When I first think about Facebook, I don’t think about SEO. Since I spend a lot of time on my personal profile page, updating friends and family, I don’t always think about the power behind the platform.

Facebook is undeniably a SEO powerhouse. Digital marketing influencers have long been talking about the marketing capability of Facebook, but this goes beyond just Facebook Ads (which are powerful enough in their own right).

Here are some quick tips to help you get started:

1. Claim your personal/vanity URL – These URL’s are heavily weighted on search engines, so take your time and really think about what you want it to be. Be careful though… it’s tough to change once you set it.
2. Keep your Facebook page name simple, specific enough but not too specific that its limiting (i.e. if you are a marriage counselor, focus your name around love or relationships, so if you go into other kinds of relationship/personal coaching later, your page name is still relevant.
3. Use keywords strategically, in your about, mission, and company description sections (keep in mind that these sections can be re-ordered, so play around with this while you’re there!).
4. Link everything together. Link your Facebook page to other existing channels (Twitter/ Instagram/ your website and blog).
5. Optimize your Facebook business page status updates (your first 18 characters serve as your meta description, choose carefully because they will serve as the SEO title for that update).

But how do I know what keywords to use?

Research is paramount to help you determine the keywords you want to use. Keywords are used in your social media bios, post titles and content, URL’s – to use in your description, don’t just load your available text space with keywords, create a description that makes sense, while also incorporating keywords. You have more than one opportunity to use keywords, you also use them in blog posts and page updates.

How do I research keywords?

You know your business best. To start brainstorming keywords:

• What do you sell? Do a search, what other keywords do you see?
• Review industry publications, Amazon/eBay, other niche sites, online ads, niche forums – what words do you see consistently coming up?
• And here’s an amazing tip – look at what comes up in autocomplete when searching in Google- you can see what’s being searched post often by looking at what is suggested, Amazon has a similar functionality, so look there too!

Stay tuned – we’re spending the whole month on Facebook! What are your top Facebook questions or digital marketing challenges? We want to hear from you!