Facebook for Business: All that glitters is not gold
COMPANY WEBSITE The numbers speak for themselves: Facebook has over 1 billion monthly active users—272 million of whom are in Europe. Every day, 66.9% of users in Europe use Facebook. However, that doesn’t mean you should invest more time and effort in Facebook activities than in your company’s website. Why?
Despite all the Facebook euphoria, the company website should not be neglected.FROM MARC VAN WESEMAEL, GENERAL MANAGER AT EURIDThe most important aspect is control. Every morsel of information that a company shares on its Facebook page ends up on Facebook servers and is therefore ultimately under Facebook's control. The risk of outdated, incorrect or potentially harmful content floating around somewhere on Facebook - and thus being discoverable on the web, not least via Google - is also much higher. With its own website, a company is firmly in control. There is no danger of data taking on a life of its own. If you no longer want to show certain data on your website, you can take it offline whenever you want.Nor is there any danger of having to start from scratch again or change something on the fly because of a change in terms and conditions, the user interface or the overall design. And with Facebook? Let's put it this way: The introduction of the timeline has not gone down well with everyone.Definition of the visual identityIn addition, the Facebook page has limitations in terms of "look and feel" from the company's point of view. Facebook does offer a certain amount of creative freedom in the design of the page, but this is exclusively within the predefined framework and only within a predefined screen area. In contrast, the design freedom for a company's own website is practically unlimited: Whatever is technically feasible to bring the website to life and thus strengthen the brand as well as the online identity is possible.Branding is as important a reason as ownership when it comes to giving priority to a dedicated website: While it makes sense to build a strong social media presence, it's not wise to put all your eggs in the Facebook basket. Whenever you spread the URL of your Facebook page, you're promoting Facebook first and your own brand second. Shouldn't it be the other way around?a successful presence on Facebook creates enough incentive to draw visitors to the actual brand venue: the company website.Three reasons to have your own domain name and website1. not to let the scepter out of your handExclusively the company decides what information is conveyed and how the website looks. Thus, one does not give the control out of the hand and can forward the visitors from the homepage.2. drive the own brandIn a marketing campaign under the corporate domain, one always puts one's own brand name first, not someone else's. And on the corporate website, you also put your own logo and corporate colors first.3. ensure professionalismThe own domain name offers the possibility to set up an own website and related email accounts. Thus, it is no longer necessary to go through email platforms such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo! to communicate with potential customers. Contact via the company's email handle demonstrates professionalism and the proper presentation of information on the company's website shows visitors that the business is serious.Information about .eu and EURid.eu is one of the largest top-level domains in the world and provides a central Internet identity for 500 million people in 27 EU countries. Since registration began in 2005, more than 3.7 million .eu domain names have been registered. Well-known companies, such as Fairtrade International, Foot Locker, Louis Vuitton, the MAN Group, Microsoft Corporation, Orangina and Toyota, use a .eu website, making a clear commitment to their European identity and corporate goals.EURid is a non-profit organization that was commissioned by the European Commission to manage the .eu top-level domain following a call for tenders. EURid cooperates with about 850 accredited registrars and offers online and telephone support in all 23 official EU languages. EURid is certified for the EU's Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), demonstrating the organization's commitment to environmental protection. In addition to its headquarters in Brussels (Belgium), EURid has regional offices in Pisa (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic) and Stockholm (Sweden).More information is available at http://www.eurid.eu available.
