Apr 02 2009

FaceBook and SEO – Create Your Public Page

Published by David at 10:36 am under Social Marketing

I have received a number of emails from clients asking the most effective way to leverage Facebook for Search. The answer …. Facebook has almost zero impact on the organic search engine optimization process, or websites search rankings.

Almost all of the content in FB is located behind a password protected log-in, preventing the search engines from ever finding and indexing it. The one exception is the public page you are allowed to develop.

The primary reason for creating a public profile is Branding. If someone searches for your brand or product name, you want the search results to be rich with positive content. The only way to accomplish this for most businesses is to create the information yourself. An easier way is to have your Social Media Marketing team do the work for you. Call us, and we can fill those shoes for you!

Here are the steps to creating a public page on Facebook if you are the DIY type:

Log-In to your FB account, and from the Home Page locate the Advertising link; Hint, look in the footer of the page. From the Advertising page click on “Pages” located on the top of the page. Now click the big green button that says “Create Page” and follow the instructions from there.

FaceBook and SEO – Create Your Public Page

Short-Cut Method – go directly to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and log-in to your account.

Items to Consider when you Create a Public Page on FaceBoook:

Content – Original (not copy and paste) text that sums up your business or mission.

Visual – Upload your logo, photos, and video via the FB interface.

Links – Make sure to add a link back to your sites – this is the one item that will help your SEO in a minor way.

Applications – There are dozens of FB applications that you can insert into your Page to make it more interesting and generate community traffic. Click on the “pencil” icon located just to the right of the Application menu. You can integrate your photos from Flickr, videos from YouTube, and Tweets from Twitter.

WAIT, You Must Publish – Your page may be done, but its not public yet. You must publish it. To publish your Facebook page click on the Advertising link again, now click on Pages, and select Manage your Existing Pages, (under the green Create Page button.) Now select the page you want to publish, and click “Edit Page.” Now in the Settings drop down menu change the Published Status to “Public.” Note, this is not the same “Settings” you will find at the top of your home page which makes changing your settings a difficult and frustrating adventure - Enjoy!

If there is an easier way to do this, let me know. I find the FB navigation to be clumsy, and very non-intuitive. Maybe its because I am over 40?

7 Responses to “FaceBook and SEO – Create Your Public Page”

  1. Dennison 10 Apr 2009 at 4:25 pm

    No I’m setting it up right now for my company and there’s like a 3 hour learning curve just to figure out what everything even is. Very frustrating.

  2. Davidon 10 Apr 2009 at 4:36 pm

    Dennis - I feel your pain! Make sure the title you pick is exactly how you want it to appear, you can not change it later. This is a message I just got from FB,

    “It’s not currently possible to edit the name of a Page. If you would like to change your Page name, you will need to delete your Page and recreate it. The Facebook team isn’t able to change Page names for you.

    Is it still April 1??? Cuz I am feeling like a fool!

  3. Chrison 05 May 2009 at 4:20 am

    Anyone having trouble finding their allegedly “public” Facebook pages after publication? When I log in to my personal Facebook page, I can’t find Awdeeo’s anywhere, through any search. I’ve had friends and family do the same thing, to no avail. Facebook is, as you might imagine, predictably silent to my pleas for help.

  4. Kevin Pammetton 28 Jul 2009 at 10:14 pm

    This is a great article — just the right level of detail, for someone who wanted to know about “FaceBook Pages”, who started out knowing almost nothing about them, and after a quick read of this page … now I DO HAVE ONE. Thanks so much !!!

  5. Gabor Bergeron 25 Aug 2009 at 1:28 am

    So I’m not the only 40+ have trouble with FB interface?
    I hope it will be some customization alternatives for FB Pages like Twitter or YouTube channels already have. A great logo in the corner is not enough today. Thanks for the post.

  6. Ericon 26 Feb 2010 at 5:15 pm

    I’m 31 and I think the interface sucks too.

  7. Fredon 10 Mar 2010 at 4:35 pm

    It’s like they use Twitter to create instructions. 140 characters later, you’re outta luck. Their interface is horrible - especially when you add the “Fear Factor” of “once you do this, you can’t change it”.

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