A very common question among digital marketers today is whether or not it’s worth the time and effort it takes to optimize a Facebook fan page for search. Are there really that many people landing on Facebook pages through Google, Bing or Yahoo? One recent study shows the answer is yes – well, for Google at least.
In a study released earlier this month, PageLever set out to find the answer to this elusive question. By analyzing traffic to 1,000 Facebook pages each with at least 10,000 fans, they uncovered a few surprising results. Of all referring traffic, search engines make up a whopping 34%, with over 27% of that traffic coming from Google alone. Also unexpected was the finding that Yahoo and Google both actually bring more traffic to Facebook fan pages than Bing, although Bing has officially partnered with Facebook.
Overall, the numbers showed that SEO made a big difference in traffic numbers for several of the Fan pages studied. A few of them, however, received absolutely no traffic from search engines, implying the former must be doing something right. So what can you do to optimize your own page? Whether you’re just learning how to make a Facebook page or just want to improve your existing page, there are some basic tips to follow. First of all, use your company name for the fan page name and don’t ever change it. Use this same name for your page’s vanity URL. Next, you should include keyword rich text throughout your page, such as the “Info” section, and within photo captions, event descriptions and discussions.
Just like your company website, optimizing your Facebook fan page may take a little time and effort, but it could prove to be very beneficial to your brand and your fan traffic down the road.