How to find out what parts of your Facebook page are indexed by Google
Image via CrunchBase
I am like a sponge and I am always keen to learn new tips and tricks, especially when it is anything to do with the online world. So today I am going to share with you a golden nugget that I discovered last week about Google and Facebook. A big thanks to @reallysimpleSEO (who I follow on Twitter, for this fantastic bit of new found knowledge)
What parts of your Facebook Page are indexed by Google?
To be completely honest with you, I was under the impression that it was only the about area and the Facebook page name that was indexed by Google. This is what I have been teaching in my workshops for the last 3 years, but now I have learned that new aspects of your Facebook page are also indexed. There has always been a war going on between Google and Facebook and in my opinion, Google should stay with what they are good at (search engine, and not social networking), and Facebook should stay with what they are good at (social networking, not search engine) – but that’s a whole other blog!
Anyway, here is how you find out what parts of your Facebook page are indexed by Google:
Go to: site:https://www.facebook.com/username (type in your actual username)
For example, I have entered site:https://www.facebook.com/greenumbrellabiz into my browser and I see some Google search results. I can see that at the time of writing this blog, then our Facebook Page has been indexed by Google 492 times (which is not bad).
Now this is the clever bit. If you hover on the right side, you will see a little grey arrow. If you hover over this then you will be shown a preview of the individual post that has been indexed. I now know what Google is indexing, therefore I need to put more activity into these areas to get a better ranking on Google.
For Green Umbrella the top ranking areas are:
1. The timeline (so that means we are doing something right!)
2. Various applications (so I need to swap them around more regularly, and perhaps have a bit of a cleanse)
3. The Photos Tab – (our photos are very active on Facebook, and it shows in the ranking, so we will continue to do this).
4. The about area. (This is because we regularly add milestones of the business to generate traffic, and the google map box is ticked)
The key to social media success is to constantly evolve and give your audience what they want. By analyzing some of the key areas of your Facebook page will give you the knowledge of where you are going wrong or what you are doing right, so that you can change your strategy to make it better.
I hope you found this useful, as I know it was a little light bulb moment for me!
If you have any SEO tips then I would love to hear them.
Related articles
- How to Optimize Your Facebook Page for Facebook Graph Search (socialmediaexaminer.com)
- Google Shows ‘How Search Works’ With New Site (mashable.com)
- Facebook Graph Search Could Be Its Greatest Innovation (mashable.com)
- Google CEO Says Facebook Is Doing a ‘Really Bad Job’ With Its Products (mashable.com)
If you are looking to outsource your social media, then consider using the services of Green Umbrella. From as little as £150 a month.
I am a total social media and digital marketing junkie! My focus is on making a difference to SME's and also independent recruitment agencies. Giving them those all important lightbulb moments that will really enhance their business. I am a total Apple geek. In my spare time I am a camping and geocaching nerd!
