Can FaceBook page hurt your website?

Not everyone thinks FaceBook and Social Media are the end all be all. See…

My client’s brother wants to start posting articles from the website that I just built for them on their old company FaceBook page.

My concern is that it will dilute all of my efforts on their new website.

For example, if people like an article I wrote (e.g. “Get a Tune-Up before Vacation Time”) and they start sharing it all over social media, on one hand that is good, but on the other hand it might make people think that the FaceBook page is “the” company website versus the one I built.

Not sure if my concerns are justified.

Off Topic:

I am happy to say that after lots of hard work and sticking to my guns, I have landed my client on Page 1 on Google on three key searches, and on Page 2 on some secondary searches!!) :sunglasses:

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Would they accept that the website needs to be the content source for their business, and that instead, they should post excerpts/links to the content on their social media, driving traffic back to the website?

This does seem a better approach, the trick is how you entice someone to click that link (did I just suggest clickbait?)

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It would have been a more cool clickbait if you’d put an actual link on “click that (link)”. :smiley:
Edit: OK I removed mine, shouldn’t be posting random links :wink:

But yeah, I’d definitely not qualify reposting good content as clickbait by nature… unless you make it so? :smiley:

Now if only I’d thought of that… :wink:

This may be relevant. I just saw this comment posted on Twitter as an excerpt from a new podcast on the PWD site.

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Yes, they might accept that, however this is where I do not understand social media.

Why would you build TWO WEBSITES to promote ONE BUSINESS???

I have never used social media, but for all the freaks out there who feel compelled to “Like” things, why can’t they just “Like” out website directly and not need a shadow FaceBook business website??

I find all of this stuff so moronic… :smirk:

I suppose I don’t really consider it building a Facebook business “website” - at best it’s a page, and to be honest most of them are just five minutes of filling out questions and answers about the business and there’s the page.

The reason to have one is simply because there are so many people already using Facebook daily, weekly, monthly, etc. It’s sometimes easier, therefore, for your business to be run into by potential customers there - and if the Facebook page directs them to both your contact info + your full site, they can either contact you directly, or follow through to the site you’ve spent so much time building in order to learn more.

I have never used social media, but for all the freaks out there who feel compelled to “Like” things

Social media definitely isn’t all about “liking” - nor are all of the people who disagree with you about social media “freaks” :wink:
I personally am not a fan of Facebook at all. I’ve grown to enjoy Twitter as a bit of a source of news/interesting ideas, but it has taken some time to make it not just a fire-hose of nonsense.
Regardless of my personal feelings though, the reality is that the world uses these mediums. A lot. More than almost anything else we could interact with. What is Facebook at, somewhere between a billion and two billion active monthly users? Ugh. So it would be naive of us to ignore them.

@jeffreylees,

So do you think that my client’s website cannot succeed unless there is a business FaceBook page?

Through my persistent efforts of building top-notch content, my client is now on Page 1 for several searches.

You make it sound like Google is dead, and the only way to be found or be successful online is via social media?! :hushed:

Is that how it really is?

And to my earlier question, why can’t a person just put a write-up and link to my client’s website on their FaceBook page without an intermediary FaceBook business page?

So do you think that my client’s website cannot succeed unless there is a business FaceBook page?

I don’t know much about your client - but I’d say that’s definitely not true unless they’re marketing to a very specific audience. I’m sure they don’t have to have it to succeed - but then the same could be said of a lot of tools or services that could make a positive impact, right? A lot of small businesses could succeed fine without any web presence at all - that doesn’t mean they won’t do far better with one.

Through my persistent efforts of building top-notch content, my client is now on Page 1 for several searches.

You make it sound like Google is dead, and the only way to be found or be successful online is via social media?! hushed

Is that how it really is?

No? Just because people use social media does not at all mean that Google is dead. Why are the two mutually exclusive in your mind?

And to my earlier question, why can’t a person just put a write-up and link to my client’s website on their FaceBook page without an intermediary FaceBook business page?

They definitely can! Those are different things though. If I’m a customer of the business and want to put a link to your article on my Facebook wall or a review, that’s fine and dandy and good. But if I’m the business owner or manager or marketer or whatever, posting from a business page is obviously more professional than from my personal one - and there’s my personal privacy at stake then, too.

Having a business page provides an epicenter for the business on Facebook. People can like or follow the business page, and then sometimes receive updates when you post content to the page. You can post links or excerpts from your content, specials, deals, industry news, whatever on your page, and people view it and click through. Honestly if you don’t understand how business social media works in general, I’d take the time sometime (add it to the laundry list of things we all want to read about? :smiley: ) to look up a write up or two, or a video, that’d explain it better than I am. It’s worth understanding as a freelancer in this industry. I wish I knew more about the ins and outs of social media marketing, myself, than I do.

I just feel that is how the world sees it. Either you are a FaceBook freak and have a FaceBook page or your business/website fails.

This is one of many reason I HATE FaceBook.

So because FaceBook has taken over our society, I have to post our content on their website in order for people to follow it and see it.

That is an example I where I think the world has went off the cliff. It reads like George Orwell’s 1984.

My hope was to build a great website with relevant content and then have people find us on Google and either subscribe to an RSS feed or e-mail their friends about our great website.

It seems obnoxious that everything I do on my client’s website has to be re-done on FaceBook in order for people to “follow” us…

I think it’s a matter of perspective. I view social media, when related to business, as a way to gain followers that you never would’ve been able to locate before.

I just feel that is how the world sees it. Either you are a FaceBook freak and have a FaceBook page or your business/website fails.

Maybe so, I dunno. But that’s not the impression I’ve gotten working with small businesses.

This is one of many reason I HATE FaceBook.

Me too, in some ways. But in others, it’s sort of like hating Google for being the only search engine that really matters, or hating Microsoft for being so inexorable that it can force myriad versions of a bad browser high into the spotlight without the product deserving it through sheer force of will - we can cry and be anoyed, or we can deal with the system and tools that are in front of us.

Or we can do both, I like to do both :wink:

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In all seriousness, I don’t know why you thought about this, though your concerns are justified.

Also, I do NOT think it will dilute your efforts.

Think of your website as your office. Obviously, there are a ton of ways to get there, and Facebook happens to be one of the transportation methods.

Basically, social media IS one of the gateways to your website. Aside from which, can you actually interact with your website’s visitors through your website? This is what social media is for: it’s provides a way to interact with your audience, which is why it is of utmost importance.

And no, it doesn’t make people think that your company page is THE company website, as long as you make it clear in the FB page’s description and posts. :slight_smile:

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Because I know a lot of businesses that have ditched traditional websites for Facebook websites.

In fact, I know a fair amount of businesses where if you don’t have a Facebook account (e.g. me) then there is no way to contact them!!

I find this whole social media thing to be ridiculous. It has become an OBSESSION with billions of people worldwide.

(I used to have a home page and do IM in the 90s, but it wasn’t an obsession. The fact that people “like” plumbers or “tweet” that they just had an awesome roast beef sandwich says to me these people need professional counseling…)

I thought it would dilute things if my client’s brother starts posting my hard-written articles on the Facebook page, because them people would have no incentive to visit the real website.

And if he posts things which are contradictory, then that is bad also.

My intent was always tobuild a great site, get it on page 1 of the search engines, and then make it the “source of truth” for all interested in my client, his business, and educating themselves on auto mechanics.

His website, no. My personal website, yes.

I guess it still isn’t clear to me why if he has a business Fcebook page that people would find him and link to us more than through a regular page.

Having a business Facebook page doesn’t automatically message everyone on Facebook and say, “He, be our friend!”

My thinking was that it would be better to have people find us on Google, see the value, and then either e-mailing links from out site to friends, or IM’in them, or placing links to our site on their Facebook pages, etc.

I wouldn’t put a link to your home page - which has a link to SitePoint on it. Instead I would link directly to SitePoint, right?

I guess it still isn’t clear to me why if he has a business Fcebook page that people would find him and link to us more than through a regular page.

The point isn’t for people (normally) to find the Facebook page via Google search (although they often rank well, and having a second chance to get on the first page or two of results isn’t exactly a bad thing as long as you link through to your main site content) it’s for people to find it via social media. Again, if you don’t understand how social media works I’d bet there’s many excellent tutorials out there that’d explain it far better than we can. That’s a whole huge subject.

I thought it would dilute things if my client’s brother starts posting my hard-written articles on the Facebook page, because them people would have no incentive to visit the real website.

And if he posts things which are contradictory, then that is bad also.

My intent was always tobuild a great site, get it on page 1 of the search engines, and then make it the “source of truth” for all interested in my client, his business, and educating themselves on auto mechanics.

I definitely think that if that’s your goal, you should encourage them to just post links to the content on the site you are building, and not post original long form content directly on Facebook.

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@jeffreylees,

Thanks for trying to explain.

It would help if I didn’t hate Facebook and social media to the point of where I don’t want to lose my “virginity” by learning them.

It is how I truly feel.

Maybe your tips are enough to keep me away from them, but still understand them enough to work with them…

And those businesses are probably based in a small city or a town, right? If they ditched their websites for Facebook PAGES (Facebook “websites” is an incorrect term), then you don’t have to follow suit.

As for social media being ridiculous part, it’s not actually SM being ridiculous - it’s the users. Sadly, there are teens, immature adults, and self-obsessed people who tweet or post status updates every hour.

However, you have to understand that SM isn’t only one-sided, it is also a medium for disseminating news, current events, and in forming connections. You CAN also promote your business, you know.

By the way, it’s not an obsession to some: it’s already a NEED in terms of communicating with loved ones and in manning their business accounts.

[quote=“mikey_w, post:14, topic:194315”]

I thought it would dilute things if my client’s brother starts posting my hard-written articles on the Facebook page, because them people would have no incentive to visit the real website.

And if he posts things which are contradictory, then that is bad also.

My intent was always to build a great site, get it on page 1 of the search engines, and then make it the “source of truth” for all interested in my client, his business, and educating themselves on auto mechanics.[/quote]

This is NOT how Facebook pages work. Nobody posts FULL articles on their pages - instead, they post a link and an article preview. Users click on them and visit the website after doing so, thus giving you an inventive.

As for posting contradictory things, then simply coordinate with him.

How?

I’ll ask you this: how many people in your locality look for auto-related content in Google? You’ll probably have a dozen searchers, and if your website (IF) is on top of the SERPs, then you’d probably get a few dozen clicks.

That aside, I’d like to point out the difference between a Page and an Account.

A page is this - https://www.facebook.com/UPBOFFICIAL (it’s a basketball page I’m running).

And an account is a personal one - https://www.facebook.com/HaileyThomasMe

You’d be surprised at the amount of people looking for local businesses on Facebook. If they don’t find you on Google, they’ll find you on FB.

But it does make your business visible on a platform with billions of people.

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Yes, typically smaller businesses.

Correct. But it makes me hate social media. Just like how I hate smart phone. And how I am even starting to hate guns. People ruin everything in this world…

I suppose.

Would you rather gaze into the eyes of a pretty girl sitting across from you in a booth at a restaurant or send her a Facebook update sitting across from her in the same booth?

Would you rather see or call your daughter to talk about her new son, or send her a tweet?

Is it necessary to call someone while you take a crap?

And Facebook makes $$$.

The website I am working on has messaging and subscriptions and will have RSS and everthing that Facebook or other sites have.

So who needs Facebook as a middle man?

On my client’s site or mine, if we are on page 1 and one of the top chocies, then I would hope people would come, read, enjoy, stay, subscribe, etc and stay in touch all without a need for social media.

Of course my client’s site is nowhere near as sophisticated as mine.

Sadly, I am learning this the hard way.

The problem is not that I built a bad website or have bad search results, it is that nobody gives a rats ass about auto-mechanics…

My personal website looks closer to the first link.

It seems as if most of the world cannot function without Facebook.

It does. And my “hang-ups” towards social media are likely my downfall.

Then again, if more people don’t standup for what they believe in, then we get what we have in America today…

And smaller businesses have better luck promoting their products and services on FB rather than their websites.

Well, that’s your philosophy and I can’t argue with that. You’re sounding more and more like a technophobe, really.

And before I send her an FB message, I need to get to know her name and contact details first which would require me to come over, gaze into her eyes and talk to her.

Not really, unless you buy and use Facebook Ads. Other than that, it’s completely free.

Apparently, small businesses do.

Tell me, how many people would manually go to your website rather than Facebook?

Regardless, that’s your stand and I can’t argue with that.

It’s a page then.

Well, it can. Though Facebook makes the world a better and a more connected place. It’s simply a medium.

Likely. And if people aren’t open to change, innovation and embracing new tech, you’d get a stagnant society and one devoid of progress.

I’m not American, but I did go there once and the folks I’ve encountered in a university are open-minded.

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