As a brand, there is great value that comes with every like, comment and share of a post. With the changes to Facebook timeline, each of these interactions allow your social influence to grow by giving your brand the opportunity to engage and connect with new fans. Facebook's most recent update of Graph Search further increase the effectiveness brands can achieve through Facebook.
Avid users of Facebook are getting more and more familiar with Facebook Graph Search that is being rolled out. As with normal SEO, taking the time to ensure your page shows up within relevant results of Facebook Graph Search is more than worth the time. Optimizing your page actually isn't a difficult task to accomplish either. So how do you go about getting high Graph Search rankings to drive traffic to your page?
Well as you may have expected, high-quality content, increasing your likes (on both your page and your content), and increasing engagement (with items such as good videos or pictures that make people want to comment) will always help. As with SEO, the devil is in the details when it comes to Facebook Graph Search Optimization. So take a look at a few things that can be done to increase your rankings.
1. Check Your Business Address
Graph search results are often heavily based on location. If you don't enter your address on your page, you will not appear for location-based searches.
2. Get More Likes
Run contest and promotions that help encourage more people to Like and follow your company's Facebook page. Comparable to link building within SEO, businesses with lots of followers tend to get better Graph Search rankings.
3. Choose the Right Category
You may have already noticed that Facebook allows you to place your page within specific categories. People then find your company within the Graph Search based on the category that you have selected for you page. It is imperative that you choose the category that is the best match for your business.
4. Encourage check-ins
Check-ins allow your customers to share their current location on Facebook through their smartphones. With some creativity and ingenuity, companies with brick and mortar locations can really take advantage of this feature with their consumer base. Getting lots of people to check in to your business will also help improve Graph Search rankings.
5. Post & Tag your videos and photos
Facebook Graph Search makes it extremely easy for anyone to search for photos and videos. Posting photos and videos and tagging your business can improve Graph Search rankings.
6. Include keywords
Your "about" section on your Facebook page should be treated just like a meta description on your webpage. Look to include your keywords most relevant to your product or service in this section. You can also put keywords within status updates and take advantage of Facebook's new #hashtag system to boost Graph Search visibility as well.
7. Finish what you start
Fill out everything within your profile. At the very least you should look to complete all fields in the About section of your company's page. Not only does this help Graph Search rankings but it also makes it easier for people to know who your business is, what you provide, and how it can help them.
8. Customize your URL
www.facebook.com/MyCompanyName
Having a unique URL that has your company name within it helps rankings for both Google Search results, and Facebook Graph Search results. The part that say "MyCompanyName" is called your username within Facebook.
These eight steps are very practical yet make a big difference within Facebook Graph Search and are often overlooked. Graph Search Optimization on Facebook can be fun as you can apply your creativity to build your audience. Advertising within Facebook can provide a boost as well, but that goes a bit beyond the scope of this article. If you aren't familiar with Facebook you can always seek professional assistance.
