Facebook SEO: What You Need to Know to Improve Your Ranking
What would you say is the key to boosting your visibility on Facebook? If you’re like many people, you’re probably thinking, “creating high-quality content that provides value to your audience.” And, you’re not wrong.
However, great content isn’t always enough, especially if you want to rank high in Facebook search results. To rank well, you also need to optimize your profile and content. Enter Facebook search engine optimization (SEO).
Facebook SEO can set you apart from the many accounts in your niche already creating high-quality content. So, it should definitely be part of your social media strategy.
In this post, we take an in-depth look at Facebook SEO, exploring what it is, why it matters, what Facebook considers when ranking content, and how to optimize your efforts.
Understanding Facebook SEO
Facebook SEO is a lot like traditional SEO. It involves optimizing your profile and content to boost your discoverability, visibility, and reach on Facebook.
However, high rankings aren’t just confined to the platform. With Meta allowing search engines like Google to index publicly available Facebook posts, Facebook SEO can also improve your visibility on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).
How Important Is Facebook SEO?
Simple answer? Very. Facebook is the largest social media platform, registering over 3 billion monthly active users. So, it goes without saying that this is the place to be if you want access to a large audience. However, reaching Facebook users requires some work. You need to not only publish high-value posts but also optimize your content for search.
Why? Well, Facebook is no longer just a posting platform; it has evolved into a search engine (much like Google and other traditional engines), with people using it to find answers to their queries, discover local businesses, and read product reviews. In fact, according to a 2021 survey, 74% of Facebook users said that they use it to find products and brands. To boost your visibility among such users, you have to optimize your content.
Beyond helping you rank well in Facebook results, SEO can also improve your visibility on traditional search engines. As mentioned earlier, engines like Google can now crawl and index Facebook posts. This means optimized content can appear in search results, extending your reach beyond Facebook’s News Feed.
Key Facebook Ranking Factors
Facebook uses multiple signals to rank content. Some of the most powerful ones include:
- Engagement: Facebook’s algorithm strives to surface the most valuable content for its users. To gauge the value of posts, it monitors engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks. The more engagements your content receives, the more valuable it appears to the algorithm. This prompts the system to position it higher on the Feed and in search results.
- Recency: Meta has confirmed that it prioritizes recent inventory when ranking content on users’ Feeds. This is why new posts tend to rank higher in Search and Feed than older ones.
- Language: As with traditional search engines, Facebook’s algorithm matches users’ queries to accounts’ posts to identify the most relevant results. Therefore, pages that regularly use popular keywords in their niche tend to rank high in results.
Top Facebook SEO Strategies
Facebook SEO can be challenging, but only if you don’t know how to go about it. To streamline the process, here are our top tips for climbing the News Feed and search results:
1. Research and Use Relevant Keywords
Keywords are your best friend when it comes to SEO. So, start by identifying the terms and phrases your target audience uses when searching for products or information related to your niche. Luckily, there are many keyword generators online to help you, such as Wordstream, Ahrefs, and Semrush.
Once you find relevant keywords, use them in as many places as you can. However, be careful not to come off as spammy, as this could hurt your ranking.
Some great places to include keywords include:
- Your Facebook Page’s name (if it makes sense). For example, if you run a digital marketing agency’s profile, you could use “X Digitla marketing Agency” as its username.
- Your Page’s Intro. Include relevant keywords in your bio and About sections when explaining who you are and what you do.
- Your posts’ captions. However, don’t just use keywords because they’re popular; make sure they align with each piece of content.
2. Optimize Your Page
If you have a business page, optimize it by including all pertinent details, such as your location, contact information, hours, and services offered. This can improve your visibility on local search results, both within Facebook and on external search engines.
A complete profile also makes you appear professional. This can encourage visitors to follow and engage with your account, potentially sending positive signals to Facebook’s ranking algorithm.
3. Join and Participate in Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups are among the most powerful yet most overlooked SEO assets. Group conversations frequently appear in internal search results because they often include relevant keywords and receive high engagement.
Find groups related to your niche and regularly join in on discussions. The more active you are in groups, the more likely you are to show up in users’ search results. Be sure to offer value and include keywords (where natural) to boost likes, comments, and search discoverability.
4. Create High-Engagement Content
As mentioned earlier, the Facebook algorithm favors posts that receive high engagement. So, create high-engagement content.
To do this, focus on offering value. Make sure each post educates, inspires, or entertains your audience. You can post how-to tutorials, share memes and funny videos, tell your brand story, or even create games.
Another way to boost engagement is to focus on your audience’s preferred content formats. Do posts with short-form videos get the most interactions? Create more video content. Do static image and text-based posts perform better? Post more of such content.
Read also: Facebook Engagement Post Ideas to Help Grow Your Page
5. Build Backlinks
Generate engagement from external sources by sharing Facebook posts on other platforms. For example, you can embed relevant links in blog posts, share popular posts on Instagram, or add links to your content in newsletters.
Backlinks to your content not only increase engagement but also boost your authority. This can result in better rankings both on Facebook and traditional search engines.
6. Add Alt Text to Facebook Images
We know what you’re thinking: Doesn’t Facebook automatically add alt text to posts? It does. However, the platform’s alt text is often generic.
Take your SEO game up a notch by adding your own alt text. This gives you an opportunity to use keywords, which can help you show up in more search results.
Adding your own text also allows you to include more details than Facebook’s system can. This can help people with visual impairments better understand your content, potentially leading to greater engagement.
7. Add Tags to Your Posts
Include both location tags and hashtags in your posts to boost their visibility. Location tags can help people find you when they search specific areas, while hashtags can help you rank high in search results.
Some key best practices to keep in mind when creating hashtags include:
- Use relevant keywords. For example, if you’re a photographer showcasing your work, you can use #photography, #Chicagoweddingphotography, and #weddingpotographer.
- Include only a few relevant hashtags per post to avoid appearing spammy.
- Avoid spaces and punctuation.
For location tags, be sure to add the right geotags. Misleading audiences can erode trust in your account, potentially leading to fewer future engagements.
8. Optimize Your Post Timing
Post when your audience is actively online. This helps you leverage two key ranking factors: recency and engagement.
As mentioned earlier, Facebook prioritizes recent content. So, posting when your audience is most active increases your chances of ranking higher in News Feeds.
Timing also impacts engagement. When you post at optimal times, your chances of getting immediate engagement go up. The higher your immediate engagement, the more valuable your content appears to the Facebook algorithm. This prompts it to show the content in more Feeds and search results.
Read also: What Is the Best Times to Post on Facebook
There’s just one problem. Manually posting when your audience is most likely to engage, especially if you’re running multiple Facebook pages or social media accounts, is easier said than done. That’s where GeeLark comes in.
GeeLark is an antidetect solution provider that not only offers multi-account browsers and cloud phones but also automation tools. With GeeLark, you can access AI-powered templates that let you schedule video, image, and text content, ensuring you never miss your ideal posting window.
The best part? These templates can automate content posting across multiple accounts, so you never have to worry about missing any profile if you manage multiple Facebook accounts.
Read also:
Facebook Account Banned? Why It Happens
Facebook SEO Mistakes to Avoid
Now that you know what to do to improve your visibility and rankings, what should you not do? Here’s a look at some common mistakes that might hurt your SEO efforts:
Not Engaging Your Audience
Don’t encourage audience engagement and then fail to engage back. Doing so might discourage future interactions, affecting how the algorithm sees your content.
For continued interactions, like your audience’s comments, respond to questions, implement suggestions (where possible), and host Live sessions.
Ignoring SEO Performance Metrics
One of the biggest mistakes brands and creators make is implementing strategies without tracking their performance. They sometimes spend time and resources on tactics that don’t work, and end up giving up on SEO entirely — because they don’t see results.
To avoid wasting resources on ineffective tactics, closely monitor metrics such as page reach, engagement (likes, follows, and shares), impressions, and new followers. Then, adjust your strategy as needed.
Say you find that participating in some Facebook groups earns you more engagement and followers than joining discussions in others. Focus on the groups that deliver the best results. Similarly, if a specific type of content generates more impressions and engagement than others, create more of it to boost your visibility.
Stuffing Keywords
Keywords are great, but only when used in moderation. Focusing more on maximizing keywords than on delivering value to your audience can make you come off as spammy and negatively affect the user experience — the last things you want when trying to improve your content’s ranking.
For positive SEO results, use keywords only when they fit naturally into your content.
Posting Low-Effort Content
Unfortunately, no number of relevant keywords, tags, and backlinks can save low-quality content. Strategies like using keywords and optimizing timing may get your content in front of audiences, but it takes actual value to prompt engagement.
Post high-quality, original videos and images that benefit your audience in some way. The happier people are with your posts, the more they’ll engage, and the likelier you’ll be to continue ranking high in feeds and search results.
Take Your Facebook SEO Efforts to the Next Level
As people increasingly use Facebook as a search tool, Facebook SEO is no longer just a “nice practice”; it’s a necessity. When strategically implemented, it can boost your discoverability in search results, visibility in the News Feed, and reach among new audiences.
GeeLark can support your Facebook SEO efforts by helping you optimize post timing. It offers ready-made templates that automate content publishing at scale, so you never have to worry about missing your ideal posting window. Whether your audience loves images, videos, or text-based posts, the platform has you covered.