HispanicBusiness

Due to the strengthening relationship between Bing and Facebook, businesses should consider combining SEO and social media strategies to help improve overall visibility in Facebook Graph Search, recommends integrated SEO, social media and PR company Punch Communications.

Whilst Google continues to be the global search market leader, brands' SEO agencies must also value Bing's search results to ensure visibility in Facebook Graph Search is maximised. In addition to the new social search feature returning Page information, Graph Search can also offer users relevant webpages from Bing, when appropriate to a search.

Graph Search results not only differ for each search, but also for each individual user. Facebook assesses the number of connections between the profile of the person searching and the query and displays results relating to the searcher's own profile activities and photos first, before displaying other results from friends, public profiles, Pages and Bing search. Prioritising results by what it deems most relevant, Facebook recognises that while people are most likely to using Graph Search for internal results, external webpages will also be valuable information for many.

In time, depending on how frequently Graph Search serves results directly from Bing, Facebook may acquire a percentage of the search market from Google.

In order to capitalise on this potential to have a website visible to Facebook Graph Search users, in-house and agency SEO teams must make sure search activity doesn't focus solely on Google and they must start to work more closely with social media managers. With Graph Search still in its early stages, the full impact it will have on Bing's search traffic is still yet to be understood, but it is clear the opportunity must not be overlooked.

Pete Goold, managing director of integrated PR, SEO and social media agency Punch Communications, comments: "Brands could really benefit from integrating SEO and social media strategies to ensure both Facebook Pages and websites are visible in Graph Search. Whilst Google is the number one global search tool, Bing has its foot in the social search door due to its relationship with Facebook and its own social sidebar. This means Microsoft's search engine must not be ignored.

"Both SEO and social media professionals should carefully watch the evolution of Graph Search as in time it could see people using Facebook more frequently for external web searches."