The latest thing that Facebook have launched is called Graph Search – their explanation of it is here . It seems to be rocking the boat in only ways that Facebook can with its users, their number one gripe being privacy or lack of it. I’ve looked into it myself and have to say as someone who doesn’t want my world being shared with those other than my friends and family, I can see the concerns. That said you could argue that if you didn’t want your private life being made public and searchable – don’t put it out there in the first place! The trouble I think that Facebook has is that with a move to more open information sharing, it is stepping back from what it used to be known (and appreciated) for – remember back when it was purely for sharing among your college friends. Now kids under 10 have accounts and you can get stalked by companies on there.
So what does Facebook Graph Search mean for online marketers? There have been a few ideas thrown around and my favourites come from Smart Insights who keep it simple and say:
Here’s a simple checklist for marketers get ready for Graph Search:
- Check your Page and business name, category, vanity URL, and information you share in the “About” section of your Timeline. This helps people find your business and is what appears in Graph Search results.
- If you have a location or a local Place Page, make sure you provide your full address so your Page appears when someone is searching for a specific location.
- Focus on attracting the right fans to your Page and on giving your fans a reason to interact with your content on an on going basis.
- Join the Beta via the link at the top of this article – but you will need to be based in the US
- Above all, keep posting timely, relevant and valuable content on your Page as this will continue to drive engagement and reach.
There will be plenty m ore blogs coming out about this new tools – some will say it’s evil and some will say it’s aiming to beat Google in the search front. I would say it is another attempt to monetise their offering and add value to their community by Facebook – we’ll see how it fairs!
