Facebook Local Search: A Guide for Business

Find out how to best use Facebook local search for your business through optimization of your

page and the generation of user interaction.

The recent introduction of new Facebook features such as Graph Search and Facebook Home show

how fast the user social experience is moving.

With over 751 million mobile users to Facebook it is imperative that businesses are fully prepared to

optimize their online digital presence to enhance the ROI potential that exists there.

Facebook Local Search is a great way to start, as making the best of this app for a business page will

also serve to establish a presence that can instantly be incorporated into these new features.

[Image: InsideFacebook.com]

The Business Case for using Facebook Local Search

According to Facebook 2013 Q1 Financials on Facebook there are currently:

Over 1.1 billion active monthly users

665 million users daily

751 million mobile users

Over a 150 million people visit Facebook Pages daily.

17 billion location tagged Facebook posts

2 billion connections between local businesses and users

645 million weekly local business page views

13 million weekly comments on local business pages.

In a survey Facebook Local Search was one of the top apps used, second only to Google Maps.

How to get your Business on Facebook Local Search

Well firstly a business needs to have a page! The benefits for having a business page are numerous. If a

page has not been set up it is more than likely that users have already used the Facebook location tagging

feature to check in and there could be numerous unofficial pages already on Facebook relating to your

business.

TIP: Unclaimed Facebook pages show a list of your nearby competitors putting your business at an instant

disadvantage.

Remedy this:

Claim your Page

Report the unofficial page to Facebook and request to claim it.

Click on the settings icon on the page

Select Is this your business?

Verify your business with address and web information

Use email or documentation to verify your connection to the business with Facebook

It can take up to a week for Facebook to accept the claim request and once they have you can begin to

manage the page.

You now have the opportunity to merge the duplicate pages that have already been set up as long as the

business details and address match yours.

Add Location to your existing Facebook Page

If you haven’t already, it is vital that you add your location to your Facebook Page. Facebook users are

going to check into a venue or location whether they can find your official page or not. This means that

you will consistently have unofficial pages created on Facebook which will ultimately dilute the impact of

your official page.

What to do

Make sure to select the Local Business or Place for your category

Click Edit Page at the top of your page.

Click on Select Public Info

Input the exact address of your business in the Address Field or drag the pin on the map to pinpoint

your exact location.

Click on Save Changes and check the tick box to show the map on your page.

TIP: It is advised that businesses with multi – locations create a separate page for each one in order to

enable user check-ins to the specific location.

What can Facebook Local Search do for a Business?

For a business it is all about the return on investment to be gained by being proactive online. Facebook

Local Search is an ideal way to incorporate user gratification with raising brand awareness and increasing

footfall to your business.

Until recently Facebook Local Search was termed as Facebook Nearby which Facebook described as

making “it easy to discover what your friends like”.

Peer recommendation can have a massive impact with the current generation of digital natives and the

opportunity for a business to capitalize on this is huge.

To understand the opportunity for a business it is best to also understand what can be gained from the

user experience.

The user can access the Facebook app through their smartphone and will be shown local business and

places in their area.

A map will detail ‘suggested places’ based on your own activity and your friends. The activity is based on

a number of variables including

Likes

Recommendations

Visits or Check Ins

Ratings

Users can search via specific categories and sub categories such as arts, shopping, nightlife and

restaurants which means it is vital that a business has carefully selected the best category in order to be

easily found.

Once a place has been selected, the user can then navigate to access the business page, read the about

section displaying details such as opening hours or use a map app to obtain further directions to the

location. They also have the option to contact the business directly.

Users can check into a business and share that check in with their friends online. Once a user checks into a

business they can like, recommend and rate the business through a star rating.

Once the activity appears on the users news feed it can then be shared, liked and commented on by their

friends. This in turn shows up on their friends’ newsfeed which means that the potential reach for a

business is huge.

Five ways to optimise Facebook Local Search for your business.

# 1. Use your in store marketing material to invite customers to check in to the

business

A business can ask a customer to check in and provide feedback on their experience using Facebook Local

Search. This can be displayed on counters, posters and business cards.

# 2. Offer an incentive to check-in to your place of business

This could be in the form of a discount or upgrade on the service/product provided. Decide what suits

your business in the form of promotion and again use your in store marketing material to promote this

offer. Users can then access the Facebook app on the spot and share their experience on their news feed.

This is a win-win situation as the user gains the offer and the business placement reach is extended

online.

# 3. Make sure your business page is fully updated with the correct information

As a business you want to be found easily. If a user prevails of the Facebook Graph Search facility, with the

use of clever keywords and the correct information integrated with a strong user interaction, it is more

likely that your business will feature prominently.

# 4. Businesses with multi- locations go local!

It’s all about the combination of local with social. It makes sense to increase local user interaction by

using individual pages for each business even if you have a number of locations on a national or even

global scale.

# 5. Optimise in preparation for the recently introduced Facebook Graph Search

Graph Search was released in January 2013. Whilst it has been rolled out to a minimum amount of users

at this time it will no doubt become accessible to all. We will explain Graph Search in more detail in a

future post but for now it is beneficial for a business to be aware of the new feature and take steps to fully

optimise themselves in preparation.

The four main areas of Graph Search are:

1. Places

2. People

3. Photos

4. Interests

We have explained how to maximise the online impact of your business through places, people and

categories (interests). The focus here is on Photos. In the new graph search when you hover over a locally

searched business there are two buttons that can be accessed; Photos In and Visitors.

When you click on the Photos In button it brings you to a page which displays all the photos that the

business has been tagged in by Facebook users. Experts are not entirely sure if this currently affects the

search rankings for business in Facebook’s search algorithm but suspect that it does.

With this in mind, encourage visitors to take and post photos when they visit and check in using the

methods above. As well as maybe affecting the search ranking’s it gives potential visitors a visual of what

to expect from your business and visuals are good!

Focus on metrics to impact search

We have consistently mentioned the metrics that add impact to Facebook Local Search results in the post.

The core message is that interaction with your business through Facebook is key to gaining traction

within a search. Types of interaction include:

Likes

Check Ins

Recommendations and Comments

Visuals such as tagged photos

Ratings

The sharing capacity allows for extended reach which can only be of benefit to increasing your business

profile online.

Are you utilising Facebook Local Search for your business? Tell us what has worked best for you.

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