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The Facebook page is quickly becoming an important piece of web real estate for the small business. Applications are enabling more functionality on business pages, people are searching for what interests them through the Facebook network more frequently (and turning to Google less) as the social aspect has become more attractive. It provides many with a combination of fun and serious inquiry via the same convenient web location.

The phrase “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO- which I prefer to refer to as "Search Engine Elevation" or SEE for eyecare providers, see “The Conversation: Lesson 40”) had in the past referred to elevating position in the major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Facebook has grown so large and has so much information that people are using it to search for the products and services they seek in their geographical regions and beyond, so we can’t ignore the fact that there are things you can do to elevate yourself within facebook search. Facebook search engine elevation is a whole new art. It’s high time for a discussion of how to elevate your Facebook business page.

1. Choosing a Facebook Name

The title of your Facebook name is critical to the success of your page. Make the name as direct a reflection of your business as you can and avoid spammy titles that may turn people off – don’t use adjectives like “number 1” and “best service.” Keep it conservative and grounded. Our practice’s Facebook page is simply “Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care” and you should consider something basic and descriptive as that. Your businesses real name is the best name you can choose for your page.

2. Choose your vanity username

When you sign up for a Facebook page, you get a generic page name, like http://facebook.com/2kodf-9. By going to www.facebook.com/username, you can change your Facebook username to a custom domain. I chose www.facebook.com/optometristrockville because I know that search engines will pick it up when people in my geographic vicinity (Rockville, Maryland) search for an optometrist. There are other ways to choose a name, you may want the name www.facebook.com/contactlens for obvious reasons and that might be a good choice, but you only get to choose one name, one time and can’t change it, so pick one you will be happy to stick with.

3. Place as Much Keyword-Dense Content Towards the Top of Your Page as Possible

Try to pepper your page with keywords and key phrases that people searching Facebook for eye care would use, and try to take advantage of the real estate closest to the top of the Facebook page. The reason is Google indexes the structure at the top of the page more frequently than the body. The “Information” box is the highest place on the Facebook page you can include text, so be sure to fill it out with as much detail and keywords as you can.

5. Fully fill out the Information Tab

You MUST include your full address including city, state and zip as local searches will best find you that way. Company overview, mission and products must be filled out so people seeking the services and products you offer can find you. You also need to fill in your website as it acts as an external link to your other internet real estate, adding a little “juice” to it’s SEO coming from Facebook.

6. Use Facebook Notes and Discussions and Include Static Links in the Pages

Facebook Notes and Discussions offer an opportunity to increase the volume of content found on your page, and as you know from my previous posts content is king. Pepper the content with key words and key phrases people use to search for eye care, and be SURE to include as many links to your off-Facebook web content, like blog and web pages, as you can. Again, you are creating valuable links with tremendous SEO value. For your website or blog, inbound links are one of the top three SEO factors, and the fact that you can create useful inbound links is incredibly useful for your website and blog SEO efforts. You can also do this using the “static FBML” application which allows you to add custom content, boxes and tabs to your Facebook page.

7. Use your wall to Post Links to Your Other Web Real Estate

By putting links in your “status update” feature, you can get links to your website and blog at the top of the page where it’s likely to be indexed by Google. You can just type the links in the box or use the “attach link” tab Facebook makes available. From a strictly SEO perspective, using the “attach link” feature is better as Facebook ties text and images to your link that appear higher on the page, and the thumbnail image also houses the link to you get more for your money on the desirable top region of the page.

8. Get More Fans, or “Likes”

The more fans that “Like” you, the more links you’ll have to your page within Facebook. As your fans increase, the links increase dramatically providing intra-Facebook SEO value. To add to this, getting fans to comment and share links within your page also has tremendous value.

I remember a year and a half ago when Google rarely indexed Facebook pages and Facebook, as large as it was, really didn’t have a structure wherein you could optimize yourself through search engines outside of Facebook. Search within Facebook is entirely new ground, but after hemming and hawing about the value of Facebook for business I have changed my tune and am focused on creating the best, most optimized Fan page I can for my business. For more information on search engine elevation (SEE) be sure to “Like” OnToptics, a Facebook page where I continue the "elevation" discussion for the ophthalmic industry.

- Alan N. Glazier, OD, FAAO
Founder/CEO
Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care
Rockville, MD

Twitter Handle: @EyeInfo
Blog: http://www.youreyesite.net
Website: YourEyeSite.com

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