Recent studies (such a report by Burson-Marsteller) suggest that the world’s most recognizable companies are relying more and more on social media sites like Facebook in their marketing strategies.
In fact, the Burson-Marsteller report indicated that 72 percent of U.S. Fortune Global 100 companies now use Facebook. And from 2009 to 2010, there was a 179 percent increase in the average number of Facebook pages used by American Fortune 100 firms.
So, does all of that mean you should scrap your inexpensive web design strategy and opt for an all-Facebook approach instead?
Not by a long shot. Here’s why:
- As great as social media networks like Twitter and Facebook may be at increasing awareness of your organization, they can’t help you drum up much notoriety outside of their own platforms. For example, a dedicated website has a much stronger chance of delivering good search engine rankings than a Facebook page does. If search engines are potentially a significant source of website visitors for your firm, you’ll want to get maximum value out of the hard work you put into creating your content. You get that with a website. But with Facebook, a lot of the factors that go into search engine rankings will be outside your control.
- Speaking of control, the flexibility you enjoy with your own small business web hosing solution will be far less limiting than what you get with Facebook. In other words, Facebook controls the vast majority of what visitors see when they come to your fan page, and Facebook gets to decide when the rules change as well. And while we’re impressed with the 500 million users now active on Facebook, we admit we’re a little partial to having maximum influence over the look and feel of what goes into your website content.
- Another issue with relying solely on Facebook is that your ability to measure results is inherently limited. Sure, Facebook offers a few tools to help you analyze your traffic, but they are far less effective than the tools available when you operate a dedicated website. See our February 25, 2011 post about Google Analytics for a little taste of the kind of metrics accessible to do-it-yourself website designers.
None of the points we’ve presented here should give you the impression that we have anything against Facebook, mind you. Quite the contrary, in fact. We believe strongly that an effective web presence can indeed be enhanced by expanding into the social media marketing arena, and we are on Facebook and Twitter ourselves. Be sure to check us out!
But a truly effective web presence – and the return on investment that comes with it – has to begin with a dedicated website.
Ask anyone who works for a Fortune Global 100 firm, and they’ll tell you the same thing.
website, you can make slideshow movies out of your MP3s using basic movie software that comes freely installed on Windows and Mac (Windows Movie Maker and iMovie).
