Some (well, 300 million) love it, some loathe it, but there’s no denying that in any social media or digital engagement strategy Facebook has to be a cornerstone of it – however, what it shouldn’t be is the hub of your activity.

If you are still wondering why you should be using Facebook, look at this graph (via Mashable), then click on the Read More to get the tips for improving your Facebook page (and feel free to come along to the next Scottish Social Media Dinner where we’ll be taking more about using Facebook):

The figures for Facebook are staggering and as well as being a social contact point, it’s now one of the biggest referrers for links to news stories (yet ask yourself, how many newspapers have a Facebook fan page? How many would dare to?) but it’s something that many people are still afraid to get into and deliver a properly, professional looking page.

Here’s 10 tips for making sure your Facebook page is one of the better looking ones:

Work out if you want a Group or Page

This has been done to death, but in short: if you want something more personalised (but limiting) got for a Group (but they only allow 5000 followers). If you want a more professional looking option that gives you more flexibility and control, go for a Page. There’s more on both here.

Give your page a good name

For goodness sake, as soon as you can get a proper name for the page, dump whatever crazy numbering name Facebook gave you. But remember this, people will be looking for you most likely by brand name, so don’t go having a fancy name. If you drink is called Jinja, then call the site the Jinja page. Don’t go for fancy names like Jinjateers or anything that seems clever. Remember, people will be searching by your name more than anything.

Make sure you have more than one admin for the site

Seems fairly obvious but you would be surprised at how many forget it.

Make sure you have content

Again, pull together a plan of content, work out what is going up and when, plan well in advance by working with all your departments to make sure nothing is missed out.

Encourage content to come to you

Get your fans to post memories, pictures, videos – remember it’s about engagement and interaction, not one-way broadcast.

It’s not about the numbers

As with all things about digital engagement, remember that sometimes 100 people is better than 1ooo people following you. You want to connect with people who are fans of your brand, people likely to buy (remember sales and engagement are two of the main reasons for being online in the first place). Bear in mind, that very few Facebook sites have more than 1,000 fans.

Don’t expect it to bring in the unconverted

It will bring in people curious about your brand, but the clue is in the name – Facebook fans.

Don’t let it live alone

What do you do to let people know you have a Facebook page? Is it on your business cards? On your product? On your posters? No? Well, how do you expect people to find it and come to it?

Get FBML

More than anything Static FBML can make the difference between a decent looking page and a normal bland page. FBML allows you to create a customised landing page for Facebook, which you can then let link to elsewhere. For example, if you sign up for the Whyte & Mackay PDC Darts Page, here’s what you see…

Now isn’t that better than just being dumped into the chat thread?

Don’t make it your only online site

Facebook is great for many things, but it doesn’t allow for good lengthy articles with comments. Yes, there’s the discussions tab, but it’s still not the best area for boosting activity. Have a blog – on your main site or elsewhere – and ensure decent integration between the two. Similarly, make sure your Twitter feed, Foursquare account and any other activities are well covered.

These are all quite basic tips and pointers – what other good tips have people found for making Facebook pages a success? Edinburgh’s Jacq Kelly will be discussing this at the next Scottish Social Media Dinner at Moo on Wednesday March 31 (tickets still available), so feel free to highlight sites that you think are worth looking at, or little Facebook tips to make using it more pleasant for those who hate it and perhaps they’ll be spoken about on Wednesday night.