Facebook Pages are increasingly becoming a “second home page” for businesses online. And while more and more Page owners are learning how to become expert Facebook marketers, Facebook has recently created many new opportunities for Pages to get more traffic through the tried and true methods of – you guessed it – search engine optimization (SEO).

While Facebook’s “viral channels” – the News Feed, invitations, and messages – play a central role in the spread of content through Facebook, employing important SEO tactics within your Facebook Page can help your Page reach more and more Facebook fans. While viral distribution can help you reach people your fans are directly connected to, search engine optimization exposes your Facebook Page to Facebook’s entire userbase. In fact, Facebook itself has taken major steps to improve its own SEO during recent weeks and months, creating opportunities for Page owners to benefit directly while creating value for Facebook at the same time.

So, without further ado, here are 10 SEO strategies and tactics every Facebook Page owner should know:

1. Choose the best name for your Facebook Page – and don’t change it

Choosing the right name for your Facebook Page is vital. Despite the temptation to stuff your Page title with high value generic keywords – like “Mike’s Travel Agency: Las Vegas, Hawaii, Cancun – Hotels, Flights, & More” – this approach will actually harm your Page’s viral growth rate inside Facebook more than it will help through better SEO. For example, if your page’s title appears too spammy, fans will be less likely to share it with their friends on their profile and more likely to hide your updates from their News Feed.

Second, don’t give into the temptation to choose a fully generic page name like “Travel” or “Hawaii.” Because Facebook’s intention for Pages is that they authentically represent businesses, brands, or celebrities, Facebook has recently been disabling updates for generically named Pages – effectively neutering their ability to reach their Facebook fans.

The bottom line: use your business’s real name as the name of your page. And once you pick your Page’s name, don’t change it. Facebook uses your Page name in the title of the Page, and since Google dings pages when their titles change, modifying your Facebook Page’s name will cost you SEO points.

2. Select the best URL (Facebook username) for your Facebook Page

Facebook recently launched the ability to choose a vanity URL (Facebook calls it a “username”) for your Facebook Page, one of the most important SEO opportunities on Facebook to date. When you choose a Facebook username for your Page, your Page’s URL becomes www.facebook.com/YourUsernameHere. Usernames can be selected at www.facebook.com/username.

Facebook usernames present a better opportunity for businesses to consider incorporating generic keywords for SEO purposes than the Page name itself. While Facebook has created a black list of generic usernames that Pages (and users) are prevented from registering, there are still opportunities for businesses to obtain relatively generic usernames, or usernames that combine their actual name with additional generic keywords.

However, we do offer a word of caution when incorporating generic keywords in your Facebook Page URL: Facebook intends for Pages to authentically represent the identities of businesses, and brands and has revoked privileges from Pages with generic titles in the past, so it’s not unfathomable that Facebook might somehow punish Pages with generic usernames by similarly revoking status publishing rights (or at least the username itself) at some point in the future.

The safest option – and wisest long term bet in our view – is to choose a username that authentically represents your business or brand. For example, we chose www.facebook.com/InsideFacebook. Once you pick a Facebook username/URL for your Page, it cannot be changed – ever. So pick a username you’re going to be comfortable with and confident in for the long term.

One important note: in order to mitigate Facebook username squatting, Facebook requires that your Page have at least 100 fans before it becomes eligible to select a username. If your Page has less than 100 fans, you’ll need to recruit more fans before being able to take advantage of this important SEO strategy.

3. Use the “About” text box to place keyword-dense prose near the top of your Page

One important SEO strategy that should be employed on your Facebook Page whenever feasible is placing keyword-dense prose as close to the top of the Page as possible. Because Facebook limits where Page owners can place large chunks of text on the default Wall tab of Facebook Pages, the “About” box actually represents the highest place in the CSS structure of the page to add custom text.

In order to add text to your Page’s “About” box, click the “Write something about [YourPage]” in the box underneath your Page’s profile picture. You’ll then be able to enter custom text in the input box – there is a 250 character limit, so choose your words wisely.

4. Use the “Info” tab to include more important keywords, text, and high priority links on your Page

Facebook creates an “Info” tab for every Facebook Page that has fields containing important descriptive metadata about the Page. It’s important to fill out these fields, because they provide the opportunity to include keywords, prose, and links that will increase the content score of your Facebook Page for many types of Google searches. For example:

• Address, City, State, and Zip code are important fields for local searches
• Company Overview, Mission, and Products are important fields for product searches
• Websites is a valuable opportunity to add direct links to your own websites or other relevant sites in your space

The specific fields present will vary according to the category you choose for your Page when you create it (business, brand, or public figure), so choose the category that best fits your needs.

5. Create “Static FBML” boxes and tabs to place lengthy content and more static links on your Page

While opportunities to place large blocks of static text on the default tab of your Facebook Page are quite limited (see the “About” box section above), Facebook allows Page owners to create additional boxes or tabs that can hold any kind of static content, including text, images, and links. Adding content boxes or tabs to your Page can be a great way to boost the content density score of your Page (note, however, that each tab lives at a separate URL in Google’s eyes).

In order to add a custom content box or tab to your Page, follow these steps:

1. Go to the “Static FBML” application on Facebook.
2. Click “Add to my Page” on the top left side, and choose the page you’d like to add a custom content box or tab to.
3. Once you’ve chosen one, close the dialog box, go to your Page, and click “Edit page” under your Page’s profile picture.
4. In the applications list on the resulting page, you should see an application called “FBML 1″. Click the pencil icon on the right, and choose “Edit.”
5. You’ll be taken to a page with 2 fields: “Box Title” and “FBML.” Enter the name you’d like to give the box or tab in the “Box Title” field. Enter the HTML you’d like to use in the “FBML” field (FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language, and is a subset of HTML.), and then click the Save Changes button.
6. Once changes are saved, click the “Edit” link at the top of your Page to return to your Page’s application settings page. Click the pencil icon next to the name of the FBML application you just created, and choose “Application Settings.”
7. If you want to add the FBML you just entered as a box, choose “Add” next to the Box option. The custom FBML box will by default appear on the Boxes tab, so if you want to move it to the left side of your Wall tab, you’ll need to then go to the Boxes tab, click the pencil icon on your FBML box, and choose “Move to Wall tab.”
8. Or, if you want to add the FBML you just entered as a tab, choose “Add” next to the Tab option. The custom content should then automatically appear on its own tab on your Page. Note, however, that Facebook truncates tab titles after 10 characters, so you’ll need to choose a short title.

And voila! After that somewhat arduous process, your custom content should appear. Be sure to write good copy

6. Post direct links to your website (or other relevant sites) in your Page’s stream

Status updates offer a powerful way to place direct links near the top of your Page’s CSS structure. Because Google boosts pages that link to relevant sites – and dings pages that link to unrelated sites or add too many links too suddenly – posting links in status updates can be a powerful and authentic way to boost your Facebook Page’s link score.

There are two ways to post links into your Page’s stream:

1. Including the raw URL in the text of the status update itself
2. Using the “attach link” feature in the Facebook publisher

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each approach from an SEO perspective:

1. Raw URL

When you include the raw URL in the text of the status update itself, Facebook auto-links the text directly to the URL. While you can’t control the anchor text of the link (it is always just the URL itself), the link does go directly to the destination page – and not through a Facebook.com URL that adds the Facebook menu bar at the top when you click through to the destination page.

2. Attach Link

When you use the “attach link” feature of the Facebook publisher, Facebook pulls in the title, body, and images from your Page, and suggests a thumbnail image and text snippet which it places adjacent to your Page’s link. The automatic inclusion of this text further boosts the keyword density of the CSS region near the link, and the thumbnail also links to the destination URL – both nice perks of using the “attach link” feature.

Power tip: You can also change the anchor text while clicking the page’s title before clicking “Share” in the Facebook publisher.

However, importantly, the link itself does not go directly to the destination URL – rather, it goes through a Facebook.com share URL that includes the destination URL as an iframe on the resulting page, with the Facebook menu bar at the top which includes commenting and sharing features. While there is still some debate in the SEO community as to the impact of the specific implementation details of such toolbars, the lack of a direct link when using Facebook’s “attach link” feature does partially mitigate the SEO benefits of posting links on Facebook Pages.

7. Add photos with captions, events with descriptions, and a discussion forum

It almost goes without saying, but it’s important to always be sharing interesting content on your Facebook Page, and always using all available descriptive fields on each type of content shared. When posting photos, use verbose and keyword-dense descriptions. When posting events, take the extra minute to include text and keywords in the event description field that you want to rank for. Add a discussion forum to your Page.

Facebook makes all of the content shared on Facebook Pages indexable by search engines, so use the tools Facebook provides to your full advantage.

8. Get more inbound links to your Facebook Page from the web by posting links to your Page on all your websites

Just as a variety of inbound links from authoritative websites help boost PageRank for traditional websites, getting more inbound links to your Facebook Page will boost its PageRank as well. You can do this with text links, but Facebook has also created a “Find Us On Facebook” badge which it encourages Page owners to use. The new Fan Box widget for Facebook Pages also includes links back to your Facebook Page.

Facebook has created promotional guidelines for promoting your Facebook Page that are worth a read. Basically, Facebook doesn’t want Page owners to claim you have officially partnered with Facebook by virtue of having a Facebook Page. However, Facebook does want as many links as possible pointing to Facebook.com

9. Get more intra-Facebook inbound links by getting more Facebook fans

Because Facebook places links to Facebook Pages on the default version of Facebook users’ profile pages which are visible to search engines, the more fans you get, the more links you’ll have to your Page within Facebook. For Pages with thousands (or even millions) of fans, the number of links can really add up.

10. Strengthen intra-Facebook reciprocal linking by getting fans to comment and like content in your stream

When fans comment or like content in your Facebook Page’s stream, Facebook links their name back to their Facebook profile page. As a result, when the profile stubs of those fans who have posted comments and likes on your Page are indexed, Google will see more reciprocal links between your Page and your Page’s fans (in a way that grows organically over time), which it will see as a stronger bond. This creates a virtuous cycle of improved link weight from the indexed profile page stubs to your Page, and vice versa.

Conclusion & Next Steps

While building and expanding your Facebook Page presence requires creative planning and consistent execution, SEO can play a vital role in boosting your Page’s growth rate. While viral distribution limits you to the people your fans are connected to, search engine optimization exposes your Facebook Page to Facebook’s entire userbase – and as we’ve discussed above, there’s a lot that Page owners can do to maximize their exposure through Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and other popular search engines.

Source: Insidefacebook.com

When Facebook launched Timeline for brands in March, brands immediately recognized the potential of the new format. But the big, looming question was, “How do I get started?”

With that question in mind, here are six straightforward ways to optimize your brand’s Timeline to drive better marketing performance.

1. Update your cover photo to reflect your brand’s goals

Brands are bringing attention to new products and campaigns by harnessing the power of Timeline’s most noticeable feature: the cover photo. Use that amazing piece of digital real estate to showcase a unique image that’s relevant to both your brand and the latest initiatives you want to support.

A prime example of a page with well-executed cover photos is Hostess, updates its cover photo to reflect its latest product launches—such as its new Baseball Cupcakes. Mindful that brands are discouraged from including explicit calls to action in cover photos, Hostess instead grabs fan attention by employing big, bright images and calling out product names.

Those visual elements are echoed across the Hostess Timeline, from the profile picture to the apps to the photo posts, reinforcing brand engagement and generating more awareness.

2. Don’t forget about the profile pic

Following the initial launch of Timeline, Facebook recommended that brands use their standard logos as their profile pictures. Although your profile picture should convey who you are, making occasional changes can help boost awareness for new brand initiatives. After all, profile pictures show up in your fans’ news feeds and can draw them to your page. And Facebook recently gave a nod to their significance by expanding the profile pic’s width and height to 180 pixels.

We like the Ann Taylor approach: employing a photo of the company’s latest spokesmodel, Kate Hudson, as a creative representation of the brand. It draws attention to the brand’s summer campaign, and it acts as a subtle reminder for fans to check out seasonal items.

3. Personalize the Views and Apps section

Though brands can no longer set default tabs, the new Views and Apps section below the cover photo increases visibility of other page sections overall.

Online clothing retailer ModCloth takes advantage by constantly updating its Views and Apps section.

Because the photos section is the first tile by default, ModCloth frequently posts photos of its latest merchandise and encourage fans to also post photos. And the company arranges the other tiles to feature its latest photo contests and promotions, customizing the tiles with retro fonts and images to reflect the vintage style of the brand.

4. Pin and highlight key content

Brands can increase awareness around key initiatives with the new Pin and Highlight functionality, which allows them to emphasize their most important posts.

Pinned content gets more fan engagement because it’s featured at the top of the Timeline. Highlighted posts stretch across the full width of the Timeline, and they are ideal for visual content such as photos and videos.

Taking advantage of both options helps brands generate more interaction around their content.

Online shoe retailer Sole Society effectively uses Pinning and Highlighting as a part of its social strategy. It frequently pins news and updates about its latest Facebook sweepstakes—including featured posts on past winners—to boost participation.

Plus, Sole Society creates highlighted posts that feature big, attention-grabbing images of its latest shoes, driving visits to its online store.

5. Integrate apps that drive Timeline engagement

Recognizing the Timeline’s potential for increased fan engagement, smart brands are already implementing apps designed to take advantage of the opportunity.

One great example is Interscope Records recording artist JoJo, who has created her own SuperFan community on Facebook. When a JoJo fan joins the community, a fan profile page is generated by automatically pulling in all JoJo page or newsfeed content the fan has recently liked, shared, or commented.

Fans in the community can browse a gallery view to discover and connect with other like-minded fans. All activity is automatically synced with JoJo’s Timeline, driving up her page’s People Talking About This score as well as overall EdgeRank.

JoJo features a new SuperFan on her Timeline every week—a great strategy for driving more participation in the program.

6. Make creative use of your milestones

When employed creatively, milestones can help fans connect with, and participate in, key moments in your brand’s history. Our favorite example of this approach comes by way of Sony UK, which asked fans to share their favorite, personal Sony moments.

The result is a Timeline that features a mix of brand and fan milestones, from “Sony Computer Entertainment established” to “Lena received a Walkman from her first love.” This approach encourages fans to reflect on the role that Sony has played in their own lives, promoting strong brand affinity.

* * *

Facebook Timeline features provide key opportunities for brands to run strategic marketing campaigns and initiatives. From cover photos to milestones, you path to Facebook success should include these six steps:

1. Keeping the cover photo fresh to reflect your brand’s current initiatives
2. Choosing a creative profile photo that’s aligned with your brand’s evolving image
3. Personalizing the Views and Apps section to include the most up to date and relevant content
4. Pinning and highlighting key content for more engagement
5. Deploying apps that incorporate timeline integration
6. Making creative use of the brand’s milestones to encourage fan interaction

Source: Marketingprofs.com

Everyone’s talking about Instagram after the recent $1 billion Facebook acquisition, in just 2 years the app has aquired more than 50 million users. Here’s a nice infographic that shows some pretty impressive stats as Instagram heads toward the 100 million users milestone.

Some highlights from these app stats are:

• Each day on Facebook 300 million photos are uploaded
• Instagram gains one new user every second
• One billion photos have been taken with the app
• There are roughly 58 photos uploaded each second

Apps like these are transforming the way that we share experiences.

Source: Digitalbuzzblog

Saviez-vous que vos publications Facebook ne sont vues que par une petite partie de vos fans ? Le chiffre annoncé sur cette infographie est éloquent : 84% des fans ne voient pas vos publications !

L’EdgeRank est l’algorithme utilisé par Facebook pour déterminer ce qui s’affichera ou non sur votre fil d’actualité. Trois facteurs sont pris en compte dans la formule de l’EdgeRank: l’affinité, le poids des publications et la récence.

L’affinité
L’affinité est un score basé sur la proximité, c’est à dire le degré d’intimité que vous avez avec vos connexions. Attention, l’affinité est en sens unique. Cela signifie qu’en visitant le profil d’un fan, vous n’augmenterez pas la probabilité d’apparaitre dans son fil d’actualité.

Le poids des publications
Le poids des publications indique que certains types de contenu ont plus de chance d’apparaitre dans le fil d’actualité que d’autres. Les photos, les vidéos et les liens ont plus de poids que les textes… Le poids des publications de chaque personne est également différent.

La récence
Quelque chose de récent va plus apparaître dans les fils d’actualité que quelque chose de plus anciens.

Des conseils

Pour augmenter la visibilité de vos publications, vous devrez donc suivre ces quelques conseils:

• Variez les types de contenus associés aux publications.
• Posez des questions ouvertes à votre communauté.
• Publiez des informations lorsque votre communauté est connectée.
• Expliquez à vos fans pourquoi ils devraient liker ou commenter tel ou tel post.
• Commentez des contenus publiés par vos fans pour tenter d’améliorer l’affinité.
• Publiez régulièrement des contenus, au moins une fois par jour.
• Proposez des contenus qui inciteront vos fans à réagir.

Infographie créée par Genevieve Lachance de vasimpleservices.com

Astuce: Comment calculer votre EdgeRank ?

Utilisez l’outil EdgeRank Checker. Vous récupérez les statistiques de votre page Facebook sous la forme d’un fichier CSV que vous uploadez sur le site, celui-ci vous donne une chiffre qui correspond à l’EdgeRank de votre page. Si vous avez une note supérieure à 7, votre EdgeRank est supérieur à la moyenne !

Source: Up2Social