Google's mind-blowing bombshells are taking the internet by storm! In my Twitter SEO tips article, I presented lots of evidence that Google is becoming outrageously social. Google + 1 button and Panda updates are just two examples. While Google + 1 was met with rave reviews, Panda, on the other hand, raised many
questions and red flags.
To make our life easier, Amit Singhal, head of Google’s ranking team, provided 23 questions you need to address when evaluating your web content. Answering these questions accurately is essential since Google Panda uses similar evaluation criteria for SERP purposes.
My bold claim is that if you take to heart these 23 questions and applied them to your Facebook SEO strategy, you will get so much Panda lovin!
This article will discuss 2 points:
- Summary of the "Panda Lovin formula"
- How can you use this information to skyrocket your Facebook SEO
Summary of the "Panda Lovin formula"
The tips presented here are very general in the sense they apply to any kind of web content (your site/blog, social media profiles…etc.). Here are 3 key points that you must keep into account:
- Your web content must be compelling enough for people to browse not bounce! (It's not enough to get backlinks and tones of traffic; visitors must spend some time on your site to rank high with Panda)
- Would people trust your site enough to give you their credit card information? (TRUST is big deal with Panda)
- Crappy and/or redundant content will hurt your rankings even if you still have some "Goodies". (You must clean up your site from all the law-quality content and don't count on the assumption that good quality will overshadow poor quality because as far as Panda is concerned, the opposite in true!)
3 Tips To Skyrocket Your Facebook SEO The Panda Way
As I mentioned earlier, Panda's love equals creating outstanding user experience that will get them to stick around and trust your content enough to share it with the world. In Facebook Jargon, this translates into:
- Creating killer Facebook pages that have the "You gotta like me coz I'm hot!" factor
- Intelligently engaging your page fans so they keep coming back for more
- Leveraging Facebook features to become more visible to potential fans
Let's discuss them one by one…
Facebook SEO For Panda Tip 1: Create Killer Facebook Pages That Have The "You Gotta Like Me Coz I'm Hot!" Factor
There's no rule of thumb as to what makes a Facebook page likeable to potential fans. It's a very relative issue that depends on the nature of your business. For a healthy dose of inspiration, here are some widely diverse examples of great Facebook page ideas:
- Learn Intelligent Facebook Marketing Tips From Guy Kawasaki, Lady Gaga and More…
- See How Some Big Players Took their Facebook Pages to the Next Level…
Facebook SEO For Panda Tip 2: Intelligently Engage Your Page Fans So They Keep Coming Back For More
Did you know that the mere act of liking your page doesn't guarantee that your posts will appear on your fans top news feeds?
In other words, if your fan visits your page every blue moon and never comments, likes or shares your posts, they won't be visible on his top news feeds. Here's a must-read article that addresses this issue in details: The Mystery of the Facebook News Feed.
This leads to a very logical conclusion: It's not enough to entice people to "like" your page; you must encourage them to come back again to enjoy your irresistible content.
If you want to get people to comment/share your page posts, the following tips will help you out:
- Always lead your post with a question and then provide relevant info and reference links. Here is an example of a comment-stimluating post:
Would you go for Lady Gaga or Guy Kawasaki? Check out these killer Facebook page ideas and name your fave 🙂 https://holykaw.alltop.com/facebook-tips-from-lady-gaga-and-guy-kawasaki - Make your fans answers short and sweet. Brief questions that require one-word or few words to answer have higher commenting rate than lengthy ones. That's a no-brainer if you ask me! After all, Who has time for writing ultra-lengthy answers?! Here's an example of a question that people would love to answer:
If you can describe Twitter in one word, what would it be? - Some twitter tips can be applied to Facebook. As an example, it's a highly recommended Twitter sharing tactic to explicitly ask for retweets. Similarly, asking people to comment and/or share your Facebook post can work like charm (If, and only if, your post was good enough to be perceived as comment-worthy and share-worthy. It's up to you!)
Facebook SEO For Panda Tip 3: Leverage Facebook Features to Become More Visible to Potential Fans
Without tip 3, the first 2 tips will completely pointless. Think about it: What if you created the greatest content on earth but kept it buried and invisible! What value would it present to your business?
That's why; visibility is a big deal. Still, these tips are presented in the right order because the last thing you want is to have a highly visible mediocre page! Spend enough time revamping your page. Then, plan ahead cool ideas to keep your fans interested and finally, reach out to them.
The following video tutorials give two somewhat unknown Facebook page visibility tips. Enjoy!
Facebook Page Visibility Tip 1: How To Create a Link To Your Page On Top of Your Facebook Profile
Facebook Page Visibility Tip 2: How To Use The "Use Facebook As a Page" Feature To Maximize Your Page Visibility
I barely touched the surface here! There are so many Facebook visibility tips that you can apply. It's important to choose the ones that best suit your business and remember that visibility should be a key component in your overall Facebook SEO plan.
In Conclusion, Are You Pro Or Against The Panda "Attack"?
Let me answer this question by justifying the article title: I used the words "Unusual Facebook SEO tips". But are any of the tips presented here unusual?
Yes, they are unusual because I am referring to them with regards to SEO (not SMM!). Nowhere in Amit's questions have I seen any reference to keyword density, link building or any traditional SEO jargon.
Thanks to Google Panda, the gap between SEO and SMM is getting so narrow that I feel they are so close to becoming synonyms!
I bet sites, such as ezinearticles, that were tragically affected by the Panda attack would beg to differ but I love Google Panda. No longer will you and I need to shatter our time and energy between SMM and SEO. All we need is to create great content that people will share socially and Google will love.
Still, I wouldn’t say you should completely toss away the good old Keywords-based Facebook SEO tips but one thing I know for certain: the keyword density craze is over! That's a relief.
Bottom line, if you are willing to play the Panda game right, your number one priority should be creating content that people will trust, enjoy and share.
What's your take on Google Panda? What other "unusual' Facebook SEO tips would you recommend? I can't wait to find out 🙂