Did you know Facebook is the largest social media platform? With more than 2 billion active users, the social media giant offers an excellent way to get your business in front of a lot of people.
The question for most business owners is how to make sure they have the reach they need. There may be 2 billion users on Facebook, but without optimizing your page, you may as well be invisible to them.
That’s where this guide comes in. With these 15 Facebook SEO tips, you’ll be able to optimize your page and connect with your audience in no time at all.
1. Facebook SEO Is All in the Name
You might not think SEO is all that important to Facebook, but Google does rank Facebook business pages. Don’t forget that Facebook itself also has a search function. If someone is looking for your business, you want them to be able to find you.
The first step to better search engine optimization is always about the name. This is important for your Facebook business page, as there may be competing pages as well.
Give some consideration to your name. You want to craft an accurate name, but one that stands out from the crowd.
You can consider adding some relevant keywords, such as local information, to your page name. Be careful about adding too many keywords. This can look spammy.
Next, think about consistency across your NAP. You want your name, address, and place information to be the same across all platforms. Your Facebook name should reflect this then.
Finally, don’t forget to claim your vanity URL. Instead of allowing Facebook to assign you a generic URL, make it reflect your business. Adding your name is key here.
2. Add a Better Call-to-Action
Next up, think about what you want people to do when they visit your Facebook page. Do you want to direct them to your website?
If you’re using the Facebook page as your primary hub on the Internet, you may not have a separate site to direct them to. That’s okay. Think about what they should do instead.
A restaurant may ask patrons to book a table with them. A service business may advertise free quotes or ask someone to give them a call.
Including a call-to-action is important for SEO. More than that, it’s important for your visitors. It tells them the next steps they should take to buy from you.
3. Claim Unofficial Business Pages
You may find someone has already taken the liberty of starting a page for you! Facebook may have preemptively made the page for you so people could check in or leave reviews.
Unfortunately, you and your team can’t access this page until you claim it. This can cause a few headaches. You may not be able to respond to negative feedback or answer customer questions.
It can also hurt your Facebook SEO. It can definitely create confusion for your would-be customers. They may not know where to post their 5-star review or which page has the most up-to-date information.
To claim a page, you’ll need to submit some information to Facebook. They’ll then verify you. Once you’ve been verified, you’ll want to merge the two pages.
4. Optimize Your About Section
Next up on the list is your About section. This part of your Facebook business page contains crucial information about your business.
You’ll want to include key information, such as contact details. This is the “essential business information.” You’ll also want to add some relevant keywords to the “about” blurb itself.
Remember to keep your NAP consistent across platforms. Your About section should always be up to date.
5. Facebook SEO Uses Keywords
Facebook is a search engine in and of itself. Other search engines also rank Facebook business pages, especially when people are searching by name for a business.
You’ll still want to rank for relevant keywords though. Do some keyword research. Don’t assume that the most popular keywords on Google will be the same ones you need to rank on Facebook.
That’s partially because Google and Facebook use different algorithms. It’s also a result of people searching in different ways on the platforms. People tend to search for specific products, services, or businesses on Facebook.
By contrast, they’ll ask Google questions. Local search keywords, like “pizza near me,” may be relevant on both platforms.
Once you’ve discovered the keywords people will use to find your business on Facebook, be sure to use them on your page and in your content.
6. Add Some Custom Tabs
Your Facebook page is yours, which means you can customize it. One area you might want to look at is the tabs section of your page.
These tabs can be customized to better reflect your business and what’s on the page. You can list events, products, and even job listings.
To edit tabs, head over to “Templates and Tabs.” You can select an different template for your business page.
You’ll get better results with customization, though. That’s because the tabs give you an opportunity to use more relevant keywords on your page. They also make it easier for both you and your fans to navigate the page.
7. Leverage Backlinks
You know how important backlinks are for your website. So why haven’t you been using them to improve your Facebook SEO?
A good backlinking strategy should extend to your social media profiles as well. There are a few easy ways to start building some great backlinks:
- Add quality backlinks from relevant blog content on your own site
- Make sure other businesses you collaborate with are linking to you
- Add a link to any profile or “about” sections on sites you regularly contribute to
You can also take a look at your competitors to get some ideas about where you can turn to get credible backlinks. Remember that you want high-quality sites to link back to you in a relevant way.
8. Capitalize on Social Proof
Backlinks are important because they help to establish your page’s authority. In that sense, they’re one form of social proof.
Search engines love social proof, because it tells them that other people think highly of your site. In turn, the search engine can feel confident recommending your site to its users. Since other people trust your business page, it’s likely the search user will too!
Backlinks aren’t the only type of social proof, though. Comments, shares, and likes can also be seen as a type of social proof.
Even more important are reviews. Facebook allows people to post reviews for businesses. You can encourage your customers to give you a review.
When someone does review, you can also engage with them. If the review was negative, see this as an opportunity to “make it right” and change the customer’s mind. If it was positive, your response helps you build a deeper connection with the customer.
Interacting this way also improves SEO and your future customers’ opinion of you.
9. Craft Great Content
Your Facebook business page can also act as a bit of a blog. It’s a space for you to add content, which helps your SEO in a few different ways.
First, great content is informative and entertaining. It keeps your audience engaged and makes them want to come back for more. Posting content on a regular basis will help keep you front and center in their minds.
Good content can also be shared, liked, and engaged with. This can help push social proof.
You can also optimize your content for SEO, which makes it easier for your customers to find you. Finally, content can have a call-to-action that encourages people to take the next step.
10. Engage with Your Audience
Once you’ve posted great content or started to get a few likes, you should focus on engaging with your audience.
Engagement is important for a few reasons. One, it gives you an opportunity to build relationships with your customers and fans.
Next, it can also help your SEO. It adds to social proof, as well as pushing your brand into others’ feeds.
You may also find that audience engagement boosts your SEO by giving you a chance to provide more relevant information and answers. It can also keep your page full of new activity, as well as showing that you’re responsive.
11. Create a Pinned Post
This is a simple step to push your SEO forward on Facebook. It’s as simple as pinning a post to the top of your page.
Pinned posts are usually key information that people look up or ask about on a regular basis. It could be your hours or pricing. If this information changes, update the post or create a new one and pin that.
To pin a post, pick the post you want to pin. Then select the three-dot icon in the upper right-hand corner of the post. You’ll get a drop-down menu that includes the option to pin the post.
Some brands use pinned posts to advertise contents, upcoming events, or crucial information. Just make sure to keep it up to date and switch it up occasionally.
12. Optimize Visual Content
This tip is key whether you’re working on Facebook or Instagram SEO or even on your own website. You want to make sure you’re taking full advantage of visual content.
First, make sure your visuals are in line with your brand. Be sure to use your colors, your logos, and even your brand typefaces. You’ll want to use custom visuals for almost every part of your Facebook page.
Add a video or a slideshow for your cover image to make it more dynamic. Finally, add a description to each photo, and don’t forget the ALT text.
13. Curate Your Feed
You’ve added some of your own great content to your Facebook page, but what about other content?
Sharing quality content is a great strategy to keep your Facebook page active. It may create more engagement from your users, or it may inspire others to share your content.
You’ll want to select and share great content. Make sure it’s relevant to your audience, and be sure to think about keywords.
If you’ve partnered with an influencer or another brand, then you may want to share some of their content to your feed. This can help you audience discover your partners, as well as bringing the other page’s audience to yours.
14. Don’t Forget about Notes
The Notes section of the Facebook page tends to be one of the most forgotten about features. You shouldn’t neglect it, though.
Notes allows you to natively share long-format posts, which are like blog posts. You can optimize the writing in these posts to include keywords and boost your page’s SEO.
Notes should be used to share important information, such as community guidelines. You can also use the feature to share blogs from your own website. A FAQ page or similar content might be the best candidate for this treatment.
15. Use Page Insights and Set Goals
Finally, no SEO strategy is complete without a way to measure and track success. That’s why you should be making use of Facebook’s Page Insights feature.
This feature delivers all kinds of data about your page and its content. Here, you’ll be able to learn about your audience, trends, and even what content performed best for you.
Use this information to measure progress toward your Facebook page goals. You’ll want to set some goals, as well as to revise them when they’re achieved.
Goal-setting and measurement will help you devise your Facebook SEO strategy and improve it.
Better SEO Is a Click Away
Facebook SEO is an important part of your digital marketing strategy. These 15 tips will help you optimize your page in no time at all.
Wondering how to get to the top of the SERPs? It’s time to get in touch with a search engine optimization specialist. The right team can help you devise a better strategy and climb all the way to the top.
