Many people think that Facebook is just Facebook! Wrong! When used properly, Facebook can be a fantastic social media tool for businesses. Unfortunately many companies (people) do not realise that there is a certain way to go about using Facebook as a platform for business.

The difference between Facebook Profiles and Facebook Fan Pages

Using Facebook on a personal capacity (Facebook Profiles) is extremely different to how businesses should be using the platform. Facebook Fan Pages offers a vast range more to companies and is in fact beneficial to their ranking on Google. Most businesses do not necessarily see the value in using Facebook and other social media for their business because they do not understand the benefits.

SEO

Facebook can easily be integrated into an Search Engine Optimisation Strategy and what many people do not realise is that Facebook Fan Pages are indexed by search engines whereas Facebook Profiles are not. This means that you are maximising exposure online. Companies who use Facebook Profiles are at a distinct disadvantage in this case because the only people who will be able to view the page, are friend.

It's "illegal"

Facebook has strict guidelines which clearly state that no business is legally allowed to create a Facebook Profile. Should the Facebook gurus pick up on this, they will terminate the account. Facebook Fan Pages have been specifically designed to offer companies an effective social media space.

There are numerous other reasons as to why companies should be using Facebook Fan Pages instead:

• Facebook Profiles only allow for 5000 friends (this is limiting)
• Inviting "friends" to a Facebook Profile is in essence spamming the person, whereas with Fan Pages, "fans" willingly "like" the page. This makes a huge difference in the quality of follower
• Sending people information without them subscribing to it, will soon be legal in online/ direct marketing

The safest and most beneficial avenue to take when taking on social media is the right one. Once the Facebook Fan page has been set up and it starts attracting fans to it, there are numerous benefits that businesses should never ignore:

• Great way to get to know what your target market wants (Insights)
• Interact with your customers/ target market (this often leads to increased customer loyalty)
• Direct more traffic to your site
• Improve your SEO

Fan Pages are an ideal marketing vehicle for businesses to utilise. The trick is to always keep content fresh, current and to interact with those who have joined the page.

Tags: facebook, Fan Pages, online marketing, social media

This entry was posted on Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 7:54 am and is filed under Development, SEO, business, design, online marketing, social media, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.