Keep your 'fans' engaged with these useful updates for your company's Facebook page.

If you own a company and have established a Facebook fan page, that's the good news. You have the potential of garnering the attention of millions of people. The bad news is that having a Facebook page is like hosting a cocktail party and you've invited a lot of guests. As the host, you've got to be attentive, interesting and charming. That may sound easy enough, but during the wee-hours of the morning, having spoken to guest number 203,000 you may begin to fizzle.

The primary goal of Facebook is to remain engaged. Guest after guest, day after day.

One of the biggest challenges of having a Facebook page is maintaining a consistently engaging voice. Initially, as I just mentioned, updating the company page may seem simple enough, but eventually, unless you know what to write about, you may loose steam.

By reevaluating why you decided to have a Facebook page you can begin to establish a working strategy that will make posting updates a bit easier.

Facebook pages, like Facebook, is a more intimate marketing tool. It has the potential to deliver instant gratification in real time. It also provides you with the opportunity to foster long-term relationships piggy-backing on the credentials of others. In other words, if Brenda 'likes' your company page and tells me about it, I may 'like' the page simply because I trust Brenda's opinion. "Word of Mouth" marketing is subtle and powerful.

If you've recently set up your company blog, the next few points will seem familiar.

If social media tools are like professors, your company website is more like the strict lecturer you had in high school. Providing information for which you simply took notes. The company blog, is more like the tutor your mom hired to give you extra pointers on your math homework. She helped you decipher pi squared and also told you about the party on Saturday night. The company Facebook page is the team caption who gives you pointers on improving your game and then pushes you out onto the playing field.

Like the company blog, you need to know who you are talking to and then talk with them accordingly. You don't want to speak at them like the staunchly professor, nor you want to appear overtly friendly and insincere. You want to strike an authentic balance.

Current events/company and product information - Let your fans know what your company is working on. People like to see what's going on behind the scenes. Allow your fans a little sneak peek behind the curtain.

Link to articles about your company or causes - Never assume that your fans have seen all the articles written about your company floating around the web. Reposting is completely acceptable. Make it even more interesting by providing additional information that may have been cut from the final printed article.

Encourage wall posts - This is the platform that allows customers to express how they feel about your product or service. All feedback is useful feedback. Make sure you enable that capability on your privacy settings.

Upload photos - Many companies post pictures of their products on their Facebook page. Don't forget that you are trying to encourage conversation and involvement. Allow your fans to tag photos of themselves using your products.

Ask a question - Asking a question not only generates conversation, but helps you to better understand your customers. Pay attention to how they answer.

Host a live Q&A on your wall - have an expert talk about your product and provide helpful tips. If you own a paint store, consider hiring a professional decorator to help your fans with design questions.

Link to other sites your fans will be interested in - share an insightful post that your fans will find valuable. Not everything you post need be directly related to your company or products.

Link to Twitter - Welcome your Facebook fans to join your conversations on Twitter.

Direct purchase - Constructing your page so that people can buy your product directly from Facebook has proven to be very beneficial for companies. Adding a product tab to your page allows fans to view all of your products and easily purchase them without having to leave Facebook and visit your website.

Share a video - Here, again, your imagination is the only thing slowing you down. If you own a restaurant, offer a video of the chef provide helpful tips.

Partner with another company - Whether you partner with another company in your neighborhood or a complimentary company, helping foster each other will ultimately help you and increase your fan base.

Custom page apps - Facebook allows you to integrate apps into your Page to create quizzes, games or other interactive features. Building custom tabs is what sets your Page apart from your competitors and attracts more customer engagement.

Create a calendar - offering a calendar of events or specials will give your fans something to look forward to.

Don't forget the holidays - You may offer a special on a particular holiday, but simply wishing your fans a joyous holiday is a nice gesture.

Think current events - Critical news stories impact everyone. Let your fans know that you are staying abreast of important cultural events.

Polls - Polls are capable of encouraging many people to participate with a simply click. Ask your fans what their favorite holiday is. If the majority of your Facebook fans say that Halloween is their favorite remember that detail and be sure to offer a Halloween special.

Just like your company website and blog, your company Facebook page should be designed to be welcoming and reflect your company's primary objectives. When you are strategizing your Facebook page take advantage of the many features Facebook provides to enhance your page and make it stand out from the others.

Getting your company's Facebook page ranked in Google should be on your 'to-do' list. Google attracts up to 52 percent of the world's internet traffic. You want to capture the attention of as many people as possible so that you Facebook page messages are received. To achieve this you only need to do three simple stepd:

1- Sign in to your company Facebook page. Click "Edit Page" at the top right of the page.

2- Click the "Age Restriction" box and select "Anyone." Look at the "Only Admins can see this page" checkbox. If the box is checked, click it to uncheck it. Click the blue "Save Changes" button.

3- Update your page regularly. The Google algorithm rewards pages that are updated frequently. Updating your company page will increase in the Google rankings.

NOTE: It's important to manually update your Facebook page, rather than relying the RSS feed or FriendFeed or Twitter. You've worked hard to have people 'like' your site. When you do not manually update your page those who have 'liked' your page may not be getting your updates.

The last update I'd like to mention may seem obvious and, yet, people rarely do it. ASK. Ask your fans to 'like' you. Ask your fans to tell their friends about your Facebook page. Ask them to tell their friends and family about your company.

Status updates are a very important element of your company's Facebook page. Promoting two-way communication between you, the company, and your fans gives people a reason to return to your page and stay invested in your company.

Accumulating 'likes' won't necessarily benefit your Facebook strategy or increase your bottom line. Cultivating Facebook fans is more akin to growing a relationship. Continually offering your fans only product-related announcements will bore them. Keep the relationship interesting and ever-changing and you will create lasting followers.