Facebook In Social Media Marketing
Facebook In Social Media Marketing Role For Todays Businesses
Website optimization is the primary goal for business owners who utilize their online presence in any way to grow their business. In recent years, social media has become infused in how websites operate, instead of being its own universe. You’d be hard-pressed to find a site (unless it hasn’t been updated in several years) that does not provide icon links for the business Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Tumblr, Instagram, or other social media channel on the homepage. The utility of social media (Facebook in particular) on websites has changed the way most search engines perform rankings.
Businesses first started jumping on the bandwagon for social media a few years ago by creating profiles for their corporate entities. Facebook responded by creating Pages, where professional entities, businesses, and organizations could post updates, photo/video, and more to engage with their current and potential customer base. While the use of Facebook business pages has increased dramatically in a short time, some businesses still have not made the conversion to social media. The use of social media isn’t a fad, flash-in-the-pan method of marketing. Search engines like Google reference social media pages, links, Likes, Comments, and Shares for site rankings. Google in particular references social media channels for links to sites (much like backlinking) and factors this into its ranking.
Social media posted links provide an opportunity for businesses to have a non-spam method of referencing pages to their site. By doing so, this increases their online reputation. However, there are some things to not do when utilizing social media pages for link building. Creating an abundance of social accounts for the purpose of posting site links is a quick way to get flagged by Google, as well as a quick way to lose interest with potential friends on any social channel.
How Facebook Works With Your Website
One way to incorporate Facebook utilities for optimization into your website without having to also monitor or manage a business page within Facebook is by incorporating social media plugins to your site. This is especially easy for sites that operate on a WordPress platform, as plugins vary in style and volume. New content posted to your site can be Liked and Shared on Facebook through the plugin on your site. This feature gives your business page a very similar optimization boost that search engines reference for ranking like off-page backlinks.
Social media still has a clear purpose for individuals and businesses and that is connection. Be mindful that your use of social media with your business does that, instead of taking the path too many business owners/managers take and use the platforms strictly for making pitches to customers. If all you do is reference your site or ask for Likes and Comments, without providing engaging content, images, or reasons for people to engage with you, your messaging will be ignored. You might even lose followers.
There are some basic social media best-practices for user engagement. This includes using your business page to Like other professional pages in the hopes of getting those individuals to like yours. This is especially true on Twitter, where that practice is more acceptable. Facebook, however, operates differently. If you try to use your Facebook account to Like pages in the hopes (and even sending messages asking for this) that they will turn around and Like your page, you may be losing ground. You want people to follow you and your page and be engaged in what you’re doing so that when you post links to your homepage, followers will go there. Creating truly engaging content is the key to reaching current and new followers on social media. Use your engaging content to reference your website, which not only sends customers and clients to your page, but boosts your stature in the eyes of Google and other search engines.
