How many FaceBook likes do I need to start making a difference?
-
Just started the social scene.
We have a FaceBook page
https://www.facebook.com/SMSPro.Safety.Management.System
Only about a year old, and until two weeks ago, we had about 8-10 likes.
Then I started working on getting likes (please like this page if you can).
Question: How many Likes do I need for Google to start counting this as significant?
Would also appreciate any comments on FaceBook page to help.
-
On a related note, keep an eye on the YouMoz blog. Next week there's a post coming up about how to market the experts in your field who aren't necessarily a big deal on the internet.
-
Outstanding, William! Simply outstanding! Thanks for pulling my head out my rear.
-
In that case, I probably am even more convinced that FB isn't the right place for you. For many B2B companies, I usually lean towards LinkedIn and Twitter, and focus on producing high value and high credibility thought leadership content. That type of content is valued more highly on Twitter/LinkedIn, whereas FB is more about some form of entertainment.
There are a few things to keep in mind when thinking about how social affects search rankings. First, you have 'personalized search,' which means that you can potentially influence the search results of the small group of people who are in your second degree connections on different social networks -- this works extremely well on Google+ for certain types of things, but I think it works somewhat on other social networks as well, and may get better in the future. The second type of influence goes beyond second degree connections, and results when you have viral content that triggers lots of legitimate social signals (+1s, Likes, RTs, faves, etc.). In order to see positive outcomes from this type of thing, you need to create something that is ACTUALLY awesome. To get the results from personalized search, all you need to do is very basic stuff. To get the much larger results of hitting beyond your 2nd tier folks, it is not just a numbers game, and I never recommend it unless you are prepared to really put your back into it. In fact, you should check out this post by the Oatmeal (formerly of SEOMoz) to see the answer of how to succeed on FB.
-
RE: "Funny, OMG, weasel and rant topics will generate more traffic than any sort of biz generation."
This is why I failed to see the value of FB in the beginning.
I really don't get this. Promises of Madonna showing her panties will get more Likes and traffic than any legit business.
I have a competitor in Australia who is a new entrant into aviation safety software. My site (http://www.aviation-sms.com)has considerably more content, links and time in existence than his. aerosdb.com.
Competitor ranks higher than me, and I see that he has a lot of tweets and FB likes. Hence the start of this "Social Networking" crusade.
And the reasoning behind the question: how many FB likes do I need to make a difference. Maybe I should put a campaign promising to show Madonna in her panties. If they Like me, I show a picture. (just kidding).
-
In my opinion, FB likes don't generate any direct search engine benefit. However, if you have content that people share and those shares lead to visits - then you have something of value - maybe.
Funny, OMG, weasel and rant topics will generate more traffic than any sort of biz generation.
-
btw, thank you for taking time to respond!
-
most of my clients (decision makers) are older generation and not FaceBook users.
These are managers in the aviation industry. I don't think FaceBook will be a prime marketing strategy. I just need to get some Google power from it because Google is evaluating the "social" aspect and using it to help determine rankings.
-
Facebook is one of those areas where you are better off (in my opinion) by counting the human feedback you generate, rather than the SEO ranking. In other words, you are literally creating conversations with lots of people, so you should be evaluating the topics of those conversations (are they relevant? positive? interesting?). You should also be reviewing the source of new fans, names, and whether or not they go silent, etc. From there, you should look at the "reach" within Facebook itself to see how many unique people your posts are hitting. If none of this appeals to you, then FB is probably not going to be a good investment, but if it does, then FB should be awesome, and you will probably get some SEO value out of it as well. Someone smarter than me might be able to tell you exact numbers that start driving Google results, but my own experience has been that if FB isn't valuable to you for some non-SEO reasons, then you are unlikely to have strong company buy-in for very long.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
In the Google search results, the company name (with the drop down arrow) next to the result URL is incorrect. The company being displayed here is a company we acquired many years back. How do I adjust/fix this?
When I search any term for my organization, we are getting good results BUT the company name, next to the results URL is of an orgnization we acquired many years back and not the name of our company. The URL is correct page JUST the company name next to this URL is incorrect on the Google search results page. How do I go about changing so the company name next to the URL ?
Branding | | DigitalNTT0 -
New Product. New Brand. Gmail/Authorship Questions. Need Advice.
I'm in the process of developing a new product and brand name and would like to create all the social media accounts (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc), including G+ and want it to have it's own Gmail ID like ABCXYZ@gmail.com, so I can set up all accounts using this Gmail ID and if needed down the road, have someone else help manage the accounts so they have that login and my my main Gmail login. My question is, does Google frown upon setting up new Gmail IDs under the same name "Patrick McCoy" as I have my name tied to my personal Gmail account and my company's Gmail account "whiteboardcreations@gmail" both with G+ pages and URLs of /+PatrickMcCoy1 and /+PatrickMcCoy2 respectively. I'd like to have Authorship associated with the new product website and also want the new product to have it's own G+ Business Page to post updates, info, etc., which is why I'm getting a little confused on how I'd do it the right way, What would you do or does it really matter... can my new Gmail account of ABCXYZ@gmail just be /+PatrickMcCoy3 which is associated to my new product/brand name? Thank you and look forward to the feedback!
Branding | | WhiteboardCreations0 -
Webmaster tool's "Content Keywords" advice needed
I am looking in my webmaster tools and under the "Optimization Tab" >> "Content Keywords" and I find my website's list of what I assume words Google notices mentioned frequently. I want to know how I can better manage this and get more relevant key words to show up. Because the website I am referring to is a college lifestyle magazine we have various topics that range and I could see confuse Google.The top word is college which is great but some of the others seem a little random and could definitely be more relevant. Any tips on how to improve this? webmaster-tool.png
Branding | | CEOLaser0 -
What is the best set-up on Facebook if you have a spanish speaking and english speaking audience?
Hunting around I don't see a simple answer as to the best way to treat a customer base that speaks 2 different languages. The ultimate goal is to build the most efficient, easy to manage solution where segmentation is minimal, ie: we don't have to add 2 lists of friends, if possible. There are a couple of options, 2 company pages (1 english, 1 spanish) 1 company page (english) + community page (spanish) - community pages look like the company can loose ownership however. 1 company page + group What is the best way to do this?
Branding | | landon_harlan0 -
What if I have multiple sites? Do I need to register separately?'
I have 3 sites which has been running for 3-5 years. I've limited knowledge on SEO and some handholding is needed.
Branding | | FrankLaw0 -
Need to create more profile pages for my brand, any suggestions for strong sites that will rank high? Done the obvious ones like Twitter, FB and Linkedin
I am looking for sites that will rank high in SERP's for my brand name, any suggestion would be great. I am not looking for links from these sites.
Branding | | PottyScotty0 -
Need a quick simple report comparing popularity of two brand names...
CURT Manufacturing compared to Reese Products. curtmfg.com and reeseprod.com Both sell towing and trailer hitch products. What is the best approach you can recommend using the Pro tools? I perform lightweight analytics using Google Analytics, and some keyword tools here, and also Majestic SEO and Compete - but not a pro and would LOVE it if someone can give me best course direction. Thank you, M Adelman
Branding | | CURT-20817
CURT Mfg.0 -
Facebook Like my website or fan page??
Should I want people facebook liking my website or my fan page? Is there a way to link the two? Here is my dilemma... People liking my website will obviously have an effect on rankings within bing and google possibly. BUT - People liking my fan page will allow me to engage with them in the future about givaways, sales and so on. I'm stuck, is there a way to link these? Or if not, which do you recommend?
Branding | | Hyrule0