Business Page In Social Networks – Is It Worth It?

Lately, we witness a trend of opening up a business page, or even a website, in social networks. Believing that “everyone is there, anyway”, many business owners came to realize that whether they like it or not – their clients dwell prolonged durations of time in social networks. It does not matter whether the existing or potential clients are there to communicate with friends, play games, respond to people or create new connections – their “defenses are lowered”, so being exposed to names of companies their friends interacted with might cause interest in the brand, that may lead in turn to further interaction.
In addition to that, every action done in a social network is being displayed to the person's friends – so there's a substantial viral advertising potential.
This article will observe the trend from a critical point of view, and from several different angles: how customers see it, what the various implications are and, more importantly, – whether it can be compared to a standard website.

Business Page In Social Networks – Where Is It Located?

Generally, business owners are being handed out the possibility to open up a business page in social networks, for free. The owner of the page is free to choose who will manage it, to insert business details, maintain a list of friends (or “fans”) and contact them, choose what would be displayed and so on. The greatest advantage of such pages is that right after launching the option, the possibility to open content pages was made available. Using those pages, page owners were able to reach a state of having a website, basically given to them for free, within their business page.
To begin with, the basic requirement is not accessible to anyone – those pages are written in HTML language that must be pasted in a specific tool, and often it's not your standard HTML code, but a modified version of it. This fact forces business owners to learn this language, rather than work with simple CMS systems.
Since the beginning of 2011, the work method in some social networks has been altered a bit, causing custom pages within a business page in social networks to be stored elsewhere: in the past, there was no need to host the page elsewhere, now it's mandatory.
Therefore, the current situation forces business page owners that would like to have custom pages to maintain a regular website, as well as the pages on display.
Moreover, one must remember than in social networks, the owner of a page has limited control over layout and arrangement – excluding the content of personally customized pages, everything else is dictated by the settings of the social network. On the one hand, this contributes to the tidiness and uniformity, but, on the other hand, it limits creativity.

Business Page In Social Networks – Advanced Possibilities

Following the previous paragraph, as the page is constructed within the interface of a social network – the freedom of creativity is severed. A website designer accustomed to designing websites as a whole, displaying innovation and providing groundbreaking designs, meets a barrier of having his creation displayed in a small frame within a bigger page. As the page is limited to a frame, the content of it may be breathtaking, but you will never be able to affect the entire experience.
As far as search engine optimization goes, a slight compromise is evident, as well. Although, in most social networks, business pages are accessible by search engines, you can't say that you're getting the complete product, compared to a fully-fledged website. You cannot control the code of the pages themselves, and as the custom pages are being “drawn” from a different website – their SEO value is crippled. Another thing – keep in mind that the domain itself belongs to the social network – its presence will promote the network, rather than your business.
On that note, the ability to attach a domain name is limited as well. In most cases, it is impossible to attach a domain to the business page, and redirects tend to lead to a landing page – hurting the independence and the identity of the domain.
In the field of marketing, there are advantages to be found. Some social networks provide you with tools for advertising pages within the social network, allowing you to create demographic slicing of the target audience. The efficiency of such advertising is based on your ability to pinpoint the correct target audience – but you can reach decent results by placing an ad that is properly targeted and funded.

Business Page In Social Networks – Branding

At this point, the comparison with a regular website is imminent.
A business owner that requires market recognition and reputation will have to expose his potential clients to his name and trademarks. In a regular website – the webmaster has complete freedom. Place your own logo, arrange the pages to your liking, choose a color pallette... The more unique the website is, the longer it will be remembered, and serve its owner better.
A business page in social networks is, first and foremost, a page in social networks. That is, your business page, in someone else's site. Whose logo in the corner is this? Who chooses the locations of pages? How far can you really go with your creativity?
Speaking of branding alone, a website wins by a landslide – it's the face of the business, and a business owner would like that the face of the business would be as recognizable as possible. The existence of a website radiates uniqueness and gives you a place to express yourself, as a page in a social network dictates a set or unpassable rules, while catering for some of the business owners' needs, but fulfilling the goals of the network itself.

Business Page In Social Networks – Is It Worth It?

Everything said earlier drains down to this basic question – so what's better? Considering the arguments presented, we can suggest a solution to serve the business purposes the best.
Have both.
Confused? We'll explain.
The importance of websites will be undoubtedly reserved. The statement that a business needs a website still stands, and it will stand for many years to come. The ability to present your brand freely, without depending on anyone, is golden. Being able to design, promote, optimize, advertise and market the website in the way you choose is a power not to be given up. Additionally, the latest requirement of business pages in social networks is that the page must be hosted within a website, so there's no reason to give the website up.
On the other hand, a page in social networks has its benefits – namely, the exposure to visitors. You can extend your reach for free or for a minimal price, compromising the design and accepting various restrictions.
So, it is possible to gain leverage for your business by making the business page in social networks promote the official website. For example: you can divert traffic from your business page to your contact page on your website, important articles, links and images and shift the center of gravity towards the website – the social network will help providing the buzz.
A business page can't replace a website just yet, but it can assist a website. Don't forget – encouraging visits to the business page will encourage, in turn, visits to the actual website – where the sale will eventually take place.
At this point, a business page in social networks is a tool, and it must be regarded in that manner. Effective as it may be, it is yet too early for it to replace a complete system, that is both established and proven effective.