subject: Build Your Company's Web Identity by Using Facebook [print this page] Build Your Company's Web Identity by Using Facebook
Do you already have a Facebook page? I sincerely hope you do, because facebook is a good tool for luring prospects to your company.
It's past time to start considering your company's Facebook page as a "alternate home page". It really has become that significant. Facebook offers great marketing tools. Your news feed, the private messaging system, and the events calendar can be used to expose your brand to a wide swath of Facebooks 500 million users. The trick, of course, is to get your friend count up so your news feeds and events appear on their pages.
Here are 4 marketing strategies every Facebook page owner should know.
1. Choose a great name for your page and don't change it.
A good name for your Facebook page is the most important consideration. Don't stuff the name with generic keywords. It won't work. Your name will be long, hard to remember, and spammy looking and even if you can get people to "like" you they'll be more likely to hide your all-important news feed.
Remember that a good name is not generic. Facebook hates being played. They can be mean. If they think your page is a liability they'll disable your ability to update your page making it a lot of work to contact your fans and killing any marketing benefit you were hoping to get from your page. {|
Don't get greedy.
Use your company name in the page title and don't be misleading.
2. Take the time to do it right. Fill out the info tab.
At this point I need to address a common misconception about Facebook. You won't ever get a significant SEO, or "Search Engine Optimization", benefit from your Facebook profile. Facebook obfuscates external links so Google won't pass page rank to them or, in some cases, can't see them at all. Facebook works very hard to keep link spammers off their site, and this is a very effective way to do that. Besides, what really makes Facebook stand out as a marketing tool is the fact that it's so popular you can use it to network. Rather than worrying about the search engines, make your focus using the site to attract new customers and keep existing customers engaged and excited about your product.
There are ways get some benefit to your website search presence, though, if you know what you're doing. An important factor in your search engine ranking is the "domain authority" of the site's linking to you. Facebook uses something called a "nofollow tag" on their links to keep Google from passing "page rank" to your site, Google DOES follow these links and can pass the linking site's "domain authority" to you. This is why getting a link on Wikipedia can benefit your website even though their links use the same "nofollow" attribute.
Include keywords and links on the "info" page. The information you can provide includes:
* Links to your own sites or other relevant resources
* City, state, and address, which are important fields for local searches
* Company overview, mission, and products, which become relevant when folks do product searches
Make sure to include your phone number and links to your "buy now" pages. How does this help you in the search engines? That's easy. It doesn't. Remember... over time this page will bring in prospects. Your top priority should be making it easy for your Facebook visitors to contact you, or if they are already ready to commit, buy your product.
3. Post direct links in your page's stream to your website and other relevant sites. When it comes to getting Google to notice your facebook presence this is the most powerful tool at your disposal. Your status posts are sent out as news updates to your fans and are posted on their pages, too.
There are two kinds of status links. It's important that you use the right kind of link to get a benefit.
* Actual URL: If you enter an actual URL facebook will link directly to it with a "nofollow" tag. While the anchor text of the link will always just be the URL when using this method, it does go directly to the destination page and not through a Facebook URL. Wherever possible use an actual URL.
* Attach Link: Attach links seem really cool because they automatically pull down all kinds of cool information from the page you're linking to, including a thumbnail image. This method gives you the option of changing the anchor text of the link. In this case you should avoid using attach links. These links don't go straight to your website. Instead they pass through a facebook URL. The search engines won't be able to follow them properly.
4. Get fans to comment and like content in your stream to strengthen intra-Facebook linking.
Facebook links a fan's name back to their Facebook profile page when they comment or like content in your Facebook page's stream. When these comments and likes are indexed, Google will see more links between your page and your page's fans and will view this as a stronger bond.
Facebook can play a valuable role in boosting the growth of your company and your website since it allows your profile to be visible to Facebook's huge user base. Even though building a Facebook page needs a little creative planning and good quality execution it will make it easier for potential clients to locate you online.
