Facebook, Google, and SEO
image credit: jakebouma on flickr
I was just reading this great article on Facebook over on Copyblogger [awesome website btw]. I started thinking about my websites and Facebook and Google…
What the article says:
…Facebook links are invisible to Google – and therefore don’t contribute to your PageRank. Facebook links make no lasting direct contribution to your site’s SEO, and as Facebook drives an ever-larger percentage of traffic to your site, that means quality content will overshadow all other SEO techniques.
What it means:
Don’t overdo it with content on Facebook, but make sure you tease enough to keep readers coming from Facebook to your website to read your content there.
What the article says:
…as Facebook becomes ever larger, and keeps more users inside its walled garden, your web site will need to appear in Facebook’s feeds and searches or you will miss out on an important source of web traffic.
What it means:
Don’t count Facebook out as an important marketing tool. According to Hitwise, Perez Hilton now gets more traffic from Facebook than from Google. Be sure that if you are going to use Facebook that you spend some time making it worthwhile for your fans. Just throwing up a fan page isn’t going to be enough.
A timely article! I am just about to embark on a fan page for my work. Thanks!
I just read every single post! BAKERY truly is an amazing resource – what a wonderful service you guys are offering! Thank you, thank you! It will be exciting to see this site grow and flourish. You’ve definitely got yourselves another reader.
I started posting my issue pages on Facebook after reading that article. It’s not bringing as many visits as Twitter, but it is still increased traffic. Interestingly, the bounce rate is pretty low. I think it’s because I don’t use Facebook for marketing purposes, so the people who are clicking in from Facebook are friends and family.