Rank Your Fan Page – 7 SEO Tips For Business Facebook Fan Pages

Did you know that you can get your Facebook wall or fan page to rank in the search engines? Many businesses will start fan pages but overlook getting them to rank.

Have you ever typed in a company name or general item in your search browser and found a Facebook page in the top 5 results of your search?

I have, and it was totally by mistake.

Houston’s Directory One encourages everyone to use and be proficient with social media outlets. Since I have only used Facebook to keep in contact with family and friends with high privacy settings, the best way to learn is where I wouldn’t do any harm. A couple weeks ago I added a fan page.

I was astounded when, within a couple of weeks, my fan page was ranking above my website. I wanted to know why, since for weeks my website had been in the top Google results.

Facebook Fan Page (Google Image)

Ranking your fan page can be just as important as achieving a good ranking with your website. Getting both your Facebook fan page and your website ranking together in the top search engine results can significantly increase your audience and your chances for conversion.

Why?

Because you’re giving people two ways to connect with you. Your audience has the option of your formal website or your more informal fan page. It’s all about consumer choice, and either way can lead to more customers.

I know you are all waiting for the “why” my fan page is frequently ranking above my website, and want the results (tips) from my unscientific research. After stalking other blogs, articles, and forums on the topic, I found that I had instinctively done everything (almost) right.

7 SEO tips for getting your Facebook fan page to rank

1. Create a great, eye-catching name for your fan page. Put your main keyword first. Choose a name that’s memorable, but not one that’s spammy. The reason not to choose a keyword-stuffed fan page name is because your friends will recognize your attempt at a hard-core sell. They won’t be tempted to share your updates and may even hide you in their newsfeeds. On the other hand, don’t be generic (common and boring) because you don’t want to turn-off potential new fans.
2. Facebook lets you create a unique URL for your fan page as soon as you get 25 Likes. Do it immediately. You can get 25 Likes rather quickly if you get family and friends to go to your page and Like you. (You can also get some great feedback on how to make your page better). When you choose your fan page’s URL, use the same care you did on your website domain name. Your fan page URL should reflect what your business is about.
3. Use keywords on your fan page, but don’t over optimize. Be just as careful about this as you are on your company’s website. Make sure that you have a title, description and H1 tag and include your Address, City, State, and zip because the search engines reward you for this, it seems. Fill in the company overview, mission, and product fields. Keep your description short, as only 140 characters will display.
4. Backlink your fan page to your website, blog and twitter profile. Inbound links help your page ranking.
5. Optimize your status updates. The first 18 characters of a Facebook post will be your meta description. Remember this when Facebook prompts you to “Write Something” (or “What’s on Your Mind”) and make sure to write a short something. Again, the first word seems to be the most important.
6. Don’t overlook the Notes. Use optimization for the title to your note. Notes are a good way to elaborate on special offerings, such as sales or events, and getting them indexed.
7. Update your status frequently. Frequent updates seem to increase your ranking. (I updated my page 3 times each day).

That’s really all there is to getting your Facebook fan page to rank. Try it and see if you get the same results.

(You can always call Houston’s Directory One at (713) 465-0051 if you need help).