What Is Facebook SEO?
Facebook SEO (search engine optimization) refers to actions you take to improve the organic (unpaid) visibility of your Facebook Business Page and its posts in Facebook and search engines.
Within Facebook specifically, you can appear in the platform’s search results and the News Feed.
For example, here’s a search for “flower shop nyc” that shows relevant pages and an organic post from a local florist.
This is different from Facebook Ads. Which involve businesses paying to have ads appear on Facebook.
Ads are marked as “Sponsored” like this:
Facebook SEO can also help your Facebook page appear in traditional search engines like Google.
Why Is Facebook SEO Important?
Facebook SEO can help you reach more people and drive more traffic to your Facebook page, its posts, and potentially your website—where you can convert them into customers.
Plus, social signals (such as Facebook “likes”) can indirectlyhelp your website’s SEO.
While social signals aren’t ranking factors, they align with Google’s focus on experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). And may impact your overall perceived authority.
11 Facebook Search Engine Optimization Tactics
Follow these tips to improve SEO for your page and its posts.
1. Allow Search Engines to Rank Your Page
Allowing search engines like Google to display your page in search results helps you appear outside of Facebook.
This setting is enabled by default. But it’s worth double-checking that it’s enabled. Otherwise, your page won’t show up in Google.
Head into your page’s settings and click “How people find and contact you.” And make sure the first option is enabled.
2. Name Your Page Wisely
Your Facebook page’s name is what users will see when they find you in search results, so you want to include keywords that are relevant to your business.
For example, if someone searches “flower shop nyc,” they might see Armando Ramirez’s shop as the first result.
This business also has “NYC Flower Shop” in the page name. To help them rank for that term and to help searchers understand what this business does as well as where they’re located.
So, add a keyword to your page name (if possible) to give searchers more context.
Just don’t keyword stuff (unnaturally force keywords into text). Something like “Armando Ramirez NYC Flower Shop/Gift Baskets/Anniversary Gift/Wedding Flowers” contains too many keywords. And feels spammy.
Follow these steps to change your Facebook page’s name and follow Facebook’s page name guidelines when choosing a name. Those recommendations include avoiding symbols or slogans in page names.
3. Optimize Your Bio
Your bio can also help you rank in Facebook’s search results. By including keywords related to your business that users are likely to search for.
For example, After-Words Bookstore might rank for the query “bookstore chicago” for some searchers despite not having “Chicago” in their page’s name. But that term does appear (though not exactly) in their bio.
Edit your bio under your Page’s Intro by clicking “Add bio.”
You typically have 101 characters for your bio, but some pages may allow up to 255 characters. So, make the most of it by using the right keywords.
You can find keywords to incorporate into your bio with Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
Open the tool, enter a broad keyword related to your business, adjust the country (optional), and click “Search.”
Go through the resulting list of keywords and pick ones that are especially relevant to you.
For our “car repair chicago” example, we might pick “car repair shops in chicago.”
Then, craft your bio using each keyword—or fragments from each keyword. Like this:
“ABC is one of the best car repair shops in Chicago, Illinois. We repair car windshields, A/C, and more.”
4. Optimize Your Business Page Details
Having consistent business details (hours, location, website, etc.) can improve your visibility for local search results because Google cross-references information across the web to verify trustworthiness.
So, make sure your Facebook Business Page’s details also match the details in other online directories.
Add as many relevant details as you can, including your:
- Hours
- Address (if you have one)
- Service area (if you have one)
- Phone number
- Website
- Other social media links
- Language
- Services you provide
- Price range
- Categories (you can choose up to three categories, which can help your page appear in relevant search results)
Add details by clicking the “Edit details” button on your page:
5. Post Engaging, Quality Content
Facebook prefers to show content that people like and find relevant, which means relevant and well-received posts may rank higher in search results and News Feeds.
Social Tracker details how your competitors’ content performs to give you ideas for potentially high-performing posts.
Add the Semrush Social Media toolkit to your account to access Social Tracker. Then, configure Social Tracker by connecting your social accounts and adding your competitors’ accounts to track.
Once the tool is configured, you’ll see an overview of your rivals’ top-performing content.
Clicking into the tabs along the top gives you a detailed view for each social platform.
Identify which topics performed the best. And draft your posts around similar ones.
Here are some additional tips to create engaging Facebook posts:
- Experiment with different post types like text, images, videos, live videos, and reels to see which your audience prefers
- Publish consistently so your Facebook page appears active
- Use calls to action in your post that encourage engagement. For example, ask people to tag a friend. Or to leave a comment like this Facebook post does:
Just avoid asking people to “like” your post. Facebook views this as gaming the system and may not rank your content as highly. Plus, it comes across as spammy to users.
And remember to respond to everyone who leaves a comment. This shows others that you take a genuine interest in what people have to say and may lead to more engagement.
6. Optimize Images
Two ways to optimize Facebook images are through:
- Captions: Text (with keywords) that complements your image to help it appear in the search results
- Alt text: Text used to describe an image for people who use screen readers. Adding alt text can help your image appear in Google for relevant queries.
Add alt text to photos by clicking “Edit” and “Alternative Text” before you complete your post.
7. Add Geographic Tags to Posts
Adding geographic locations to your posts helps people find your business when they search specific areas.
For example, this photographer tagged Whitefish Lake. And people might see this post when they search this location.
From there, users can click the photographer’s page to learn about the business.
8. Publish Consistently
Recency is an important ranking signal when Facebook decides what to show in someone’s News Feed, and fresh content may have a better chance of appearing higher compared to older posts.
That means it’s a good idea to create a consistent publishing schedule.
We recommend three to five posts per week if you’re starting out. And you can adjust from there.
Plus, steady posting lets people know your business is active. This may make users more likely to engage, which can further improve your visibility.
Semrush’s Social Poster helps you plan and schedule your social media content.
Start by configuring the tool and connecting it to your Facebook page.
Once configured, head back into Social Poster and click “New post.”
Craft your post and select where you’d like to publish it. (Select multiple accounts to potentially improve your social media SEO across a range of platforms.)
Lastly, choose the date and time when you’d like your post to go live and click “Schedule.”
Then, use Social Analytics to monitor your content’s performance. Because knowing which pieces perform best helps you replicate successes for future posts.
9. Add Hashtags to Your Posts
Adding hashtags (clickable phrases that start with the “#” symbol) to your posts helps you gain even more visibility. Like when users search for a specific hashtag:
We recommend using one to three hashtags per post.
Facebook gives these additional hashtag tips:
- Keep your hashtags simple and relevant to your post
- Avoid punctuation
- Avoid spaces
- Incorporate hashtags into sentences—i.e., “How much do you like our #macrame?”
10. Generate Backlinks
Links from external sites that point to your Facebook page (called backlinks) can help it rank higher in Google’s search results.
Google sees backlinks as authority indicators. And may view Facebook pages with many reputable backlinks as trustworthy.
Plus, these links can direct more people to your Facebook page. So, try to encourage other sites to link to your Facebook page.
Here are some ideas:
- Link to your page from your website
- Get media mentions (like on your local newspaper’s website) and ask them to link to your Facebook page
- Write guest blog posts that include links to your Facebook page (if the publisher allows it)
- Partner with influencers and have them write blog posts that review your business and link to your Facebook page
Then, monitor your backlinks with Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool.
Enter your Facebook page’s URL and click “Analyze.”
Click on the “Backlinks” tab to view all your Facebook page’s backlinks. Categorized by “Active,” “New,” and “Lost.”
You might want to keep an eye on “Lost” backlinks because these are links you once had but no longer do.
Reach out to sites that removed your page’s links and ask for them back.
11. Encourage Recommendations
Recommendations are reviews shared on Facebook that say whether users recommend a business.
Like this:
If your business has many positive Recommendations, it may be more likely to appear higher in rankings. And be suggested to more people.
Your Recommendations percentage can also appear in search results as an aggregate star rating:
Here are two ideas to increase Recommendations:
- Post signs in your stores with your Facebook page’s URL and ask people to leave feedback
- Send a post-purchase email with a link to leave you a Facebook Recommendation. Like this email:
Then, respond to all types of feedback (both positive and negative). Because it shows people you care about what they have to say.
Other Facebook Best Practices
These other tips aren’t necessarily related to SEO but can help you make the most of your Facebook presence.
12. Make Your Brand Recognizable
Make sure your Facebook page profile and cover photo help you keep a consistent brand identity that aligns with your presence on platforms outside of Facebook.
Plus, a recognizable profile photo (like your logo) can help people find your page in Facebook’s search results.
In the search result below, we can easily recognize the above page from its logo, despite being alongside two similarly named pages. This reduces confusion for people searching for your business.
13. Customize Your Page URL
Facebook pages are assigned generic URLs by default. Like “www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086756884028.”
But having a URL that’s easy to remember is important because it allows people to quickly type it into their browsers and find your Facebook page.
You can customize your URL by changing your username. Then, Facebook will use your username for your URL.
For example, the username for our Facebook page is “Semrush” and our URL is “www.facebook.com/Semrush.”
And be aware that Facebookpage usernames can only contain letters, numbers, and periods. Hyphens, which are standard in most URLs, aren’t allowed for Facebook pages.
14. Add a Relevant Action Button
An action button is a button on your Facebook page that asks your audience to do something, which can support business goals.
Facebook gives you a list of preset actions. Like booking a meeting or starting an order (enabling you to boost sales from your Facebook page).
Your action button gets prime real estate at the top of your Facebook page. So, choose one that’s most relevant to your goals.
15. Make It Easy to Message You
Adding a “Message” button to your Facebook page gives people a convenient way to contact your business.
Follow these instructions to turn on messaging for your Facebook page.
16. Stay Informed About Platform Rules
Keep your Facebook page active and in good standing by following Facebook’s policies.
Here are some (but not all) rules to keep in mind :
- Don’t use your Facebook page to promote online gambling without receiving permission to do so. Like if you want to run a contest that requires users to pay a fee to enter.
- Provide notice to people if you plan to collect data like email addresses
- Don’t promote illegal activities or services
Improve Your SEO for Facebook
Simple activities like adding keywords to your Facebook page’s name and publishing consistently can help you appear more prominently in both Facebook and Google.
And Semrush’s tools make it easy to do many of those tasks.
Ready to reach more potential customers through your Facebook page?
