Through brand recognition and loyalty to numerous opportunities to convert – it goes without saying Facebook opens doors to financial success. But creating a page is not enough; you need to ensure it performs. How can you maximize your chances? Check out these 10 Facebook SEO tips from marketing pros.
SEO for Facebook – why should you have a fan page in the first place?
SEO is usually associated with websites, not so much with social media. Yet it is crucial on such platforms especially if you want to monetize your business. And let’s be honest – who doesn’t?
Facebook brings a lot to the social media table and it’s been the biggest platform worldwide for years. As of the second quarter of 2020, there are over 2.7 billion active users, and 1.3 billion are using Messenger on a daily basis. Where else would you find an audience as big and diverse?
But apart from reaching billions of potential customers, there are other benefits Facebook has to offer such as:
- building email lists
- multiple targeting options
- variety of ads
- zero initial cost for creating a page
- driving traffic to your website
- building long-term relationships with your customers
- keeping up with trends
- word-of-mouth marketing
- engaging both desktop and mobile users
- very detailed insights
- offering deals to your customers
- spying on your competitors
From now on let’s establish that Facebook and SEO are inseparable elements of your business strategy and you simply cannot do without them.
Facebook SEO benefits in numbers
- 3.14 billion – number of monthly Facebook product users
- 290 million – number of users in India (leading country based on the Facebook audience)
- 256 million – number of monthly active users in the US and Canada
- 9 million – number of active advertisers (Q2 ‘20)
- 56% of Facebook users are men
- >13% of Facebook users are between the age of 25 and 34
- 79.2% of users access Facebook only via a mobile phone
- 53% of all social media content in the US is shared through Facebook
10 SEO Facebook tips
Wondering how to make Facebook page SEO friendly? We’ve gathered 10 tips from digital marketing experts that will help you maximize your social media efforts. Make sure you use all of them and enjoy exploiting Facebook’s full potential.
1. Choose the right name
It all comes down to understanding the background of Facebook fanpage SEO. Everyone knows keywords play a fundamental role in search engine optimization. They help websites rank higher providing they have been selected wisely.
Therefore, do a little research on what phrases your persona would look for and place one in your page name. Rule of thumb: it can’t be too generic; it can’t also be stuffed with keywords or else it will look too spammy. Believe us, neither clients nor the algorithms will appreciate that.
Keep in mind that the first word is the most important one. So if you want to use your name it’s better to place it somewhere further than at the beginning.
Let’s see a few good examples:
Travel with Kory Smith
Grupo Xtra – Social Media Marketing
Easy Paleo Recipes
Digital Nomads Around the World
Amsterdam Flower Market
You get the idea.
2. Take care of your “About” tab
While it may not bring a lot of traffic on your website, Facebook’s “About” section is a game-changer. It should be properly taken care of. Here people find everything about your business and more often than not – decide if they like it.
Unfortunately, the platform doesn’t allow you to dilate about how amazing your business is. You have 155 characters to do so; use them wisely.
Most Facebook business page SEO tips suggest throwing a couple of keywords to your “About” tab as well to boost rankings even more. Remember that this section will also be used as the meta description of your page and it will show in Google’s results page.
3. Keep your business info updated
It’s incredible how businesses still fail to provide the basic information on their Facebook page especially that nowadays most of them operate online. Your company’s contact info is essential.
If you want to take care of SEO, your Facebook page should include a few things:
- working hours
- phone number
- email address
- website
- category of your business
- local address
The last one will be extremely beneficial for your local SEO. But hey! Facebook allows you to add other, non-specified info so be encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. You can provide payment methods if you own an e-commerce business, your company’s values, mission and anything that will be relevant to your niche.
Visitors are much more convinced to stay on the page if all the business info is provided and regularly updated. Being responsive can also work wonders.
4. Claim your vanity URL
Branded URLs look more professional and will work towards better ranking and professional image. By claiming your vanity URL you are given an opportunity to personalize it to your liking. But keep the algorithms in mind too.
If you’re not sure how to improve Facebook SEO with an URL, here are a few tips:
- keep it simple
- make sure users understand what your business is about
- be unique
- don’t include special characters (only numbers, letters and periods are allowed)
- use your company’s name and/or add a few extra words such as location
Vanity URL will make it easier for users to find you and is a clear trust signal. Those little details really do make a difference. Not to mention that a cleverly written URL will boost your online visibility.
5. Don’t forget about keywords
We have briefly mentioned the importance of keywords in the first tip but if you’re taking SEO for Facebook page seriously, we need to dig a little deeper.
You should be using relevant keywords in as many places as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to stuff every corner of your page with a key phrase. Let’s focus on the posts you publish. If you add a few keywords related to your business to every post, they will most likely appear in relevant search results.
Of course, you need to know how you will target your users in the first place. Create a persona and adjust your content accordingly.
Pro tip: Check how your competition is doing it and… do it better!
6. Content is king
Good content sells itself, period. But what does it mean “good”, you may ask. Well, there isn’t a single recipe for an engaging post just like there isn’t a single recipe for a smoothie. However, you can find a few pillars or “golden rules” of good content that will perform regardless of your industry.
Basic SEO writing tips for Facebook focus on the first 18 characters. Why? Because they will be displayed as your meta description. Therefore, make sure the beginning of your post is concise, yet descriptive.
But how many characters should a Facebook post be for SEO purposes? If you want to maximize the engagement, don’t go for the upper limit which is 63,206 characters. Very few people are likely to read a post that’s this long. Experts recommend a range between 40 and 50 characters.
Last but not least – schedule your posts. Sharing content at the right time has proven to be the winning factor. Facebook offers automatic scheduling so you can plan your monthly posts in advance.
And remember to analyze the performance to find out what kind of content engages the most and at what time.
7. The power of backlinks
Backlinks are like virtual word-of-mouth. High-authority pages linking back to your Facebook posts is a clear indicator your content is valuable and relevant. And believe us when we say it: that’s what Google likes best!
But how do you get to the point other people are willing to share your posts? With Facebook it is hard to establish this kind of “relationship” but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
To give an idea on how to optimize Facebook for SEO with backlinks, think of it as a bumpy road. Even though it will neither be easy nor comfortable, you can still drive on it. You may need to get used to it at the beginning but sooner or later you will learn and it will be as easy as 1, 2, 3.
Focus on guest posting and try to bring some influencers onboard. Additionally, insert links to your Facebook posts on your blog.
8. SEO tips for Facebook video and featured images
Attractive visuals catch attention and Facebook seems to be the obvious platform for images. Good quality profile and cover photos will reinforce the branding.
Forget about stock pictures though. Today they’re considered highly unprofessional and, let’s be honest, it’s the easy way out. You wouldn’t want to get a birthday card with a poem already written in it, would you?
Custom pictures are much more valuable, plus Google really prioritizes them. However, don’t limit yourself to a static picture. Facebook allows you to add a video, and movement will definitely be spotted.
Don’t forget to learn how to label pictures for Facebook SEO. Alt text, which is frequently omitted, gives you manifold ranking opportunities. It provides the description of the image, and (!) improves the user experience for visually impaired people.
9. Engage followers
Are Facebook likes important for SEO? Although the unquestionable king is content, Facebook likes do have a say when it comes to ranking. They give credit to the links published on the platform.
But without followers, there would be no likes. In order to keep them “entertained” you need to make sure everything you post is targeted, relevant, informative, and engaging. Facebook users have become quite picky so be ready to get your hands dirty.
A good practice is to end each post with a question or to pose a question solely. Check how Netflix does it. The digital marketing team has learned how to engage their audience by adding catchy captions, questions, and replying to comments.
10. CTAs
Call-to-action will encourage your audience to interact with the brand. It may seem trivial but always invite them to follow, like, and share your content. You would be surprised at how well it works.
You can also improve your Facebook page SEO by adding a CTA button on the main page. It will appear under your cover photo. You have surely come across them:
- Contact Us
- Send Message
- Donate Now
- Get Quote
- Sign Up
- Shop Now
- Book Now… just to name a few.
These buttons are available per objective and need to be aligned to your business goals.
Takeaway
As you may have noticed, the correlation between Facebook and SEO is quite strong. Having a business page on this platform not only increases organic traffic but also engages more users which are likely to convert.
If you want to use its potential to the fullest be sure to incorporate all the above tactics.