Facebook’s New Social Graph Search & Why the Search Community is Buzzing

Yesterday’s announcement of Facebook’s new Graph Search feature started a whirlwind of chatter across the web. This new searching tool allows people to search within Facebook and have results pop up based on Interactions (Likes, Comments, Check Ins), about section info and keyword optimization. People are starting to believe that this new function could lead to more search going on in Facebook rather than in Google.

Here is a breakdown of the capabilities of Facebook’s new Graph Search:

Getting Advice:

You can sort out certain categories of your Facebook friends to answer questions and desires you have. For example, if you wanted to find a new show to watch on TV, you could search ‘TV Shows Liked by My Friends’ and have the TV show that is most liked pop up first in results. Another example is if you are looking for a good place to get your hair done, you could search ‘Salons liked by friends’ and have a thorough results page with suggestions on where to go, based on your friend’s opinions.

Finding a Date:

Graph Search jumped on the online dating bandwagon and allows searchers to find people located nearby with common interests. Just type in ‘Single women in Denver who like Skiing’ and you will have a long list of search results to pan through. Say you’re looking to find a date in your area, you could type in ‘Single women in Denver older than 40’ and have yourself a complete list of women to send a poke or private message to.

Finding a Restaurant:

This is an obvious search function that Facebook needed – and will really impact local search results. Everyone’s always checking in at restaurants and posting pictures of food, so why not incorporate that into search? You can use this to try something new by searching ‘restaurants nearby that my friends have Liked’ or you can stick to what you know and type in ‘restaurants nearby that I have been to.’ If you don’t trust the opinions of your friends, you can easily search ‘restaurants in Denver liked by people in Denver’ and have a list populate of the most popular local eats.

Finding People that Share your Interests:

Finding a friend that likes doing the same thing as you is as simple as typing in ‘my friends nearby who Like Gin Mill and downtown Denver’ or for a concert – ‘My friends who live in Denver who Like LIFT.’ The options are endless in finding friends with common interests now!

Discovering Yourself:

This function is basically made for people to have a searchable past (and by past, we mean however long you’ve been on Facebook.) Want to see where you’ve been for the past few years? Search ‘places I’ve checked in’ and see a complete list with geographical locations. Another example is how you can search ‘photos I’ve liked’ and take a walk down memory lane of all the images that inspired you to hit the thumbs up.

So before jumping to conclusions that this new search function may be the latest and greatest way to waste time on the web, consider the implications it has for businesses.

Optimize your Listing for Facebook’s Graph Search:

Graph Search is going to become an effective tool for local search and recommendations. The first thing businesses should do is make sure they have their About section completely filled out. Address, name, category, vanity URL and other information will help your business come up in search results.

The next step to take is to make sure fans are connecting with your page on an ongoing basis. One tip we have for this is to promote Check-In offers. Check-in’s will have heavy influence on ranks in search results, so make sure you are doing something to rake those in.

Another way to grow your fan base (which will help with search results) is to run Facebook promotions. Here at Volume Nine, we have become experts at expanding online communities and increasing engagement on pages. In order to keep up with the new search trends, like Graph Search, you have to stay ahead of the curve.

Want a team that stays ahead of the curve for you? Check our out our social media services to get more information!