Though Facebook has had a search box for many years, it’s predominately been used to help users find their friends quickly, track down existing community groups, or locate brand pages. But slowly Facebook’s search ambitions are growing, and with the recent launch of the open social graph (mostly known for those ‘like’ buttons) the social networking behemoth is moving full steam towards providing a full service search engine right inside Facebook.com. Here are two ways that Facebook is expanding on search, and why we need to make sure our clients are prepared for the looming Facebook SEO battle:
1. People-powered search results
Every site that incorporates Facebook open social graph tools (like buttons, comment boxes, etc.) is being indexed and ranked by Facebook based on how much Facebook users engage with the content. As more and more users ‘like’ websites Facebook is beginning to include the popular sites in the Facebook.com search box. This approach is different from Google, which ranks sites based on linking and content relevancy. Instead Facebook is prioritizing search results based on what the Facebook audience is saying about sites on the web. Facebook will also likely prioritize search content based on what your specific friends recommend as well. Brands can get a head start in ensuring they’re in the Facebook.com search results by implementing Facebook open social graph plug-ins in a smart way and fueling users to start ‘liking’ their content. Brands can also influence how their sites are listed in Facebook’s search engine by including special meta-data in their site code.
2. Socially powered content farm
Facebook is now automatically building what they call “community pages” for any topics that users list as interests in their profiles. These community pages enable Facebook to serve up content through their search box that “locks in” users by providing them internal site content rather than sending them out of Facebook the public web. The community pages are filled with pictures + text pulled directly from Wikipedia about the topic, as well as a stream of status updates that Facebook users have posted on their walls about the topic (any status updates from a viewer’s friends are highlighted first). Currently the “community pages” are not able to be edited by anyone, and brands cannot claim pages. However, brands should monitor the conversation that is being aggregated on community pages, and they can join in the stream by publishing content on their own pages about the subjects.
Though we’re still at the early stages of Facebook’s search product and the changes aren’t very visible yet, it’s important for us to pay attention to this on behalf of our brands. With over 500 million users, Facebook has the ability to make major waves in search very quickly. We can help prepare our clients for this by recommending smart Facebook SEO tactics- building a robust Facebook presence, leveraging the social graph plug-ins, and watching the community pages. We need to lead this forward thinking as social search hits prime-time.
Many marketers are very familiar with popular white label social networking provider Ning, and rightfully so. Ning has made it incredibly easy to build your own fully functioning social network in minutes for free. Since its inception Ning has been a popular recommendation to clients as a free & easy way to build a private community. However, this week Ning made the controversial announcement that it will soon be turning off their free offering. Existing accounts will eventually be required to transition to a paid offering. In preparation for this, we wanted to help lay out some options for brands. (more…)
If there was any question before, last week’s Google announcement that content from your social graph would now be included in your search results is another big proof point that brands need to be thinking about social media as a major contributing factor in their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Over the last few months Google has increasingly handed coveted “first page result” spots to social content. It started with their real-time integration of Twitter results, and now it’s with the open beta of their social search experiment.
Why is this critical for companies to recognize and incorporate in their SEO? Because your corporate website, no matter how well it’s ranked, is being quickly overshadowed by all of the social content g your brand. Now results are filled with a slew if blog posts, tweets as they happen, and the links a person’s friend shared about the brand on Facebook.
Don’t worry, though- brands don’t have to be left in the cold. They do need to start engaging consumers in social spaces, producing content of value, and making their content sharable. That way the valuable information is getting shared and enforced by advocates and being included by Google in the spaces reserved for the user’s social graph.
Over at the DraftFCBlog I have a new post up all about how to be a savvy marketer you need stop simply reading about new products & services like Twitter and Foursquare and you need to jump in and experience them for true insights:
It’s clear to everyone that old world disruption advertising models have a smaller role in the future of marketing. As advertisers we need to be able to know how to engage with our audiences in meaningful and valuable ways. The only way we can do this is if we invest real time in experiencing and learning the new media landscape. We need to stop asking what tweets are or why someone just became “mayor of the 33rd & 5th street Starbucks.” We need to sign up for these new and unusual (or possibly scary or stupid) products and services, or we’ll be left behind.
Read the post and let us know what you think. Are you jumping in?
Recently Mashable started running a series of “Seizing Opportunities” videos with their sponsor UPS. The ads are done in white-board style, feature the usual UPS music, and focus on a social media topics that Mashable editors can speak to in a useful way in just a few minutes. As an execution I was already impressed, but it turns out the Mashable program is just one piece of UPS’s overall content strategy. The bigger picture can be seen on the UPS “Popurls brown edition: The Dashboard for Business News” page. Here UPS has created a valuable content hub designed to help their customers with everything they need to know about business – curated news on specific topics, “seizing opportunities” videos from a variety of content partners that can speak with expertise on specific topics, and their own commercials.
All together it seems like UPS has come up with a killer strategy. They’re utilizing key strategic partners like Mashable to create custom content that’s tailor suited for Mashable’s audience and also manages to be synergistic with the ideal UPS customer – a business person looking for business solutions. This same custom solution is being built out with TechDirt, VentureBeat, and other niche blogs. Then it’s all being aggregated to provided a very valuable, well rounded solution center for their consumers- all while ingraining the catchy UPS soundtrack & logo into the customer’s head for quick reminder when their packaging & shipping needs arise. Proving once and again that producing valuable content is the best strategy.
As part of the massive marketing campaign to promote Microsoft’s new(ish) search engine Bing, Federated Media launched a website called BingTweets. The site takes the trending terms on Twitter and does Bing searches for them, giving context to the buzz. Chris Brogan puts it well:
“What’s cool about that is there are MANY times when we see trends on Twitter and we wonder what the backstory is. In my example, I clicked half-blood prince and got local showtimes for the new Harry Potter movie. I think this can be pretty darned useful”
His point is an increasingly powerful rallying cry for the advertising community – if you want your advertising to hit home with your audience, make it good content. Look at what DeepFocus did for the new Mad Men series, it gave the audience something we wanted (I’m one of the many fans), and we responded by spreading the word in hordes.
This is why I’m pretty psyched about the recent Elmo’s Tickle Hands program that we at DraftFCB launched. It’s tied to a product, but it’s something great for the audience. Free, cute, “Ticklegrams” for Facebook users to send their friends, without having to install even an application (which to me feels almost unheard of on Facebook). It’s something valuable, and it conveys the message. It’s advertising as content.
Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own thoughts and opinions and do not necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc, Draftfcb, Inc. or their clients.
I am a Senior Strategist at SS+K. I handle digital & social media strategy for a number of clients. I also keep a personal blog here. View Kevin Skobac's profile
Many marketers are very familiar with popular white label social networking provider Ning, and rightfully so. Ning has made it incredibly easy to build your own fully functioning social network in minutes for free. Since its inception Ning has been a popular recommendation to clients as a free & easy way to build a private community. However, this week Ning made the controversial announcement that it will soon be 
View Kevin Skobac's profile