5 Fantastic Facebook SEO Tips

Published on Saturday, 23 April 2011 09:25

Garin

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By: Garin Kilpatrick

Facebook has a Google PageRank of 10. Since Facebook gets even more traffic than Google in North America it is not surprising that Facebook Pages and Groups rank very easily in Google.

The high PageRank that Facebook has enables Facebook Pages and Groups to rank very favorably in Google and the other Search Engines.

If you optimize your Facebook Page or Group correctly you will be able to rank high for highly competitive keywords.

This post will give you the best tips for optimizing your Facebook Page or Group so that you can use it to get free search engine traffic, and then drive that traffic back to relevant pages on your website.

1. Research Keywords to Use For Your Page or Group Name

The name that you choose for a page cannot be changes in the future and is a huge factor in the keywords that you will rank for.

To help you decide what name to go will do some keyword research using the Google Keyword tool.  This tool will show you how many monthly searches different keywords get.

For my page I assigned the name without SEO in mind and called it simply FacebookFlow.

Had I been considering SEO when choosing my page name I would have chosen FacebookFlow – Tips and Tricks, since I am currently trying to rank for the keywords Facebook Tips and Tricks.

Selecting keywords that people will be searching for will help your page get found not only within Google, but also within Facebook.

To get keyword ideas from Google type a few keywords that you are thinking about using into the Google Keyword Tool to see what variations of your keywords are available, and how many times they are searched for in Google per month.

2. Select a Custom URL containing your Keywords

This tip applies to Facebook Pages only, since Facebook Groups cannot have a custom URL.

If you go to facebook.com/username you will be able to choose a username that is relevant to your page.

My page can be found at www.facebook.com/fbflow, and this URL will not help my page rank better for my keywords.  I chose this so that people can remember it easily, but if it contained my keywords instead it would have improved my Facebook page rank in Google.

If I wanted to optimize this URL so that my page would rank better for my keywords I would have set the url to www.facebook.com/fbtipsandtricks.

Facebook will not allow you to set a custom username until you have a certain amount of fans “like” your page.

Previously you needed 100 fans before this URL could be set, but I think this number has decreased since.  Here are some tips to help you get more people to like your Facebook page.

3. Update Your Page or Group Often

Google rewards sites that are updated often, and this is part of the reason why Facebook Pages and Groups rank so well.

Make sure that you are posting fresh content to your page on a regular basis.

Do not worry about making updates keyword rich, as they do not directly influence your ranking.

Fresh content will generate attention for your page, and you should also be seeking to send traffic from your Facebook page to your site.

If you can create an engaging page for your fans there is a good chance that some of your fans will link to your page, and every link that is created will help your page rank higher in Google.

4. Include Your Keywords in the Info Sections

Be sure to include the keywords you are trying to rank for in the info box section under your display pic, and in the info tab.

Don’t keyword stuff; mention these keywords in the most natural way possible and they will help contribute to strong organic rankings, and a high quality user experience.

Focus on the experience.  If you can create a buzz worthy page then it will gain in rankings as it generates buzz across the web.

Bes sure to promote your page elsewhere on the web, on other social media sites like Twitter.

5. Build Keyword Rich Links to Your Page or Group

Off page SEO is an important factor in helping your page to rank in Google.

Link to your Facebook Page everywhere you can using the keywords you are trying to get your page ranked for.

For example I often link to the FacebookFlow page with the anchor text Facebook Tips and Tricks so that my Page will rank higher when people are searching for those keywords.

Conclusion

Above are five of the best SEO tips for Facebook that will help you rank for your chosen keywords if you implement them correctly.  Remember that once you achieve your rank in Google, you will need to actively build links to your website to tell Google that your page is still relevant, and to help you stay ahead of your competition, who are trying to rank for the same keywords.

What did you think of this article?  Let us know in the comments below.