Why isn't your company on Facebook yet?

Once upon a time, when your company decided it wanted to have a place in the online world, you would set up a website. You would look for hosting, like GoDaddy, or GatorHost, you would buy your very own URL, and find a decent web designer to put together your website, where people could visit you, tell their friends about you, and even download your software.

Then WordPress came along, together with Tumblr, SquareSpace, and a host of other solutions that helped you create a face for your business. Simple set up, pre-designed templates for nearly every purpose, and hassle-free ways to add content. True, some solutions cost money, and yes, you still had to find a way to get people to your site, browsing your virtual shop and placing no-so-virtual orders, but it was easier.

Today, it’s Facebook.

Just think about it.

Hosting? It’s all on Facebook, baby. It doesn’t cost you a dime (yet – they will probably start charging businesses at some point). Just claim your own personal URL, and you’re ready to go.

Design? Creating a Facebook page for your company is easy. Install a few simple applications, add 2 spoonfulls of content, and you’re done. You can certainly add a bit of colour and design, and enrich your page by yourself, or of course, if you want to go the whole nine-yards, you can try out North Social or VSense, to name just a few.

And the central key to any website – Visits? Pages on Facebook are viral – it’s sort of built into the system. One person likes them, and the page is spread to all of their friends, then their friends’ friends, and so on. Facebook is an excellent place to meet your target audience. Your company creates a Visual Studio add-on? Get your company’s Facebook page ‘liked’ by a few developers, and all their developer friends will see your product. You’ve just launched a new iPhone application that shows you the nearest pet stores and veterinaries? See how people who love dogs and cats share your page with their friends.

On top of every thing else, you get a built in community, an excellent place to start your Social Media marketing efforts, and get on touch with your users, and you know exactly who they are. There’s no need for cluttered contact forms asking for details. The company of tomorrow is calling their customers by their first names, know who their friends are, and know what they are doing and feeling on any given day. Excellent customer service, personal support to everybody, and sharing your company page – it’s a win-win situation.

So where will you be in a year’s time?