Your Business’s Facebook Page

SEO and SMO – or search engine optimisation and social media optimisation – are not two separate entities. Many businesses understand the need for both, but are not integrating them into a comprehensive campaign. Social media is a growing force in today’s business world, but interestingly, most companies’ Facebook profiles don’t rank within the first 20 results for those companies’ names. This is true of small, local businesses, as well as an incredible 70 percent of major brands. Is your business one of the majority who is missing this opportunity?

Social media does not, as yet, draw much direct revenue. What it does, and does even more effectively than your main website, is engage potential customers. This makes social media optimisation a must. Fortunately, many techniques are easy to employ. Focus on these:

• Use your main website to link to your Facebook profile. You can also link back to your website via your status updates with nofollow links. These types of links won’t influence SEO directly, but it can be very effective in driving traffic.

• If your Facebook page has at least 25 “likes,” you can get a custom URL: Facebook.com/companyname for easier marketing. You can’t change your URL, and you can’t use dashes or other special characters.

• Use your original brand name so customers can find you through search engines but also via Facebook.

• Remember your keywords. You can do this when you fill out your business’s profile on Facebook. Use the About, Description, and General Information fields to include keywords – but don’t stuff. Make sure you include relevant, real information.

Facebook is a tool that is out there for the taking. Use it.