When you think about search engine optimization, the first place your mind goes your website. But Facebook is also an important element in any search strategy, for three simple reasons:
1. Facebook is huge
There are over 1.2 billion Facebook users, more than half use Facebook every day (757 million daily active users on average in December 2013).
One common way people use Facebook is for social search engine.
Facebook users can do a variety of complex searches that combine their personal friend network with a topic, brand, cause, etc. For example, half of us use Facebook to search for restaurants.
2. Facebook is your second website
The next time you do a search on Google, notice how many Facebook pages appear on page 1.
Now search for your business (and your primary keywords) on Google. Does your Facebook page show up? Your competitors?
The takeaway is that, in addition to showing up in Facebook graph searches, Facebook Pages also show up in Google searches. And you to be at the top of these searches.
3. Facebook is where word-of-mouth happens online
Facebook is the best form of word-of-mouth marketing that there is online.
Your friends post about consumer decisions every day, like eating at a restaurant, seeing a movies, or reading a book.
According to one study, 86% of consumers use Facebook to make purchase decisions.
7 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Page for Search
At this point, you're probably wondering how you can get your page to rank higher on Google and Facebook. Here are a few starting points:
1. Create a Facebook Page Username
Facebook pages by default include the page ID in the URL structure. The Facebook username is much shorter. For example, my page is facebook.com/inboundzombie. Once you have a username, you can also use Facebook's short domain "FB.com". So instead of Facebook.com/inbound zombie, it's FB.com/inboundzombie.com.
To create a username for your Page, visit facebook.com/username. If you haven't created a username for your personal timeline, you will be prompted to do so. Once that's done, you can create a username for your Facebook page.
Make sure your username includes the name of your organization and-or a primary keyword. For example, if you have an animal shelter, make sure that's clear in the username.
2. Select the right categories
Facebook users have a variety of ways to filter searches by page type. Depending upon how the user is searching, they can search for "books", "political views" or "restaurants".
To select the category that best describes your business, go to your Page Info area (Edit Page > Update Page Info). Next select the appropriate categories (as shown below).
3. Select the right sub-categories
Facebook has subcategories that are more specific than the categories, which only helps Facebook return more accurate search results.
Your subcategories can be added / edited / updated in your Page Info area (as shown).
4. Complete your address
Graph search will allow users to search for local businesses their friends like, so make sure your physical address is complete. You can also edit your address in your Page Info area (Edit Page > Update Page Info).
5. Complete Your About Section
The info in your "About" section also helps people find your Page on Facebook and Google.
A chiropractor should use keywords like "chiropractor" and "spinal adjustment". Try and put keywords towards the beginning of each field.
6. Post Killer Content
Job one for any search engine is to display the best results at the top of a search. Results that have a high degree of trust, credibility and relevance will rank higher than results that don't.
To rank search results, Facebook looks at how much people have talked about that specific photo, video or text update.
7. Learn about your fans
The more you know about your fans, the more creative you can be with keywords. Facebook search, if used creatively, can be used to learn about your fans. From a marketers perspective, Facebook is a gold mine. It allows you to see what other popular pages and interests your fans have in common.
Have you tried these tips?