How to Build a Strong Facebook Presence for Your Business

Despite the fact that Facebook is about to celebrate its 14th birthday (a lifetime in technology years), it is still one of the dominant forces in the lives of many businesses and consumers alike around the country. Yes, it's true that Facebook has more than two billion daily active users - but the social network's true strength rests in the way that it can connect small businesses to the areas they're actually operating in more efficiently than ever before.

Consider both the fact that 19% of all time spent on mobile devices tends to occur on Facebook, along with the fact that 88% of consumers who search for a local business on a mobile device either call or go directly to that business within 24 hours. Those two stats alone should be enough to convince you why Facebook is such a major part of small businesses in and around Cedar Hill.

But building a presence on Facebook is one thing - building a strong presence on Facebook is something else entirely. If you truly want to make the most out of the world's most popular social networking site, there are a few key things you'll want to keep in mind.

Building a Better Facebook Presence

The most important step that you can take to build a strong presence on Facebook for your business involves using the tools already available to you to optimize that page as much as possible. Again, so much of the strength of Facebook comes down to its ability to connect you with local audiences. Use the fact that you operate in and around Cedar Hill to your advantage.

Go into the "Settings" and "Page Info" screens on your business page and provide as much detail as possible. Don't just optimize your descriptions to use the maximum number of characters allowed, but make it as easy as possible for locals to find your business. That includes making sure that your location, your hours and other relevant location-based information is A) accurate, and B) everywhere on the page itself.

Next, you'll want to focus on another one of the most important aspects of running a Facebook page - the content. Remember that your business' Facebook page and your business' website are two different things with two entirely different goals. Your Facebook page shouldn't just be a carbon copy of that larger website. Shy away from simply pushing details about your products and services and create content that communicates your brand personality. Write posts (or solicit people to do it for you) about helpful or informative topics that are relevant to the people you're trying to reach.

Update your page as much as possible to both stand out and train people to check Facebook often for updates. Don't use Facebook as a straight sales tool - you need to think of it as a communications medium first and foremost.

Finally, you need to make an effort to measure and analyze the performance of your business' Facebook page as much as possible. Take a look at your website's traffic and find out how much of it is coming from Facebook and, most importantly, why. Is it the helpful content? Is it the Facebook-exclusive offers or promotions? Then, measure again a few weeks later - how have things improved?

Not only does this help clue you in on which of your efforts are working, but more importantly it also highlights those that aren't. It's a great way to measure engagement within the context of Facebook, allowing you to guarantee that you're focusing your efforts in the right areas.

Provided that you keep tips like these in mind, you'll find that you won't have to work very hard to build a strong presence on Facebook - it will generate its own momentum to the point where it more-or-less builds itself.