The last two weeks have been an incredibly stressful time for every web-focused company. Between Facebook's recent woes concerning its IPO and General Motors pulling out of its in-network marketing, there's been more than a little bit of uncertainty in the SEO and online marketing communities as of late. Many of our readers no doubt have their own growing concerns over the state of all-things social media and search engine-related. While current events may have everyone second guessing the viability of their social network strategies, in truth there is no reason to panic.

What about Facebook?
Anyone who watches major news network programming or reads the latest headlines will be familiar with the immense amount of criticism falling on Facebook at the moment. Over the course of the last seven days, Facebook's underwhelming stock performance has led to a lot of serious questions regarding the effectiveness of the company's in-network ads as well as whether its mobile efforts will pay off in the end. It's gotten to the point where even notable SEO experts are making similar inquiries.

Although Facebook's future is uncertain, that doesn't mean that businesses should shy away from the social media site here and now. Many of the arguments taking place between pundits over Facebook are based on speculation, and the possible outcomes of these predictions won't come to pass for months or years to come. While it's easy to fall prey to the sort of fear-mongering that is common to network television, small business owners need to remember that FB will continue to be a valuable asset to their online marketing efforts.

How is that Done?
If anything, companies operating on Facebook should be focusing less on their in-network PPC campaigning and more on building up a solid social media following. The world's most popular social network recently hit the 900 million user mark, and this milestone shouldn't go ignored. In particular, business owners will want to remain dedicated in their efforts to expand the size of their follower base while simultaneously engaging those users that subscribe to their news feeds. This can be done in a number of ways:

• Search for groups or organizations that may share interests that match what your company specializes in. Do what you can to interact with their members and gain their attention.
• Post original and interesting content that is worth reading. This can be done by posting links to blogs and other company properties that may host these materials.
• Comment on breaking industry news that has everyone talking. Users will often take the time to add their thoughts to these posts if they are asked for their opinion.

Despite Facebook's current predicament, the fact is that the social network still has every bit of impact it had before the company went public. The only difference is the amount of discussion taking place at the moment. Should readers have any additional questions or comments regarding their Facebook operations, they can contact me directly at jwersits@webimax.com.