Optimize for Better Facebook and Yahoo! Search Visibility

Millions search Facebook every day. Millions search Yahoo! every day. You can optimize for both

Ever see someone share an article on Facebook that looked something like this?

Would you guess that this link leads to a video of a skate contest? Probably not. Not only is there no image to go along with the article, the title is confusing, there’s no description, and the URL doesn’t even give a hint as to what the link is about.

If you’re looking to spread your marketing message across the Web, this is pretty bad form. Anyone searching for “skate contest” videos will likely not see the post or click on it because there’s no description or graphic.

A well-optimized page not only stands a better chance of appearing in Facebook search results, but also in Yahoo! and other search results, providing more chances for visibility and traffic with little effort on your part (beyond optimizing your tags, which we’ll look at in a minute).

The life of a Facebook “Like”

First let’s look at what happens when someone shares or likes your content on Facebook.

1. I enjoy this Mashable article:

1. I click the Facebook “Like” button:

1. This puts the article on my Facebook wall and in some of my friends’ Facebook feeds. Gain #1: (Free) increased visibility for Mashable.

1. Some of my friends see this post and click on it. Gain #2: (Free) increased traffic for Mashable.
2. Some other friends see this post and share it on their walls, pages or in groups right from my post. Gain #3: Even more (free) increased visibility.

1. My friends who clicked through to read the article on Mashable may click the “Like” button from there. The process starts all over again. Gain #4: Even more (free) increased visibility.

And the gains don’t end here. Remember those millions of people searching Facebook? Once Facebook knows about the Mashable article, it can show up in Facebook’s search results. Gain #5: Increased chances for (free) visibility and (free) potential indirect traffic.

But wait! There’s more! Search engines index public content from Facebook, including wall posts. Here is that same article represented several times in search engine results. Gain #6: Even more increased visibility and potential indirect traffic (did I mention it’s also free?).