martinibuster - 3:04 pm on Jan 19, 2013 (gmt 0)

...but is there really a need to be ON Facebook?

That is a good question. The answer is that the heart of Internet Marketing is finding where your consumer is online and bringing them to your site to make purchases. Let's take a look at the kinds of people on Facebook.

1. Facebook contains members that are organized around topics, hobbies, business types, organizations- topical niches are ripe for picking.

2. Less ripe are ordinary members who are sharing photos and life reports with their friends and family. While the focus isn't on a niche, for some businesses these people may still represent a potential client, but in seed form. What germinates them for your business is their interest in a niche that intersects with yours. Those are represented (or can/may be represented depending on the niche) in the various likes, photos, comments, and businesses that they like. Facebook Social Search, properly implemented, should allow those niche loving members to find you.

There are various aspects determining rank that should be investigated. Facebook Social Search has ranking factors that so far I haven't seen anyone discussing.