5 Reasons To Create A Facebook Fan Page AND 5 Reasons Not To

While I’ve been known to ramble on and on, I’m going to keep this one short and simple. Shocking, I know!

5 Reasons You Should Create A Facebook Fan Page:

1. Fan Pages get indexed by the engines and we are seeing them pop up in the SERPs (search engine results pages) more often!  When done well, they can be a great source of traffic – from the search engines and from within Facebook itself (lots of people are starting to use Facebook to search when they are looking for a product or service, they are looking for pages that other people “like” – it feels like a more personal recommendation for them)
2. Your competitors have one. I don’t normally advocate “keeping up with the Joneses” just for the sake of it but in this case if they have one and you don’t, they are tapping into traffic you aren’t. It’s that simple.
3. Facebook and SEO are more connected than ever – Google and Bing told us in December that Twitter and Facebook impact rankings.  The number one question I get daily is “how do I get more traffic and rankings” – and my response is always, use all the tools and strategies available to you.  Don’t pick and choose and do things half way.  Go all in and you’ll get the return.
4. Building trust and credibility is important and you need to engage people on a personal level. Fan Pages are perceived as more personal and inviting than web pages (that’s not to say you don’t need a site too – all these tools need to work together in tandem to improve your results and grow your business).  Use the Fan Page to engage the user and make them feel connected and then move them through your marketing funnel.
5. Because I said so! Well it used to work when my Mom said it, so I figured it was worth a try. Not buying it? OK then the real 5th reason is because you need to stay current (if not ahead) of the trends if you want to survive in an online business and ignoring what has clearly become an important strategy is just like waving a white surrender flag for your site.

5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Create A Facebook Fan Page:

1. Because you don’t like Facebook (it’s a waste of time, too many games and too much idle chit chat with people you don’t really care about.  (Yes, I am being sarcastic here.  What you like and don’t like should never be a factor in your marketing.  Successful marketers do what works, not what they like or what they *hope* will work.  Also rest assured, you don’t have to play a second of Farmville or Mafia Wars or waste any time on idle chit chat.)
2. Facebook makes so many changes, you have to actually stay current and make changes and it could cost some money to keep it up.  (Yep, more sarcasm, keeping current is the cost of doing business online.  Someone, somewhere tried to spread the word that building a business online was supposed to be quick and easy.  I’d love to find the person that started that rumor! It’s simply not true.  Building a site is quick and easy.  Building a BUSINESS takes time, effort, money, and then more time, effort and money.  It doesn’t have the same challenges that traditional offline businesses have but that doesn’t mean you flip a switch and have instant success.  If you are ignoring a viable strategy because it means you may have to work to keep current and to make that strategy a success, then I am not holding out much hope for your success online.  I know people aren’t used to me being this blunt but what good is my advice if I don’t give you the cold hard truth that will really help you at the end of the day?  Sugar coated lies not sold here, sorry!)
3. You have to post on the Page and respond to comments and it takes work and time.  (I truly understand time constraints and budget constraints, we live in the real world and it’s a reality.  BUT when something is proven to work, then you need to find the time to participate or you miss out.)
4. You don’t know how to do it.  (Not a good reason, there are services that will build a Page for you and there are resources and tools to help you do it yourself)
5. You are waiting to see if they really “catch on” and help people.  (OK, sounds good – when the results are in, let me know.  In the mean time, I’m building my mailing list and making great connections from my Fan Page)

I am a believer in the power of Facebook Fan Pages, not because it gives me something to write about but because I’ve seen them work.  All things considered, they are actually lower cost and easier to implement than many strategies online.

So the message here is that you have to stop standing in your own way and looking for reasons not to do something.

Comments are welcomed and appreciated!