Facebook recently made its new search engine – called Graph Search – available to all of its users.
If you want customers to find your business through Graph Search, you need to avoid these top mistakes.
- Building and Forgetting – Some companies build a Facebook page and just let it sit there collecting dust. This is a mistake that’s been happening long before Facebook created its new search engine. However, Graph Search makes it more critical than ever to be active on Facebook. Those businesses with consistent page activity will rank higher than those without it. If you want high rankings, you need to be active on your company page. Post content daily.
- Forgetting to Set Categories – The categories that you select for your page helps Facebook categorize your business within their search engine. If you don’t have the proper category for your page, it’s going to be harder for people to find you through Graph Search.
- Poor N.A.P. Information – For local businesses, it’s very important to include an address. It’s how people find nearby businesses through Facebook. With more people using Facebook on mobile devices to explore what’s around them, including your business address is essential to getting found. Make sure you list your business name, address and phone number on Facebook the exact same way it appears in other local directories for maximum impacts.
- Skipping Parts of Your Profile – Many times, we’ll see company Facebook pages that look like Swiss cheese. They do a good job including their address information, but then they don’t fill out the About section. Make it a point to fill out all parts of your company page. It helps with Graph Search rankings.
- Not Using Keywords – Some companies fill out all of the information, but they forget to include the keywords people will use when searching for goods and services that they sell. Make sure to include the keywords searchers use to find your business in the “About” section of your company’s Facebook page. Also use them in status update posts, especially with hashtags.
- Ignoring Hashtags – Hashtags are a word or phrase that is prefixed with the # symbol. People use them on Facebook to group social media postings on similar topics so people can easy search and find them through Graph Search. Use them in status updates to get found. For a good overview on hashtags, read “Why Facebook Hashtags Are Important for Local Businesses.”
- Forgetting to Claim Page for Mobile Check-ins – Facebook gives users the ability to use their smartphones to “check-in” to businesses. This allows people to share their current location with their Facebook friends. It’s believed that check-ins help to improve Graph Search rankings. To make sure people can check-in to your business, follow Facebook’s “Claiming a Page for Your Business.”
- Focusing Only on Graph Search Optimization – It’s important to realize that what you put on Facebook not only impacts Graph Search rankings, but also search engine rankings. Develop a strategy that looks to optimize Graph Search as well as search engines like Google and Bing.
For even more tips on Graph Search optimization, we recommend taking a look at:
If you have questions about Graph Search optimization, we’re here to help. We’ve already successfully assisted businesses with Graph Search optimization. To find out how we can help you, call us at 877-837-8803.
