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.
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.
On Tuesday I attended Social Media Boot Camp, a half day conference put together by SocialMedia.com, with the focus on actionable social media thinking. I was looking forward to the conference specifically because Fred Wilson and Ian Schafer would both be speaking there, but virtually all of the presenters did a great job at delivering case studies and strategic thinking that made the 4 hours incredibly worthwhile. Lately I’ve been seeing collective communal intelligence around social media take a step forward beyond the initial chaos of social media to moving towards deeper understanding and more defined courses of action. For the benefit of the UsableClicks community, here are 15 key insights and themes that were discussed at the Social Media Boot Camp: (more…)
Usability and user experience aren’t words that typically make their way into a media professional’s daily routine. It’s an activity reserved for UX and design teams and is something most media professionals take for granted, both buyers and publishers. Although the skill sets of UX and media professionals are on opposite extremes, design and user experience dramatically dictate campaign performance. Anything that can swing conversion rates, page views per visit, and overall engagement with the brand should be discussed with as many stake holders as possible.
When creating microsite campaigns, direct response campaigns, brand engagement campaigns, and even banners there are a few tips that I picked up at at the UX Team of One panel at the 2009 SXSW interactive conference. The talk and examples were largely aimed at UX professionals but were alarmingly relevant to the entire project team, from developer to media supplier.
Tips and embedded presentation slides after the jump…
With manydocumentedcases of publishers reporting drops in ad revenue, now is the time for media buyers to shine. If you still have a job, and still have a client who is in the need of online media, now is your chance to be a hero. And by hero, I actually mean you have the chance to capitalize on the misfortunes of publishers.
For the past few years publishers have been holding the premium price tag over even the most simple of media buys. I know this very well from both sides, as a publisher of a health and fitness destination and as a media buyer on-behalf of clients. The premiums were easy to understand; with good inventory scarce and the digital ad boom well under way, it was the best way to crank up the revenue. All conversations with top tier publishers typically included a “custom” or “big idea” opportunity. It should be obvious that, although you only buy what you want, certain types of desirable inventory was locked away for big budget only media buys. This locked out advertisers who were solely interested in a specific audience within prospective sites.
I am here to announce, and should have months ago, that those days by and large are dead – for now. Media planners all over the internet should be gobbling up severely discounted rates wherever they can. In a regular market planners have the power to dramatically alter any campaign by executing on-target partnerships and inventory buys with publishers, but in this environment they have the power to be a marketing super hero! PlannerMan to the rescue!
During my normal morning routine of coffee and email I noticed something unusual. This particular morning I was in the midst of adjusting my fantasy basketball lineup on Yahoo, when out of the corner of my eye I recognized a street name on an adjacent ad. It’s not very often that you see a postal address in a banner ad, much less one with a street name that you’re familiar with.
I didn’t see it coming and I certainly didn’t know it yet, but I had fallen victim to a geo-targeted campaign gone wrong. The 7-Eleven ad that grabbed my attention can be seen here on the left.
In case you were wondering where 2021 South MacArthur is, it’s in Oklahoma City, OK – approximately 1,500 miles from where I was sitting when the I saw the 7-Eleven ad. This targeting gone wrong isn’t as bad as you think and is probably not even 7-Eleven’s fault. I actually used to live in Oklahoma City and I’m sure Yahoo must have that information stored somewhere, although a quick search didn’t reveal where (not in my main profile, flickr or delicious).
This story goes from bad to worse when I went to click the ad. Click Click. Click. It’s not working. While I’m looking at the ad the following items painfully come to mind (in this order): (more…)
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
View Kevin Skobac's profile