Facebook has done it again. Last week, Facebook was again the most visited website in the US – toppling Google from the top spot.

A report out by Experience Hitwise details that 7.07% of all internet visits during the week ended 13th March were to Facebook. Google by comparison received 7.03%. While the percentages might seem low – the traffic is phenomenal.

So the continued growth of Facebook shows no signs of abating anytime soon – so the question remains:

• Are you leveraging the Facebook phenomenon?

Many people still believe Facebook is just a fad and doesn’t work for promoting businesses. If it’s just a fad – it’s a very big one – and a fad that smarter businesses are capitalizing on to promote themselves.

Here’s 5 ways for you to promote your business on Facebook

1. Facebook Profiles
Facebook profiles are the starting point of your Facebook experience. You need a profile before you can do anything else. By filling out your profile completely – you can provide valuable insights and links to your business.

You can also use your profile to post updates which can include news and information about your business. Context is everything in social networks – so make you’re your updates are interesting and relevant – or you’ll be seen as a spammer and lose friends quicker than you can make them.

2. Facebook Pages
Facebook pages are all about promoting brands, products, and anything else you want to give build a profile for within facebook. They are a great way to build a community around your business and allow you to provide updates to followers without it appearing to be blatant spam.

One of the most significant benefits of Facebook pages is that they’re indexed by Google – which means that they can add value to your existing SEO strategy and also provide your business with an additional online profile.

3. Facebook Groups
Groups are places aimed at creating discussion forums for users about topics or businesses. Groups can be a great viral tool as they have bulk update functionality – but given they’re not indexed by Google and have other control limitations – are not as popular as Facebook pages.

4. Facebook Applications
Facebook applications are one of the innovations that put Facebook ahead of the pack. Utilizing the Facebook API – developers are able to create engaging applications that can be used within the Facebook framework. A clever and entertaining application can be one of the most effective viral marketing tools for businesses.

5. Facebook Advertising
And of course – there’s good old fashioned Facebook advertising. From personal experience it can be a bit hit and miss – but given the right product or promo – there are reports that it can generate some great results.

Facebook is unlikely to replace your tried and proven Google SEO and AdWords strategies – but when it’s generating the level of interest it is currently – you’d be crazy not to add it into your marketing mix.

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About the Author: Rene is the marketing manager of ineedhits.com - a global search engine marketing company. He also leads the marketing for Gooruze.com - a web 2.0 style community for online and digital marketers. Rene has been in the industry since 1997 with much of that time spent helping businesses embrace the best of the internet and digital world.