Facebook is Not a Web Site Substitute

When it comes to the public profile of your business there are a number of resources that most people will assume to be available. Failing to provide any of these resources may leave your prospective clients and customers disillusioned, and feeling as though your image is somewhat out of touch.

One of the promotional tools that you must have in today’s business environment is a professional looking web site. It’s as crucial as business cards, letter heads, flyers and any other type of marketing materials that you may be using.

Is having a Facebook ‘Page’ enough?

For many years now we have all come to expect that if we want to look into a product or business then we can go online and find that business’s web site there to help us. However many business’s discard the idea, instead using Facebook as a stop-gap. After all, it’s free.

I think this is a mistake.

Facebook, in it’s current form, is great at what it does and Facebook Pages are a satisfactory tool for businesses that want to tap into the social media environment. However Facebook is not designed to replace the traditional web site. It is first and foremost about people, business users are an afterthought.

Some of the basic benefits you miss out on by using Facebook as your primary online presence are:

• You can’t have a true ‘vanity’ domain name (E.g. www.example.com).
• You can’t get professional looking email addresses in your company name.
• The content you display is limited to what the Facebook platform can handle.
• Customisation options (including design) are quite limited on Facebook.
• Branding is limited.
• Editorial guidelines may restrict what you can and can’t post.
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is practically eliminated.

Use Facebook for it’s strengths

Facebook is the latest and one of the greatest internet phenomenon’s of all time and it has achieved this in a short time by tapping into human relationships, and vanities, to appeal to just about everyone. Not having a Facebook account is equivalent to being left out of the conversion in many social circles. Perhaps less so in older generations but that is changing every day.

Since Facebook is good at developing networks, use it for this purpose. Use some of the promotional App’s if you like. But don’t try to turn it into a watered down web site because your clients will see it for what it is – a cheap excuse for a company web site.

Use your company’s Facebook account to build the number of followers (those who ‘Like‘ your Facebook Page) interested in your organisation or products. These people will become part of your viral online marketing arsenal and are those most likely to become repeat users of your products or services.

Your social media manager should spend ample time each week on the promotion of your Facebook Page, but don’t overlook your web site either.