Tackling Facebook Again, Peppered with some Marketing

In this article, Linda goes into depth with some of the new Facebook changes, which may help you promote your business in a more efficient manner in this medium

On the Other Side of the Coin

Many of the changes Facebook is making is because of phishing issues and spam. But, these are measures that can be taken at any level. The problem with Facebook is that they are dealing with millions of users, so any changes they make also affect their users.

Be grateful that they are making the changes, as some horrible things can happen to your Facebook account as well as to your personal Web site if you have that site as a link on your Facebook page. Don't remove that link...just be aware that you need to have firewalls and other tools in place at all times anyway at your Web site.

As a for instance, I quit writing for DMXZone for a spell, then returned with a series of articles about social networking last year. As soon as I began writing for DMXZone again, someone began hitting my Web sites and trying to gain access to the databases. They also hit my clients' sites. But, I have a firewall in place on the sites that not only tells me when my blogs get hit, but it tells me the IP address that the hit is coming from . You, too, can get this firewall for your WordPress blogs at SEO Plugin.

From there, it is a simple matter to call or email your server administrator(s) and ask them to block that IP address. Bingo.

Additionally, when you receive notifications from Facebook friends that point you to a video, chances are they did not send that video. Before you click on any links from a Facebook notification, ask your friend (or fan) if they sent that notification. If so, then click away. If not, trash that notification and notify Facebook about the intrusion.

It seems the only phishing violations have occurred through notifications – not through regular posts that a person places on his or her "Wall." Notifications, in case you do not know, are direct messages sent to you by another person. If these notifications contain links to other Web sites or to videos, please do not click on those links until you know that it is safe to do so.

Back to the emails...

The Next Email

This issue has a lot to do with how you set up your Fan Pages...

I'm not against change but do think the new FB [Facebook] structure has changed more towards what it should be – messages between friends, almost to the detriment of Business Pages. I find it seems to be harder to find them and impossible to have a permanent link on your home page.

This specific email deals with the Facebook Page for Cracked Pepper, an Australian restaurant. If you go to the Facebook home page and you are not signed in, how can you expect to find the page for Cracked Pepper?

If you look closely at the page above, you cannot find a way to search for individuals nor for pages on the new Facebook layout. So, it would be easy for a computer-illiterate person to become very confused about where to find a page for the Cracked Pepper.

If I plug "Cracked Pepper Australia Facebook" into a search engine, I do find a link for the Facebook page, but not at the top of the search results. And, when I 'walk' into the site from the search, I come across the "Info" page rather than the "Wall" at the Cracked Pepper Facebook Page:

When I enter this page from the search engine, do I know that I can click on any tab located at the top of the page, under the name of the restaurant, to learn more? No. But, being a curious person, I start clicking and I can enter those pages without signing into Facebook.

So, now you know that you can gain access to a Facebook page without being a Facebook member. However, it isn't easy. So, you'll need to use clues to help people find that Facebook page in searches as well as leave links in other places to help people go straight to the Facebook page that you want to lead them to from that link. I wouldn't hesitate to use SEO keywords and key phrases on the Facebook Page to help search engines find that page easily.

There also is a Facebook search, but it's not readily advertised. You can find that search engine at http://www.facebook.com/srch.php. That search engine, however, does not allow me to search for business pages, as it is geared toward finding individuals instead.