There’s been a buzz about Facebook entering the search industry since Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, said in an interview that they would develop their own search engine one day. Right now, they are working towards improving their current search functionality. This will change the way we do search and SEO once fully implemented. This is what I want to talk about in today’s blog.
The Big Opportunity in Facebook
In Zuckerberg’s interview, he addressed the big opportunity that they have when it comes to search. Facebook receives billions of search queries every day, but most of it is people searching for other people. A significant amount of their search volume, however, is brand queries. Facebook could use the information they have to tailor search results according to a person’s social activity and connections.
Search engines have not yet perfected selecting search results based on social signals, although Google has already made the move towards this system with Google+. Facebook has more success with integrating social data with search. Once they finish making improvements, they will be able to provide more relevant search results based on previous searches a person has conducted, on the recommended pages of a person’s friends, and on the pages that a user likes. This will lead to more search queries, and bigger opportunities for keyword-centric and contextual pay per click advertising.
More Focus on the Social
Facebook won’t be challenging Google directly if they improve their current search function. Google crawls the entire web to find relevant search results for each query. Facebook’s search feature only reviews a user’s previous preferences and find results related to these recommended pages. It also checks pages with the highest number of likes and shares. If they were to develop a more powerful search tool, all they need to do is polish their system, make better use of their database, and present these results in a more pleasing and convenient way.
This will change SEO by putting more emphasis on social presence. The traditional SEO method of linking will not be enough to rank companies high on Facebook’s search results. Creating a buzz around brands, encouraging people to engage in conversations about a brand, and getting more people to like a company fan page are just some ways you can improve social visibility.
Talk to us today about our social media services and find out how we can help you rank better on Facebook search. Contact your account manager or sign up for a free account if you’re not yet a partner.
Clayton Wood
Executive with broad experience in building and scaling SEO back end fulfillment structures in outsourcing locations for enterprise level online business. Key member of corporate team at SEOReseller.com who create & successfully marry ROI and organic SEO methodology through workforce labor, software platforms & QA systems development.
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