Some methods of search engine optimization, or SEO, will get your site banned from Google. Using ethical means to boost your search engine rankings, such as social bookmarking, will significantly increase the amount of online traffic your company’s site sees. Over the last year, Facebook has become a surprising place to begin your SEO search engine marketing strategy. Previously, only large companies had the money to pay for Facebook as an SEO tool, but now any business can market to Google at no cost at all.

Facebook is free, it’s simple, and it gets your company’s name out to hundreds of people at a time. While strategic Web design is the best way to get your site to rank higher on Google, creating a page on Facebook for your company will link back to your site and could help you to establish a fan base as well. This natural social bookmarking method couldn’t be better for word-of-mouth advertising.

Using Facebook as an advertising tool has been a bit controversial. Some believe that Facebook fan pages are a fresh new avenue for Internet marketing. But some people think fan pages have turned Facebook into a MySpace wannabe, like a little girl putting on her big sister’s royal red rose lipstick and asking if she looks pretty. Whether you truly buy into Facebook as a valid social networking/business advertising tool, or not, it can be a simple tool for getting your company’s name out into the online world.

By creating a Facebook account for your company, you can have your page available for anyone to view. Sounds about the same as having a Web site, right? There’s a bit more to it than just having people search for your company and view the page. By creating a page, you can link back to your site in a legitimate way that won’t get you banned from Google. (Google, as we’ve discussed in previous blog entries, bans black hat SEO practices.) Just enter a description of your business and the link to your site, upload a photo, and add yourself as a fan of your site. You can post updates and send out messages to your fans about new products. People from all over the world can become a fan of your business. (Another perk: when someone does become a fan, a notification gets posted in his or her news feed for hundreds of Facebook friends to see.)

While some writers have doubted that Facebook directly leads to a sale, it certainly can’t hurt to get some free promotion! Take advantage of this simple Internet marketing solution to social networking. Another legitimate place to post a link to your site can only help, right?

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