6 Steps to Facebook Graph Search SEO Optimization

If you have not heard about the graph search introduction in Facebook, then you need to read into how it affects the future of search within social media (most likely to spread into other networks soon enough). Simultaneously, many companies or experts offering professional SEO services will tell you the importance of social media in getting traffic to your website. So how do you stay on top of all the changes?

Hopefully these 6 simple steps will help guide you in the right direction in staying relevant within the graphical search:

1) Localize

Is your businesses or service listed locally within each area that you provide the service for? Many searches (particularly in social media) are based on a local aspect. If you have multiple locations for your franchise or service ensure that you have a Facebook page for each geographical area. This allows for people to easily find what they are looking for both online and offline. As you can see from the search for "Coffee shops in Waterloo, ON" below: the results number of shops within the city, a map outline, exact address.

The localizaiton aspect also allows people to easily "check in" via mobile devices easily.

2) Encourage Interaction

This not only helps stay connected with your Facebook community, but displays how many people have liked the page, what rating it was given. It helps build brand ambassadors through providing high quality services and interaction (both offline and online). This is significant in gaining credibility since recommendations from friends, acquaintances, families and colleagues are likely to make your business stand out from the competition.

Consequently - people are engaged with the page, and voluntarily encourage checking in, sharing of and commenting regularly. Activity within your online community creates continuous content, communication and in turn results in more visits. Win-win situation!

3) Be Detail Oriented

As you can see, from the Death Valley's Little Brother company outline there is much more to know about a business than the city it is located in:

They are open from 8am-10pm, I can see their number right there and apparently they have "kick-ass" baked goods (I'll just have to go and see how kick-ass they are!). It gives the reader an idea of what they can expect to see there, what the place specializes in but it presents it in a social way, not a traditional menu style. After all, why be on social media if you are not willing to have a little fun with your brand?

4) Create Epic Content, Consistently

This one is pretty obvious considering the term of the "Graph" Search (everything is better in graphics anyways) - make sure you provide relevant content with optimized keywords, it will get picked up. It will help all the creativity and effort pay off - plus it will become easily searchable on social media, where in turn it can be shared with others, commented on, and who knows - it might just end up going viral! Here is a view of a "lebron james memes" search:

The results include: (1) actual content (memes), (2) relevant Facebook pages and (3) external websites optimized for those keywords. Ensuring your content and optimization are on point will help it appear on the results pages of graphical searches.

5) Make Connecting via Facebook Easy

Likes from connections on Facebook = higher ranking, comments from connections on Facebook = higher rankings, sharing with others = interactivity. Simple as that - the easier you make it for your community to share content, the easier it will be for your results.

Google SEO ranking improvements are moving towards the generation of original content as are Facebook graph search results, if your brand is not in the publishing game - it needs to be. Digital branding is content oriented, and content drives interaction. Providing the tools to effortlessly share the unique content will further aid in ranking.

6) Keep Track of Changes

Graphic search is still in the early stages, it is bound to get tweak and changed in the future. Staying relevant on any updates can help you stay ahead of the learning curve and anticipate any changes that may need to be made in order to maintain top rankings.

With these latest developments, it is important now more than ever for your brand to have a social media presence that will drive SEO performance, community engagement and visibility. These are some of the tips that will help, but are no means the only things to keep in mind. Do you have any suggestions for graphic search optimization?