Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world and has become a powerful marketing tool for businesses.  Until now, the url for a user’s profile page has consisted of a long string of numbers – an address that’s difficult to share and not easily identifiable.  However, starting at midnight Eastern time tonight, Facebook users will be able to select their own usernames, which will be featured in their new “vanity” Facebook url.

For businesses on Facebook this means that you’ll now be easier to find via web searches, etc.  Time will tell for just how much of an impact this will have on increasing exposure for your business, but it appears to be a promosing move for more effective social media marketing.

Usernames are being assigned on a first come first serve basis, and a rush on signups is expected.  Therefore, if you’re planning on choosing a name that is popular, you will want to try to secure it as soon as possible.  Perfection Consulting has several clients whose Facebook profiles we manage, and we’ll be working late tonight to ensure that we’re able to get their new usernames secured.

Increasing your backlinks is an effective way to improve a web site’s search engine page ranking.  One popular method for achieving this is to submit relevant write-ups to article directories, which will often allow you to include a link to your site within the author bio.

It’s important that your articles are well-written and that the content is related to your business somehow.  You will also need to make sure that your submissions fall within each directory’s guidelines (ie: meets the specified word count, etc.).  Below is a list of 27 great places to submit your articles and start building up backlinks to your site. Read more »