A lot of business owners like to think that Facebook isn’t really important to their business. Isn’t that just a place to play Farmville and Mafia Wars? Does any serious business really take place there? Is it really necessary to my business?

This piece of news may change the way you look at Facebook. Last week Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website on the internet. So, if you think you can ignore Facebook, does that mean you think you can ignore Google? Visitors to Google are still growing– up 9%. But visitors to Facebook were up… wait for it… 185%!

So, what does that mean for your business? There are a few things you should absolutely be doing.

Make sure your business has a fan page

Even if you have a personal page (which is better than nothing), you should really still have a fan page. It’s not that hard. Once you’ve set up the page, invite all your friends, colleagues and customers to become fans. Don’t have time or inclination to do that? Check out our services page for our social networking package.

Use Events

You can use Events to run specials, not just to run events. Having a March Madness sale? Create an event. It will automatically promote on your Facebook page. And when your fans RSVP, this information goes on their wall, going out to all of their friends, serving as an instantaneous promotion tool.

Post Regularly

It doesn’t have to be profound. Integrate Facebook with your company blog. Or your Twitter account. Send public thank yous to clients or employees. Give your clients hints for how to better utilize your services. Give them hints to make their lives easier. Post inspirational quotes sometimes. You don’t have to post every single day, but you should aim for at least once a week. Set aside 15 minutes a week (at least) to work on your social networking.

Obviously there’s a lot more you could do with Facebook. This is just the bare minimum. But it’s something every business can and should do to take advantage of the rising number of Facebook visitors.