SEO is a funny old game. Whilst we spend a great deal of energy and passion following the crowd, finding out what the crowd want and making sure we are always where the crowd want to be, there is another side to what we do.
In order for SEO to be truly effective we also need to be aware of who’s just around the corner; if there are any new kids on the block, and who’s playing with them!
Keeping a finger on the pulse of the internet is not easy either; everyone has an opinion. Take Facebook for example. This weekend, respected UK news giant, The Guardian ran an article about Facebook’s falling popularity in the EU and US. You’d be forgiven for expecting a Facebook apocalypse with a title like, “Facebook deserted by millions of users in biggest markets.”
The article suggests Facebook is under threat from new social networks like Instagram and Path. It presents a balanced and convincing argument; Facebook lost 6m US users in the last month. That’s a 4% drop in users, in four weeks! In the UK 1.4 million fewer users logged on to their pages. The article argues that in the US and UK markets, Facebook has reached its peak and now, the only way is down.
So it got us thinking, as SEO professionals, do we still need to pay attention to Facebook? We think the answer is, yes. And the reason is simple. There are still billions of people on Facebook, and a click from even a tiny percentage of them can make a huge difference to SEO for your business.
Check out the infographic addressed below. It illustrates how Facebook still influences brand recognition and brand behaviour amongst users. 50% of Facebook users say a brand’s Facebook page is more easily accessible and often more useful than the brand’s official website. 82 % think Facebook is a good place to engage with, or get to know their favourite brands. 35% of those questioned felt a closer connection and more ‘listened to’ by brands on Facebook.
All this talk of brands must have you feeling as though you have stumbled across a marketing blog. No, you’re still here with the cool SEO geeks. But isn’t solid branding and effective marketing the foundation of what SEO is all about? If the branding isn’t right, how can we hope to get our content and SEO strategies right?
While Facebook seems to have reached its peak on either side of the pond, overall figures for the social network giant see it continuing to hold its own. Facebook is here and is not going anywhere any time soon.
As long as Facebook is around, it will continue to have an effect on SEO. Whether it has a positive effect on your business rankings or someone else’s depends entirely on how you choose to play it. For our clients, Facebook still plays a vital role in the entire SEO package we offer.
To reinforce our point of view, and because we’re feeling kind, we thought we’d share some useful tips on how to get the best from your corporate Facebook page, in terms of SEO. Gone are the days when one simply makes a Facebook page and asks folks to ‘like’ you! There’s a little more to it now.
Choose the name of your Facebook page and URL wisely! Think Brand and keywords. Once you’ve got it you can’t easily change it so be careful what you pick. Do some research and check any similar names on Facebook too. Register your page name once you have more than 25 fans.
Next, pay careful attention to, and populate your ‘About’ section. Fill it with relevant, up to date, useful information about your brand. Think keywords again people. And keep it up to date! Make sure all the links work too – vital for SEO. The information page is also an opportunity for more clever keywords content creation and placing of strategic links. Use every opportunity available to you to maximise your own presence on your own Facebook page. It sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many businesses don’t use all the information sections and options Facebook makes available to them.
Now, content; use keywords in your updates, news items, notes and label all your photos so they are optimised too. Again, it sounds so obvious but you would be surprised how many people don’t do it. Take a look at your Facebook news feed and watch as picture after picture scrolls past, with not a single keyword to link it to the brand that posted it.
Add like boxes to content on your website or in email blasts and E-zine articles. Link your Twitter, Pinterest etc. to your Facebook page too. Encourage the traffic on your social media platforms to move in all directions, and your followers, to follow you on all your platforms.
Finally, and this is a no-brainer but probably the most important aspect; engage with your followers! We’re not just talking about have a wee chat. Encourage them to click on links; To click on video; To click on a photo; To add their details. Get them to really interact in ways which benefit your business. For every one who does, you’ll go up another notch on the SEO counter.
Info Graphics – http://lab42.com/infographics/like-us
