3 Tips to Optimize Your Facebook Timeline

Profiles, Fan Pages, Business Timelines… can we ever be sure there isn’t another overhaul coming for our Facebook business profiles in the near future? Keeping up with all of the changes in social media has almost become a full time job so it’s no wonder many small businesses are throwing their hands in the air in frustration.

While Twitter, LinkedIn, and the newest social media “hottie,” Pinterest, go through simple upgrades and changes, Facebook seems to be the biggest offender and has the most obvious and significant changes that impact its users.

But here is some great news. In our efforts to “keep up” with the latest trends in social media, we have discovered thatthe latest changes, i.e. Facebook’s recent shift from Fan Pages to Timelines, are really big news for small business owners. With this new design, small businesses can highlight their products, interact with, and support their customers, and market to target audiences much more efficiently and effectively. Not to mention the fact that there are many other significant upgrades which you can take advantage of yourself.

The difficulty for an already busy, stressed out business owner comes in finding the time to utilize this new format. How do you keep up with social media trends or take advantage of new services and still have time to finish your too long “to do” list?

The answer is to find balance and make a plan. First decide which social media platforms make the most sense for your business. Then determine how and when you will utilize them.

You may be tempted to cross Facebook off your list simply because of the recent change to a timeline format, but truly that change was designed to help your business. Think about it, the hottest new social platform is Pinterest. Why? Because it’s visual. Timeline is designed to be more visual as well. It’s also designed to help fans get to know you and it encourages visitors to ‘like’ your page and to interact with you on your other platforms.

By carving out say an hour each week, you can take advantage of the new format and put your Facebook Business Timeline to work for you. And the first thing to do is to optimize your page. We have a few tips for doing that. Feel free to use this information to slowly transform your current Business Timeline or, if you prefer, contact us at ReclaimU to take advantage of our great “done 4 you services” (see link in the resource box below) that can help transform your social media marketing efforts.

Facebook Timeline Optimization Tips 4 You

Two simple and significant ways to maximize YOUR Timelines center around the images you select to use for your cover and profile. Both of these “pictures,” if chosen correctly, can help you capture the attention of potential clients, provide visual representation of your business and invite people to get to know you in a whole new way. The third way to maximize your Timeline is to turn visitors into fans and to keep them coming back with a few simple strategies.

Tip #1: When choosing a Cover photo there are a few important things to consider:

1. Your cover photo must capture what your business is. If you are a photographer, a collage of YOUR photos would be appropriate. Likewise, if you are an author, a cover that illustrates your latest book would work. The goal is to visually capture a snapshot of who you are and what you do.

2. It needs to evoke emotion and tell your story. Think about some of the cover pictures you have seen. Many of them are pictures of relaxing beaches, maybe a sunset or even a family portrait. And while the photos are nice and could be a good choice if you are a yoga instructor or a photographer, they lose their impact when a D.J. or marketing consultant uses them.

3. It must follow Facebook cover guidelines. The cover photo is affectionately known as “the land of no”. Facebook has a whole list of things that you may not include on your cover photo so be sure to follow their rules to avoid having your Timeline shut down.

Tip #2: Make your profile picture work for you:

1. Make your profile picture action oriented. This is the icon that the Facebook community sees every time you post. Your ‘friends’ and ‘followers’ see it and so do potential customers. Using an image that encourages them to click on it is the best strategy.

2. Add a call to action. All over Facebook people are clicking on profile pictures. They look and then add comments. But what do people see when they click on your profile photo? What if, when a potential client clicked on your engaging icon, they saw instructions on how to get more information, connect to your web site/sales page, or learn more about you or your services?

By making these 2 simple changes to your profile you are already on your way to getting more from your social media efforts.

Tip #3: Engage your visitors:

1. Talk to your visitors. It’s tempting to simply post your latest blog entry or press release, but Facebook is a social platform. Turning people into raving fans means engaging with them. So post questions and respond to their comments, and be sure to include their name in the response. Talk to them and make it personal.

2. Create a community. According to the research firm Razorfish, the #1 reason fans like a page on Facebook is to gain access to exclusive content, promotions and deals. So give them a reason to ‘like’ you! Use those tabs at the top of the page to ‘friend-gate’ information. This way only the people who’ve liked your page can access it. It’s a great place to post special deals, ‘fan only’ info, and other things that let your fans know you appreciate them and they’re considered insiders.

SEO Guide

1. choose the best keywords
   Time spent researching and selecting the best keywords will be time well spent. Get this step right and you can be sure your SEO efforts will be built on firm foundations. Without proper keyword research and due diligence your future efforts could be in vain.
2. Always use the Title tag
   The title tag is one of the most important tags when it comes to search engine optimisation. Write a unique title tag for each page on your web site. The title tag should accurately reflect the content of your page. It should make sense to visitors and should also include your keywords or phrases - ideally at the beginning of the tag.
3. Write a good Meta Description tag
   While the meta description tag will not improve your search engine ranking, this text is often displayed in the search engine results. A good description can dramatically improve the chances of a visitor clicking your link rather than your competitors.
4. Use your keywords in appropriate places
   Your keywords should be placed in your title tag, in header tags, in link text, and in your alt tags where appropriate. Ensure that your keywords and related terms also appear within the content of your web page - particularly near the beginning and end of the page.
5. Address structural issues
   Make sure your site is easy to use by providing a consistent navigation scheme. Use text links rather than img and provide a site map where appropriate. Avoid using frames or Flash and take steps to resolve possible problems with dynamically generated pages.
6. Validate your HTML
   By validating your code your site will be compliant with the latest web standards as recommended by the W3C. Standards compliant websites are more accessible to visitors and search engines alike. By adopting web standards and validating your code you will be adopting best practice and laying the foundations for a search engine friendly website. 
7. Check your links
   Broken links will cause problems for visitors and search engines. If a search engine cannot access a page on your site, it could easily be removed from the index. 
8. Submit your sites to the best directories
   Make sure you submit your site to the best web directories such as DMOZ, Best of the Web,UK Small Business Directory, Freeindex, Asia web index and others. Check the Google Page Rank of directories before you submit to ensure the site is in good standing with the search engines. Do not use automatic submission software.
9. Develop a good link building strategy
   A good link building strategy takes time to implement and needs to be ongoing. Start by submitting your site to the best directories. Write articles and press releases about your company, products and services and submit these to the relevant directories. Allow other people to publish your articles for free on their websites in return for a one-way link to your site. Request links from authoritative sites in your field or in a related field who already rank highly for your keywords. Use reciprocal linking in moderation and be careful which sites you link to. Take time to make useful contributions on blogs and forums related to your business. Generate interest in your business through social media.
10. Engage in local link building. Link building, whether through traditional efforts such as outreach programs or guest blogging, social media, and leveraging partnerships, will always be one of the strongest ways to obtain more favorable rankings. In addition to helping with rankings, the search engines will look at the origin of the links to help determine local relevance. For example, a Chinese site that has a large number of links coming from other China-based sites will have a stronger authority within the local China search engines. Having quality links coming from within the region will in most cases be slightly more beneficial than having them come from sites from other countries.