles. This isn’t merely another Facebook update, it marks a shift in the use of social media and makes the consumption of content more efficient. The social media giant has been working on it’s instant article feature for months and is finally ready to launch! Facebook instant articles will not only affect the way you interact with content on your personal Facebook feed but also how your audience will interact and be exposed to the content you create and post on your Facebook business pages. The good news is that WordPress’ got your back.  Facebook partnered up with Automattic, a WordPress parent company, to create a FREE plugin that enables instant articles. Needless to say, we’re fans.

Facebook Instant Articles ClickSold Blog

So what are Facebook Instant Articles?

  • Starting April 12th Facebook has enabled the ability for publishers and business content creators to post whole articles on Facebook. This makes it easier for users to consume content without having to leave Facebook.
  • Whether it’s through your personal timeline, or business page, viewers will have the ability read full articles without being directed to an external site. Say you repost an article you found on http://mashable.com/, people will be able to read the entire article directly on you page.
  • 71% of Millennials navigate the web through mobile devices. While getting redirect might not seem so hectic on desktop, on mobile it can be more impractical. Facebook instant articles makes it easy to browser through a plethora of information all in one place.

 

How this new feature empowers Facebook… even more

  • It’s an overall win for the social media giant of course, instant articles will prolong visitor sessions. Ultimately Facebook’s goal of keeping users on their website for countless hours is not only feasible but could quite possible bring Facebook in the forefront of it’s biggest competitor, Google.

 

Facebook Instant Articles and content creators

  • The introduction of Facebook instant articles might seem a bit risky for publishers and bloggers at first glance. When users consume all content through Facebook, traffic to your website could decrease. But hey they have all the power. There is a trade-off however, if you make good use of instant articles your content will be get much more organic traction and reach on Facebook itself.
  • If you’re not blogging you should start. Get your content out there and increase your Facebook visibility.

 

Why You’re in great hands with WordPress

  • If you’re website runs on WordPress than you have an instant advantage. Facebook and WordPress’ partner Automattic have collaborated to create a free WordPress plugin that will automatically post your blogs as instant articles on Facebook.

 

With so many algorithmic modifications, it’s hard to keep up but important to embrace and accept them nonetheless. What might have been best practice yesterday could not work for you tomorrow. But we’ll do our best to keep you in the know. So set a reminder for April 12th and be one of the first to try the WordPress plugin for instant articles! We’d love to hear your thoughts on it!