Facebook SEO – Next Step in Search Evolution

This one’s especially for those of you who spend their precious time thinking how can Facebook help with SEO? Firstly, let me tell you that your time is well spent and it is definitely worth the effort.

First things first, Facebook is not a search engine. Not even with its new features such as ‘Like’ and ‘Places’. As such, there is no point discussing Google and Facebook cat fight. Ever since Facebook’s open graph algorithms and search query improvements have been announced, much has been hyped about it rivaling Google. However, Facebook should be considered a ‘site search’ tool. However, there is a strong SEO side to these new developments. And this is what internet marketers can take leverage of.

Facebook SEO – The Tech

FB actually does not crawls pages and ranks them on the basis of number of incoming links and relevance to search query. Meta data is in play here. So, besides optimizing, the search results are also based on how value is provided to the end user. This, my friends, is the search engine ‘holy grail’.

Let’s face it – The solution to this is proper branding and consistent marketing efforts. This is because if people find quality on your site, they will simply hit the ‘like’ button and there you are. This can only be achieved by integrating social media ethics into your marketing strategy.

Is it Time? Definitely

Facebook’s has introduced some new elements to the regular features that help span a community’s attention towards a certain topic/issue. For example, ‘Like’ is the first major element to dig into. Facebook users can use ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ to reflect their preferences. The site filters search results based on the ‘likes’ score. So, votes matter here rather than links as in Google. So, ‘likes’ is the currency in Facebook SEO land. This can help you divert entire communities’ attention towards your business in no time.

Next comes the ‘following’. Building your tribe is going to fetch you customers faster than any other application. Engaging real-time with your clients is the advantage here. Not only can you target your business related customers but also divert traffic from other niches.

Lately, Facebook Questions has also emerged as a great tool. Surprised? Yes it is a business tool. It allows users to ask questions simply by hitting the “Ask Question” button. This tool can be used to solve marketing queries for budding entrepreneurs. Questions can lead to involving conversations and, in turn, clients.

With 500 million users, Facebook has emerged as a hot spot for internet marketing. With functional tools like, og:it and Facebook plug-in, you can easily monitor your efforts and optimize them accordingly. Being an online entrepreneur, Facebook should be one of your top marketing priorities. Period.