How do I get followers on my business Facebook page?

You created the page three years ago. You post a photo now and then. It has seventy followers, including your mother, your employees and two suppliers. You wonder what everyone else is doing differently. The answer is less mysterious than you think.

First, what the page is for

A business Facebook page doesn’t replace a website, and a website doesn’t replace a page. The site answers someone who is already looking. The page shows your work to people who weren’t looking for anything — a customer’s neighbour, someone who saw your truck, a former colleague. It keeps you in people’s minds until the day they need you.

That changes everything you post: the goal isn’t to sell, it’s to be recognized.

Show the work, not the logo

The post that works best for a trade business is always the same one: a photo of the finished job, taken on site, with one line saying where and what. “Driveway redone in Beloeil, poured this morning.” No editing, no filter, no slogan. People share what they recognize, and they recognize a real job site.

The worst thing to post: a stock image, a generic discount, a “Happy Father’s Day” with no link to you. Nobody shares that, and Facebook notices.

Consistency beats volume

Facebook shows your posts to a fraction of your followers, and it decides that fraction based on what happened last time. A page that posts every week, around the same time, is treated better than one that posts five times on a Sunday and then nothing for two months. One post a week, kept up for a year, is worth more than everything else.

Tag, reply, share

Three things that cost nothing and make the most difference:

• Tag the customer when they agree — their family and friends see the post, and those are exactly the people who live on their street.
• Reply to every comment, even a simple “thanks”. Facebook measures those exchanges and shows pages that reply more often.
• Share in a local group when it’s allowed — neighbourhood and town groups are where your customers already talk.

Put the page everywhere you already are

The link in your email signature, on the site, on the Google listing, on the invoice, on the truck if there’s room. A QR code on the paper estimate. Every customer who deals with you should land on the page without looking for it. That’s how you grow without paying: one customer at a time, who brings the next.

What to check before posting anything

A page that gains followers but shows an old number, an address from two years ago, or hours that don’t match Google loses calls. Before posting, go around: name, address, phone, hours, link to the site, “Call” button. Everything written exactly as on your site and your Google listing. The three reinforce each other when they tell the same story.

What about ads?

They work — to show your work to people within a specific radius, in a given week. But they don’t replace what comes before. An empty page buying reach is an empty store paying to get people in the door. Build the page first; ads after, if they still make sense.

Our GPS Package brings the Facebook page and the Google listing up to date, with the right information everywhere, aligned with your site. What you post afterwards is up to you — but at least the page is ready to receive people.