I noticed an interesting thing this morning on my way out of a local Starbucks. I walked past a restaurant under renovation that had a sign which read  “We are under construction at the moment, in the meantime visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/winecellar/845435456Z “

I must admit that isn’t the correct address because I couldn’t remember it. I did a search on Facebook and it doesn’t even come up. So what is the lesson here? Don’t provide a long URL people can’t remember. I understand why they did it because Facebook currently doesn’t offer the ability to customize group pages but I would suggest either  using a URL shortening service or go to facebook and search for “wine cellar Charlotte, NC” (although it still doesn’t come up).

What else could the business owner do  to get the word out? People have the misconception that social media is the answer but most of the time it’s not used correctly . In this restaurant’s case, I would say to get a domain up with a basic splash page explaining  expected time of grand opening and providing an email address for any questions. (It also starts gaining SEO traction at the domain level.) The owner could also place a link that sends people to their Facebook group. Easier than a long Facebook URL right?

Under construction pages aren’t a long term answer but they do offer a basic form of branding and viral buzz, not to mention an easy way for people to notice you. So use social media in small doses before the site build and stick with the basics of your online initiative.