#optimizing facebook

Earlier this month, I discussed tips and tricks to help boost your Facebook fan base and increase visibility by turning your fan page from whimpy to wow. What's the next step? Optimizing your fan page by boosting your ranking and capturing your audience. If you're using social media as a tool to create a profile with your company information and a picture, and to connect with people who are contacting you, then you are making some very big mistakes.

As a business owner or individual with the goal of increasing brand awareness and driving in sales, you should not be sitting back waiting for customers to interact with. You should be using your Facebook fan page - or any social media account for that matter - as a landing page to interact with people that is rich with variety of marketing techniques.

The most important consideration to make when using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is how your content, wall posts and tweets effect search engines. The goal of your social media use should be to drive popularity and captivate an audience by increasing brand awareness.

As social media continues to grow and evolve, more and more businesses will be utilizing the great benefits it has to offer. For this reason, Social Media SEO needs to play a huge part in your social media marketing efforts in order to stand out in the crowd. With that in mind, there are a few "Must-Dos" for every business or personal brand that wants to optimize their social media experience - in this case, Facebook.

Respect Your Audience. Every person you connect with has the right to his or her own opinion. When it comes to good and bad experiences, most people are more likely to be vocal about a bad experience they have had with your company. Use social media to make a public attempt to resolve the issue and find a solution. Instead of using your profile page to pitch products and services, utilize this space to connect with customers by posting information they may be interested in, as it relates to your industry. This is also a great place to provide them with free tools, information and coupons to show them how much their being a fan means to you.

Use Your Keywords. The keywords you use on your website or blog are a key contributor in determining your ranking on a search engine. This is equally true for social media. Including keywords that describe your business, service or brand on Facebook will be recognized by search engines increasing your ranking. While you should include keywords in your posts, it is a very good idea to include those same keywords in the "Info" section of your profile. These keywords will help to boost your fans, optimizing your overall social media experience.

Engage And Reciprocate. Instead of sitting back and waiting for people to come to you, go out and engage with them on their wall by posting comments. Help people by providing answers to their questions or suggesting links to information they may find useful. People who find your information useful will click through to your fan page and, if your content is engaging, will become a fan. This is the most social way to use social media and improve traffic to your fan page.

Using Multiple Media. Unlike some other social media platforms, Facebook offers the ability to included different applications on your profile. If you have a blog, include a tab with your RSS feed. If you post videos on YouTube, include those videos on your fan page and in a tab to give your fans direct access. There are several applications which will create a fun, engaging and informative fan page. Don't over-crowd your profile with tons of different application, but select a few and use them to their fullest potential.

Finally, the people who are succeeding with social media are the people you should be learning from. The same keywords that you should be using to optimize your social media experience are also amazing tools to help you find incredible amounts of free information on the web. Search for people in your industry who are "Crushing It" - in the words of Gary Vaynerchuk - and copy what they are doing. Don't be afraid to try new marketing ideas and to be creative; and, when you find something that works for you, stick with it!