New Facebook Local Business Search…
Easy-peasy tips for optimizing your Facebook Page to rank higher in results.
FIND LOCAL BUSINESSES IN YOUR AREA
Apart from providing a platform that lets your business connect with customers, get feedback on your products or services, target and reach new audiences as well as promote your brand through advertisements; Facebook now adds a new way to help users easily find your local business. Although Facebook hasn’t confirmed this officially yet, a certain few have had the opportunity to witness these new additions in action. Many of us usually rely on platforms like Yelp or Google when searching online for a local business. We’ve recently noticed that Facebook has made a few updates that now permit users to instantly search and browse a list of local business categories in the area from the “Facebook Professional Services” page.
TIP #1: If you haven’t already taken advantage of Facebook to promote your local business, it’s time to get started. Facebook puts you in front of the many faces of potential customers who are looking for you. The social platform is the biggest today with over one billion active users. Businesses of all sorts have tasted much success by taking advantage of the social network that offers several benefits and low-cost ways to advertise to consumers online.
COMPARE THE BEST (AND WORST) SERVICES
So far, this new Facebook update has only been launched for the desktop version, yet offers loyal FB users a much needed convenience to discover relevant and local businesses. Because of this feature, Facebook users are now not only able to skim through a list of local shops, but can also read up on reviews left for businesses by other users.
TIP #2: If you’ve been active on Facebook Business, then you’ve probably had your page optimized for your key services. If you haven’t done so yet, you can learn about the value of SMO (social media optiomization) here. Next, don’t use the dynamic URL generated when you sign up when you have an option to personalize your address to strengthen your brand recognition. Use the “About us” section of your Facebook page to emphasize the benefits and values of your products and/or services. This area of your page is essential since it is displayed in the search engine results as your Meta Description as well.
FB’S LOCAL BUSINESS CATEGORIES LIST
The screenshot above shows the landing page for Facebook’s Local Business Search. You can access the page yourself if you copy and paste the following URL https://www.facebook.com/services into the search bar of your internet browser, or instantly open the page in a new tab by clicking here. The search involves the geographical area of the user and comes preselected with your current location. You can also change the search location from the drop down menu. In order to view services in your area, you would simply do so by typing the search terms of your interest into the designated box on the page. Currently, there are more than 85 categories available for users to comb through. Also, as a user types in their search query, more related categories appear below the box from which they can explore.
TIP #3: Make sure you’ve chosen the appropriate category for your business. Choosing the right category will help Facebook users find you exactly when they need you. Facebook gives you various choices that can explain to users whether you are a local business or place; a company, organization, or institution; a brand or product; and artist, band, or public figure; entertainment; and lastly, a cause or community.
FACEBOOK’S 5-STAR RATING FOR YOUR PAGE
The search results displayed on-screen list each business with its star rating and reviews. Generally, the star rating given to a business on any platform is determined by averaging the total amount of stars left for that business on a particular platform. In this case, the FB star ratings shown in their search results will be based off the Facebook 5-star rating system. This means that not all ratings and reviews your business receives on the web will be calculated into these results. The only ratings included within the search results on Facebook will be based on the FB reviews that have been left for your business on the platform itself.
If you’ve been on top of your online marketing and know the game well, then you’ve managed to build positive reviews from your fellow Facebook fans, and this update means that you’re in luck. Good star ratings allow businesses to get the upper hand on their competitors in search results. The number of people searching online and leaving reviews is on a constant rise; and as a result, more and more people have started to use ratings as a deciding factor to whether your product or service will measure up.
TIP #4: Over 88% of consumers trust online reviews, and 9 out of 10 consumers will determine the quality of a local business based on the reviews. Need we say more? Maybe not but we’ll say it anyway because it really can’t be stressed enough. If you haven’t taken a proactive approach towards your online ratings and reviews, you’re missing out on valuable feedback that could be used to a great advantage. Your business can’t afford to put this on the back burner or otherwise you could wind up having to hire a company down the line to Repair Your Online Reputation. Start interacting with your fans and communicate with your customers so that you can make the impacts that will build positive reviews for your business!
‘PREDICTIVE TEXT’ AND ‘SUGGESTIVE SEARCH’
Another change we noticed is that just like Google displays searches based on preferences and past interactions, Facebook now offers search results that are rendered according to a user’s profile and their particular past activities.
The image above shows you an example of how the results are positioned on a page after entering a search. The page is comprised of local businesses with their contact information, working hours, and review excerpts along with the company logo used on the Facebook business page. Lastly, Facebook has also made a map available showing the physical address of a business to help users easily locate and find shops around them.
TIP #5: Make sure to provide your physical address with the city, state, zip, and your local phone number. Having this information available creates a positive ripple effect. It not only helps index your brand for local search results, but also improves your page following, your Facebook page ranking – and so long as your business has an active SEO strategy in progress – it also helps Boost Your Local Business PageRank in the organic results of search engines. Google, the search engine giant, likes pages that offer viewers the most relevance and convenience so they will certainly rank you higher for completing your profile.
STAY LOOPED IN WITH ANGEL SEO FOR UPDATES
Since Facebook has yet to publicly announce or confirm this update, we thought we’d take a minute to point out the exciting new features we have noticed so far. The big social networking site has been known to advocate their updates in the past, so we think the reason they’ve kept a lid on this is only because it’s still in the testing and development phases.
We can’t wait to see what other new additions they may have up their sleeves and how the final product will actually turn out, but we’ll keep you posted — so make sure to stay tuned! Please click the blue RSS Feed button below to subscribe to our feed.
The post New Facebook Update: 5 Tips to Promote Your Local Business appeared first on Angel SEO.
