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About a year ago I asked this question. Does Facebook help your SEO?
Since then Google and Bing have made some changes. It is well worth a read as it delves into the importance of links in ranking power.
Today, links can be defined as more than just a link. It falls under the idea of reputation management.
When we look at how reputation matters in ranking in the search engines. We discover many forms of reputation:
- Citations-for our purposes this is where your business name and address and phone are listed. Or even a non clickable URL.
- Reviews-Reviews can come from local business directories like Google Places, or Yelp, or even blog posts.
- Link or Anchor Text-This is still what matters most. A good link and keyword in your anchor text.
So what does this have to do with Facebook and social media?
Off Page -Social Networks
Google and Bing are measuring social signals. So when a post gets a like, it it is similar to a link as it is almost a vote for the page liked.
Google +1 is a similar tool. Bing has the advantage of getting some of at least Facebook data to include in their ranking factors. But Google cannot get very deep profile data. Not until starting the Google Plus One Social Network.
Which in many ways is bringing all their tools into one house. By conglomerating all their tools into one profile Google is able to measure your own authority better.
This brings to mind a video I recently did that displayed the advantages that Facebook and Google have over one another.
Facebook launched their social graph over a year ago. And Google uses a concept called FOAF. Friend of a friend. By measuring the authority of each friend that is "linked" to another friend, the idea is that the authority can drip down through the network.
Very similar to linking.
On Page Social Networks
On Facebook your pages are indexed onto Google or Bing to the extent that Facebook or any other social network will allow them. Your personal profile is ranked slightly with limited info and a chance for a no followed generic anchor text.
While a Fanpage gets indexed. Thus its important to title Fanpages correctly. The name of the page is the title tag. Also any text you provide. And probably the most underutilized part of Fanpages that offers a gold mine of ranking potential. The Notes.
It is more important than ever to embrace a publishing model to allow you to rapidly take advantage of publishing opportunities and rapid change in the social media and searchable web.
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