The power and popularity of Facebook continues to grow at exponential rates; and so does the SEO potential of Facebook fanpages.
Many (if not most) businesses understand the importance of having a Facebook business fan page where connecting with customers and clients, interacting with them, relationship building, and brand building can take place on a common and popular platform.
What many people don’t realize, however, is that Facebook’s influence has become very powerful in the eyes of Google and other search engines. When a Fanpage is set up properly, it is possible for the fanpage itself to end up on the first page of Google. Yes, you heard that right – Page One. Much of this will depend on the competitive nature of your business or niche, but it is becoming increasingly possible.
I will never recommend that my clients focus their energy or traffic toward a web-based platform that they have no control over. Facebook is “it” right now, and it may be for a long time, but if they go away tomorrow and your business is built on their platform your business presence (online) will be gone, too.
It is always my recommendation that clients use a personal website (or leased site) to drive your traffic to. With that said, you can structure the relationship between your website and other web properties (Facebook, twitter, Foursquare, etc.) to be strong independently and in relationship to your primary online presence – your website. The SEO (search engine optimized) strength of your primary website can be benefit greatly if this is set up correctly. An important component of this is maximizing Facebook SEO.
What can you do to take advantage of Facebook SEO?
Start with the following steps:
- Make sure the “info” section of your Fanpage is filled out! The “About”, “Description”, “Mission” and other fields should contain well written keywords and phrases that your target clients and customers use when they search for you in search engines; and within the Facebook search engine. Don’t “spam” the content, but make sure the words are there with a conversational flow.
- Upload your logo or a photo that’s engaging and represents your business.
- Engage with people on your fan page! Ask questions, be interested, and “like” their comments.
- Manage the content on your fanpage. There are spammers who sometimes try to use your “fan base” to get the message out about themselves or their product. It’s great to share within a community, but your “fans” are on your page to learn more about your business, topic, niche, products, etc. If you choose to share a link to something you think they’ll benefit from – great! Just make sure it comes from you and you manage the information flow.
- Use a free social media manager like Hootsuite to manage some of this for you. You can schedule “tweets” and Facebook content in advance that will help generate conversation and connections on your social media pages.
I realize that just running a business is a full-time+ venture, and adding more to your plate can be difficult if not nearly impossible. Even just these 5 steps, can make a difference in growing your business and customer base.
If finding the time to do this seems impossible, or if you prefer to focus your time on what you do best, give us a call to set up a free consultation to discuss your business goals and our services.
Either way – this one is important to pay attention to!
~Kate
