Facebook is the most popular social media site on the Internet, which makes having a page for your business a necessity.  This is an ideal way to promote brand awareness and reach millions of potential consumers.

People tend to confuse Facebook groups and pages, so let’s talk for a minute about the difference between Facebook Pages and Groups.

Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages

A Facebook Group is like a club.  Groups provide a way for people to communicate on common interests and can be created for just about any purpose from gaming strategy to an altruistic cause.

A Facebook Page is similar to a profile, but designed for a business, brand, celebrity, or other public entity.  Anyone can become a fan of a page simply by clicking the “like” button.  Pages are ideal for businesses because they allow for “updates” to be posted directly to fans, increasing visibility.  Pages are also indexed by external search engines, allowing for greater accessibility and higher rankings for your business.

It is not enough to create a page for your business and then hope for fans to click the “like” button.  Your page needs to stand out and be appealing.  Once the “like” button has been clicked your page must stay relevant.  Making your page engaging through applications is a sure fire way to generate and keep the interest of “fans”.

The number of applications to make your Facebook Page more engaging grows daily, and some are better than others.

Application for Facebook Pages

Here are some applications that can enhance the appeal of your business page on Facebook:

• Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) which allows you to customize tabs and content on your page, is one of the best applications for a business page.  Customization is what will set your page apart and make it distinctive.  Using this application, you can set the default tab for visitors to “land on” instead of the wall, which is the default tab. This is a great way to highlight a particular product, service, event, etc.

• Installing a Twitter application is a good way to allow people to keep up with your tweets via Facebook, and is another way to keep content fresh on your page.

• A Blog RSS Feed Reader is another way to beef-up the stream of your page feed by pulling from your blog.  Again, this keeps content fresh and keeps your fans informed.

• Including Fan Appz is a good choice for social media marketing as it has features like polls, sweepstakes, promotions, coupons, and others that utilize viral engagement.

• Publicize events with apps like Eventbrite is a great way to generate awareness.  This app also can handle ticket sales for your event.

Other features to consider are the use of creative and distinctive images.  It is also increasingly more important to interact with fans.  People like it when their comments are recognized.  Engaging in the conversations that take place on the wall or in the discussions section of your page is a good way to keep interest.

A few business pages that have appeal utilizing applications are Victoria’s Secret and Mont Blanc, both of which not only have nice images and customized tabs, but they both have visitors land on an interesting tab.

One not so great example is Walmart, which dumps visitors directly onto their wall, and does not have as engaging features or appealing images.

Recently, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce held a luncheon in honor of outstanding businesspeople in the community. For those of you who know Mariela, her work ethic, and dedication to  Perez-Simons Web Studios and her clients, it will come as no surprise that she took home the award for The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship's Associate of the Year.

I am consistantly inspired by Mariela and have learned so much from her since I've been on board at PSWS this past year. Her vision, enthusiasm, and talents are limitless. I am glad that others also recognize her commitment to excellence, in business, and in life.

Click here to view the entire list of award winners (and note that our favorite web desgin maven tops the list).

Here are some pictures from our office at the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship in Greensboro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To write effectively for the web one must become a word warrior and write with precision.  Cut away the preamble and present the facts up front, much like a newspaper article with its “inverted pyramid” style.  Slice up the information into smaller bits using lists.

Each point being made should be done one paragraph at a time. If elaboration is needed, keep it concise and on target.  Strategically emphasize key points and use easy to read fonts for ease of scanability.

Your on-line presence is dependent upon the quality of your website.  It is the face of you and your business.  The best appearance is one that is clean and uncluttered with a professional layout.  A well-designed professional web site is one that is visually appealing, easy to access, easy to navigate, and provides usable, relevant information.

The first thing to be determined with a professional designer is the information architecture of your site.  This covers every aspect of your site from layout to navigation and should include the development of a site map and content inventory.  This is what distinguishes a well-designed professional site from the beginning.  Nothing is thrown together haphazard, and everything is considered carefully to construct a visually appealing, functioning site.