Is Facebook Hurting Your SEO?

A Non-Customized Facebook URL

When a business owner creates a Facebook page, he is given the choice of customizing the URL to facebook.com/BusinessName, or keeping the auto-generated URL he is issued. It’s always better to customize the Facebook URL, and not just for the sake of putting it on business cards. Businesses should also customize this address for the sake of SEO, because a Facebook address that is a jumble of numbers, letters and symbols is not going to be recognized in Facebook search; often, Google won’t take it seriously either.

To customize your Facebook URL go to Page Setttings > Edit Page > Update Public Info. Then, click Basic Information on the left, and under Username, click Change Username. Remember, Facebook only allows you to do this once; that’s why it’s important to be certain your customized Facebook URL is your permanent business name, spelled correctly.

No Brand-Specific Photos

When Facebook introduced cover photos in 2011, it took some time for businesses to get on board. Unfortunately, if you are still holding out on putting one on your page, it may hurt your SEO. The same goes for a profile photo, which has been a Facebook feature since day one (so really, there’s no excuse not to have one). But how does a lack of brand-specific Facebook photos hurt SEO?

Having no profile photo (or worse, a generic stock photo) as your profile photo is going to be an instant turn off to visitors, and they aren’t going to want to like your page. The same goes for having no cover photo. We know that Google’s algorithm looks for “social signals” when it crawls web pages, and those social signals show Google how much authority a page has. A Facebook page that has little to no traffic is not going to be viewed as authoritative by Google, and that can hurt your SEO.

No About Description

Facebook allows you to write an About description of your business, which tells users more about you. You can also include a link to your website in that description. Businesses that have little to say on the About page are shooting themselves in the foot, because the About page is the perfect place to insert some of the brand’s keywords to boost SEO. If you don’t have a description written on your About page on Facebook, now is the time to create one.

As an SEO company in Los Angeles that helps businesses correct their Facebook problems, Crest Media knows how to identify when Facebook is harming SEO. These tips are not quick fixes for a business with severe SEO problems, but they can make an immediate difference when it comes to getting a Facebook page noticed.