How to Get Your Facebook Fan Page Indexed on Google

Getting your Facebook Fan Page indexed by Google is vital for building awareness for your brand. You need to get your business in front of as many consumers as possible and having your Facebook Fan Page indexed by the nation’s most popular search engine is a terrific start.

All online endeavors need traffic. You get traffic by having your web properties, such as your blog and your tweets, show up on search engines. Facebook Fan Pages are free and Google indexes them so having an indexed Facebook Fan Page adds to your Internet presence. People using Google to search for a product or service don’t need a Facebook account to click on your Fan Page and see what your business is about. Here is your chance to have a page title, URL and short description listed on the search results page that is different from the title, URL and description of your website or blog.

Setting Up Your Fan Page

Fill out all of the information Facebook asks for when setting up a Fan Page. It’s temping to get the page set up as quickly as possible by rushing through filling out all of the details but this is the worst thing you can do if you want your Facebook Fan Page indexed by Google.

Google bots view the title, custom URL and tab headings you create for your Facebook Fan Page as H1 headings in HTML so these details are extremely important. Google gives the most weight to the first word of your page title but you should avoid keyword spamming and use your business name and only one or two important keywords. If you publish a string of keywords instead of your actual business name for a title, Facebook may revoke your publishing rights. They ultimately control your Fan Page’s data and interactions and if they decide you’re spamming, your Fan Page will be disabled and you won’t have to worry about it being indexed by Google.

Using the tabs, also called content boxes, on your Fan Page will help you get indexed by Google. Google will show a separate URL in its search results for each tab so give each one a keyword-rich name and use one for images, one for videos, etc. This maximizes the number of results shown on Google that are controlled by you when someone searches for your business.

Your “About Us” text, along with your page name, is your Fan Page’s Meta description that shows up on Google. Take the time to create an “About Us” section that will appeal to the bots as well as your target audience on Facebook and Google. Get the most important information upfront, in the first 140 characters, which is all that Google’s search engine results pages will display. You can go into more detail after the first paragraph.

Include your business address and phone number so your Fan Page will get indexed for local search results. Don’t skip this step even if your business is strictly an online business; Google likes to index information-rich pages and your address and phone number is unique information exclusive to your business.

Is My Facebook Fan Page Indexed by Google?

Don’t assume that since you created a Fan Page, Google will automatically crawl the page. Go to Google and put your full Facebook Fan Page URL in the search box. If Google does not list your Facebook Fan Page in the search results, you are not indexed. You won’t get indexed immediately; it could take anywhere from 24 hours to one month after you create the page for your Facebook Fan Page to get indexed by Google so don’t worry if you’re not indexed the day after you create your page.

Your Fan Page is not automatically indexed by Google if it shows up in Facebook search results. Facebook uses Bing; therefore it’s possible for you to be indexed in Facebook and Bing, but not by Google.

Facebook Fan pages are indexed by Google if they are updated frequently and feature relevant keywords. After verifying your business’s page is indexed in Google, check its ranking for your most important keyword phrases.

If your Facebook Fan Page isn’t indexed by Google, don’t submit your URL to Google. If your page isn’t indexed, you need to correct the problem. Google didn’t overlook your Fan Page, their bots encountered a problem while trying to crawl your page.

Troubleshooting Tips

Check your Facebook settings if the Google bots are ignoring your Fan Page. In almost all cases, your settings are what is preventing Google from crawling and then indexing your Fan Page.

Facebook suggests excluding certain counties if your content violates the countries laws or your content might be considered offensive there. Keep offensive content off your business page and let countries worry about censoring illegal content that their citizens may access. Don’t exclude any geographic locations, even if your business is not global. Simply leave the box blank. If you exclude people in certain countries from viewing your Facebook Fan Page, people have to be logged into Facebook to view your page so Facebook can determine their location. Google bots can’t log in to Facebook, consequently, they cannot crawl your Fan Page for indexing.

Age restrictions also keep your page from being indexed because they also exclude Facebook users who are not logged in. Depending on your industry, you may be able to use age restrictions on specific posts and let everyone see your main Fan Page so you can get indexed by Google.

Don’t hide content from Google. If you have content which you reserve for fans, Google won’t see the content because Google’s bots are not a fan of your business. If your business will gain more fans by offering exclusive content, make sure there is plenty of other content for Google to index before creating any exclusive content.

My Fan Page is Indexed – What’s Next?

Building brand awareness does not stop once your page indexed by Google. You can have an unlimited number of fans but Facebook users have their choice of millions of Fan Pages to follow and they will unlike yours if it’s not engaging. Your goal should be to show the social side of your business, not just post an endless stream of advertising. You’re not creating a duplicate of your existing website; give your Fan Page exclusive content not found on your other web properties.

Increasing Your Rank on Google

Having your Facebook Fan Page indexed by Google is not enough. Anyone can get their Facebook Fan Page indexed by Google but if your Fan Page is on page 30 of the search engine results for your brand, no one will ever see it. Update often and build backlinks to your Fan Page to move up in the SERPs.

Promote your Facebook Fan Page by putting links to the page’s URL on your business website and anyone else you can add a “do follow” link without spamming. Google will increase the visibility of your Fan Page if you have backlinks from authoritative sources.

Post videos on your Facebook Fan Page; Facebook videos are now indexed by Google. Give your images and videos keyword-rich names and captions to let Google’s spiders know more about your images and videos.

Consider your business website the place to tell people about your business and your Facebook Fan Page as the place to tell them more about yourself and your key employees. This approach gives Google users more choices when browsing the search results for your business; letting them connect with you and your business in multiple ways.