Facebook might be making friends with all of us, but so far it’s been a mixed bag for marketers. That’s because, even though it can be tough to promote yourself directly through the social networking giant, it’s every bit as addictive as ever. In other words, you can easily burn through a few hours chatting with friends, checking out a colleague’s vacation photos, or just playing games, even if it’s not making you a dime. But, that’s not to say that Facebook can’t help your business’s online marketing performance. With more than 1 billion registered users worldwide, it’s still a favorite gathering place for almost anyone with a steady web connection. The trick is to stop worrying about how many friends you have, or what sort of sales message you can work into your profile, and start thinking of it as a way to drive traffic to specific pages on your website.
Among Facebook users, more than half report they log onto the site “more than once a day.” That means there’s plenty of opportunity for them to look around, and eventually, to find you. Your job is to make yourself easy to find.
The first step is by optimizing your profile and other content for the same keywords you would your company’s homepage. Keep the descriptions brief, though. You want them to read like a plain language conversation, not hyped up marketing copy.
The next step is to set up a Facebook fan page for your business. One of the reasons this is so important is that Google tends to rank Facebook pages very highly – and possibly a lot more highly than your company’s real homepage. So, the more good things people write about you there, the more other people are going to see them, and the more traffic you’re going to get.
And finally, make sure that your posts and updates occasionally link back to landing pages within your company’s site. Once you’ve gotten searchers to move over and check out what you’re offering, there’s a much greater chance of them returning later.
Facebook Can Generate Traffic
Facebook is a great way to catch up with people, and an interesting forum for small and medium-size businesses. To make the most of it, don’t think of it as a destination, but more of a doorway to your company’s main site. That way, you can have fun with the platform while still letting your website do its job: marketing your business.