Website Additions: Facebook Like 

Last week’s article focused on Twitter’s Profile Widget, so now it’s time to explore the benefits and use of Facebook’s Like button. What is the general purpose of “Liking,” a page, and how does it help? By providing the Like button, you are offering a unique way for visitors to engage your business, moving them away from the limitations of a static website and into the interactive social media realm. When it comes to developing the ‘next level’ of the online consumer experience, Facebook’s Like is helping bridge the gap between what was yesterday’s norm and today’s expectations. From the user’s side, being able to connect with a business / person beyond the usual “click-read article, click-watch video,” structure that most websites adhere to, gives them an opportunity to foster a better sense of who you are, the services you offer, and (a big thing for social media) – who else is Liking you. All these reasons can be incentive for them to take the plunge and Like your page too.

What are some of the primary benefits of Facebook Like?

Exposure – Any time someone Likes your Facebook Page, that action is shared with all their Facebook Friends. So if a person has 100 Friends and Likes your page, it will post a notification on the wall of all 100 Friends. This brings me to the next point...

Domino Effect – People often follow suit with their Friends, especially regarding online trends. People are more inclined to Like a page if one of their Friends has Liked the same page. So the 100 Friends that just received a notification about John Doe Liking your page, could potentially net you several more Likes simply due to the ‘must be a part of’ social media mentality.

SEO – A few months ago, Facebook and Bing (Microsoft’s search engine) announced that Bing would be indexing Facebook Likes.  In short, if someone Likes your page and they, or someone who is a Friend to that person, searches real estate, for example, on Bing, your Facebook Page or your website will rank higher based on “reputation” (people in your extended network Like your page).  This is, of course, the person searching did not log out of Facebook last time he or she closed the browser.  Though Bing has a small market share today (about 14.1% in April 2011, according to ComScore), it is in growth mode with Microsoft making it the default search engine on just about everything it releases from browsers to mobile phones.  It is certainly worth considering this as a major search engine, not even 2% behind the number 2 search engine, Yahoo.

Interested in creating a Facebook Like button? Follow along:

Click here to access the Facebook Like page – however before navigating away, I recommend spending a couple minutes reading the guide below on what each step of the setup process involves, and what is recommended to input.

Facebook Like Settings:

URL to Like – provide the link to your homepage or any other page on your website, in this case, http://www.bryan.myrws.com

Send Button (XFBML Only) – allows a visitor to send the page, along with a custom message, to a friend, group or specific e-mail address.

Layout Style – there are 3 options available:

Standard Without Send	Standard With Send
Button_Count Without Send	Button_Count With Send
Box_Count Without Send	Box_Count With Send

Width – allows you to specify the width in pixels; this will vary depending upon the buttons placement on the website.

Show Faces – if enabled, will display each follower’s profile picture below the Button; to maintain your website’s professional appearance, this option is not recommended for business pages.

Verb to Display – choose between Like and Recommend; personal preference, however Like is more commonly used.

Colour Scheme – Light or Dark, allows you to pick a shade that is most closely suited to the rest of your website.

Font – choose from the list of available fonts; it is best to pick the same font that is used throughout the rest of your website.

When you’re ready, click “Get Code” and then highlight and copy it.  Then you want to paste it into a Web Code widget on your website.

To determine if you want a Facebook Page, see our blog post.  If you want to add a Facebook Like button to your website but don’t yet have a Facebook Page, see www.Facebook.com/FacebookPages for all information.

Authored By: Bryan Coughlin, Client Relations