Having a Facebook Page - Does it really help you Business?

05 September 2012

Going by a recent report released by Forrester Research, Facebook is the number-one social networking site for people of all ages. By leaps and bounds, Facebook is the king of social media for its respective niche. Billions of advertising dollars pour into the network every year, and any business worth its salt has a fan page set up on the site in order to draw more people in.

The fact of the matter, no matter how it’s sliced, is that having a Facebook fan page is better than not having one. Reaching more people and ultimately boosting brand awareness is something that even the world’s largest companies are spending a fortune on. It’s definitely something that every business should think about. However, things still have to be done correctly.

How a Facebook Profile can Bolster Your Brand

Cost-Effective Advertising

There are few brands of advertising out there one can say cost no money to implement, but a Facebook fan page fits that mold. Of course, an advertiser will have to pay in depending on the ad types they choose to use, but page creation is 100% free, and it costs nothing to add people to your network. Other than some time invested, there is no capital at risk when creating a fan page on Facebook.

Network Building

Due to the features of Facebook, like Timeline and Sponsored Stories and other advertiser-friendly features, actions taken by anyone within a network are displayed across the entire network (i.e. they show up on a friend’s page), so there’s no easier way to build a strong, solid, active community than to bring everyone together using a Facebook page. Fan pages, groups, and other methods can help you develop a community that will actively engage with you, helping your business in multiple ways. Using features on Facebook, such as the Wall, users can even submit pictures and testimonials within the community.

SEO Potential

Having a Facebook page is also extremely beneficial to your search engine optimization efforts. By creating a popular, active page, you’re gaining more ground in the SEO game. Facebook links are treated more seriously by Google, as there’s a healthy partnership there, and anything that’s driving traffic (via backlinks) to your main site is going to increase your overall rank. SEO isn’t the only reason one would create a Facebook page, but even if it were, it would be well worth the effort.

Easy Communication

Due to the new and advanced targeting features, allowing you to match to a specific age, location, gender, etc, you can now communicate more easily than ever on Facebook. Having open lines of communication is something that’s always important in business, and reaching out to your fan base via notifications on the homepage or through targeted messages is a huge benefit that you can only find on Facebook.

Although there are only a few reasons listed here why having a Facebook page is important, there are many other benefits to creating a page on this social networking giant. Brand recognition is essential in business, and Facebook can help you to easily increase it.