I set up Google Alerts to monitor a number of keywords– and increasingly I’ve noticed how updates to Facebook pages are now showing up. Part of this is the fact that Google is increasingly using social signals to determine rankings, since what might have gotten hundreds of links a few years ago will today get a ton of “likes”. And the concept of links between pages is now morphing into connections between people. It’s not just PageRank, but FriendRank– or whatever term you prefer to measure influence.
A Facebook executive recently shared with me how getting more fans to your page was actually a great SEO strategy. Think about that. You’re generating more inbound links to your page (and yes, it’s accumulating juice) and with frequent/relevant postings, you’re generating more EdgeRank, too. Sometimes that’s enough juice to outrank your regular website, if it’s weak enough. They are probably top 3 for your name, if not already #1. Here’s mine.
So I predict Facebook showing up in SERPS not just for people’s names, but increasingly for any type of entity. Have you seen yourself show up more in Google News, Facebook’s own search, and just in general? BlitzMetrics believes that Facebook ads actually help your organic rankings, as you can drive more fans to your pages.
Interesting that you should write this Dennis. I’ve noticed this on several occasions too. Looks like the social web is taking over from the algorithmic bot. Like you say pagerank is morphing into some kind of socialrank.
This is bound to continue. I strongly believe this is why google is repeatedly trying to get traction with google Buzz. Because google knows that facebook really is onto something with the “Like” button.
The “Like” button in my opinion will quickly rival google’s own monster algorithm. But a computer algorithm can never compete with the combined parallel processing and influence represented by networks of real people.
I don’t know much about social marketing as much as I do about paid marketing models, but I see the writing on the wall as far as the current trends are heading.
Wynne– astute observations, I think linkjuice might morph to likejuice!
Dennis, I’m so glad to find this. I’ve googled along this search string several times over the last weeks. I don’t know why FB doesn’t add in the code necessary to let FB page admins see when they’re being spoken of. That’s why I prefer Twitter from a brand monitoring standpoint. I’d be glad to see more dialogue around this… someday, I’ll have a blog (I’m either behind the times or a rebel) and post just to that question.
Thanks much!
I’ve definitely noticed this, just in my own personal searching. However, I kind of find it annoying, as whatever references the subject that someone Likes end up creating pages of filler before I can actually dig through to find official sources. I know, I’m a little lazy, but still. it used to be much easier to find specific things