As Facebook filed for its initial public offer, it’s the perfect time to examine the website’s performance online and how its audience compares with that of other social networks.

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No, Facebook didn’t create a search product to compete with Google, but a group of engineers from Facebook, as well as Twitter and Myspace, collaborated on a tool that they are calling Don’t Be Evil.

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Although looking up specific companies on social networks has been a common practice for years, many consumers have now discovered that they can use social networks to actually find a company that deals with the product or service they need.

Social media search is slowly evolving into a search service.

So how can your company get to the top of a social media search page? By using the right keywords.

Smart keywords choices and placement will give you a better chance of moving up on a social media search page. In this article, we are going to show you the  ways you can use keywords on your social media pages.

Find The Right Keywords

The keywords you decide to use will be different for different social media accounts. It is not a “one keyword fits all” operation. There are a few things you can do to find the right keywords for each of your social media profiles and pages:

• Lay Terms: Think about a common word that someone would use to describe your company. If someone couldn’t think of your company name, what would they type in the search bar of a social media site? To-do list software? Picture app?
• Desired Association: You may want to consider choosing a keyword that you want to be associated with. If you want to show up when the words “daily deal app” are typed into the search bar, make that one of your keywords.
• Competition Check: Competition isn’t a big issue when it comes to nabbing the number one spot of a social media search query, but it’s still something to consider. Once you think you have a good keyword, type it into the search bar and see what comes up. If there are a lot of very relevant companies, you may want to try a more specific keyword.
• Search Engine Optimization Keyword Research: If you have already performed SEO keyword research, it would be wise to revisit your findings and use some of those same keywords.
• Prepare for Different Social Media Sites: For example, if you’re an electronics company, think of keywords related to popular product models that will be useful on your Facebook page.

Once you have found a keyword that’s right for you, it’s time to actually start optimizing.

Photo Captions

The goal is to use keywords on your social media site whenever possible. One of the first things you can do is use these keywords to describe your company’s photos.

Most companies generally have several photos on their social accounts, but few actually put thought into the captions. It may take some creativity, but the more you can incorporate your keywords the better.

Links And Tags

If you are ever going to update a status on your account, try and use your keywords as much as possible. Although this may be difficult when linking back to another webpage, it’s entirely possible to add it into a status description or use as a hash tag.

All of the major social networks have a place for a small blurb about the person or company. For example, the company Higher Visibility may want people to find their company when they type the word “internet marketing agency” into the search box. By placing it in the headline, they’re optimizing their page for that keyword.

Headlines

Headlines are on-page drivers for search engine optimization, so you can bet that search engines will be indexing important headline content often. In addition, Facebook is a trusted domain, so it tends to rank higher in search engine results than the company website sometimes.

This is almost always true when it comes to an individual, but it’s something for companies to also consider. Ranking on major search engines like Google is important, so it’s always a good idea to give your social media accounts the extra push by using your target keywords.

About Section

Use your keyword in the about section on your Facebook page. Really lay on the keyword usage thick. You don’t want your summary sections to sound strange or unnatural, but if you have an opportunity to use your keyword, go for it.

What This Means for Your Business

Getting to the top of a search page on a social network is considerably easier than trying to get to the top of Google search results . People search for things on social networks all the time, but the idea of optimizing an account to reach the top of the search results is relatively new. There isn’t a lot of competition, but there can be a lot of gain for companies using social media keywords. In other words:

• Transfer your search engine optimization skills into social media search boxes;
• Get ahead of the curve before your competition; and
• Watch your fans and friends increase.

One Final Note

As the social graph continues to opens up over time, the general consensus is that search engines will be using this social data to improve their search results. Optimizing your social media accounts now is a great way to keep ahead of the competition.

Guest writer Amanda DiSilvestro blogs for KissMetrics. First and last images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Facebook will most likely never develop a search engine of its own to compete with Google, but that doesn’t mean the social network can’t carve out its niche in the search sector.

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Amid all of the speculation on the effects of adding content from Google Plus and Picasa to Google’s search results, another back story is beginning to emerge: Why have Google and Facebook never reached a search agreement?

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Google fired what was initially seen as a powerful shot earlier this week in its ongoing rivalry with Facebook by adding content from the Google Plus social network and Picasa photo-sharing service to its search-engine results, but could that shot have backfired?

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Google took the latest shot in its battle with Facebook by adding results from its Google Plus social network and Picasa photo-sharing service to its search-engine results.

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For the second year in a row, Americans visited Facebook more than any other website.

And for the third year in a row, people in the U.S. keyed the word “Facebook” into search engines more than any other term.

That’s according to Experian Hitwise, which also found:

• Facebook accounted for 3.1 percent of all searches, a 46 percent increase from 2010.
• Four variations of the term “Facebook” were among the top 10 terms and accounted for 4.42 percent of searches overall, a 24 percent increase from 2010.
• Social networking–related terms dominated the results, accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches. This is an increase of 12 percent compared with 2010.
• Common search terms for Facebook — e.g., facebook and facebook.com — accounted for 3.48 percent of all searches in the U.S. among the top 50 terms, which represents a 33 percent increase compared with 2010.
• Facebook was the top-visited website for the second year in a row.
• Facebook accounted for 10.29 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November of 2011, a 15 percent increase from 2010.

Visits to the website and searches for the word “Facebook” represent two different fact sets. People who search for the word “Facebook” and variations thereof might be newer users of the site or folks who seek news stories mentioning Facebook.

Regardless, both sets of data show that Facebook’s popularity isn’t waning.

Simon Bradstock, general manager of Experian Hitwise, said in a prepared statement:

Navigational searches dominated the top search results as users typed in terms versus typing in the URL in the browser bar. Hitwise saw 11 percent growth of single-word searches in 2011 as terms like ‘face’ and ‘you’ made the top 50 searches.

Marketers need to be particularly brand-savvy when managing their search optimization campaigns because of this behavior, which is a result of predictive search functionality across major search engines. Other top 2011 searches reflect ongoing fascination with celebrities online, and many of the top fast-moving searches centered on natural disasters or notable personalities passing away.

Readers, what insights do you glean from Experian Hitwise’s statistics?

X1 Technologies claims it’s been an active player in the search sector since late 2003, and the company’s latest software release, X1 Pro 7, adds the capability to search Facebook, Twitter, and Webmail to the existing ability to search corporate email and local files.

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AutoTrader.com hit the gas on a new app for its Facebook page, hoping to accelerate car shopping by bringing enhanced searching ability to potential buyers.

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