Facebook has made its own built-in search engine called Graph Search.
Essentially, it allows people to discover information based on user’s data that Facebook has collected over time. For instance, someone could use Graph Search to discover information such as “pub and bar in Sydney that my friends like” or “photos of my friends that I liked.”
While this feature is currently in a limited beta release, Graph Search seems to improve the social network’s half-hearted search bar, which only allowed users to search for people or pages on the social network. Moreover, it has the potential to build bigger impact on Facebook. Find out five important facts that you should know about Graph Search in this article:
1. Like Does Matter
Facebook Likes for business owners are now more important than ever. Graph Search can make it easier for people to discover and learn more about various businesses on Facebook. This is because the search results are based on Facebook’s database, which includes information that has been shared by businesses and individuals alike. Thus, businesses with a large fan base will be more likely to turn up in searches for phrases like “pub and bar in Sydney that my friends like.”
2. Customer Engagement
Aside from gaining more likes, business owners should focus on maintaining an engaging Facebook Page that includes good quality interactions with customers. Since the search results are based on information that has been shared by users, the interactions between a company and its fans can help to score higher probability in the search results. Moreover, Graph Search also makes interactions, like check-ins, more important, since prospects might search for phrases like “good hotel in Sydney Australia”.
3. Improve your Page
The sentence above explains it all. The best thing business owners can do for their Page is to improve its appearance by investing in it and make sure that it is complete and up-to-date. Details like the company’s name, category, URL and information within the “About” section of a Facebook Page should be available all the time. Additionally, Page owners should make sure that their business’ website address is correct since it could help prospects to discover a local business when they are searching for places in a specific location.
4. Graph Search Does Not Support New Paid-Ad Search…For Now
As Graph Search becomes more widely available, there is a speculation about a new ad format from Facebook. Facebook confirmed that for now there are currently no new ad formats available for Graph Search. However, it is important to note that Pages and apps can still use the Sponsored Results ad format to show up in the search results for all Facebook users, whether they have Graph Search or not.
5. Sign Up
Graph Search is currently in a limited beta release, which means that you must sign up to gain access to this tool. According to Facebook, the rollout of Graph Search will be gradual, starting with a very small number of users. It can be concluded that the company is still fixing some bugs to provide the best search results possible to Graph Search users before it is available for everyone.