Facebook Graph Search and Your Business Page

In January, Facebook announced a new feature called "Graph Search." Greeted with inquisitive buzz from news media, everybody had an opinion, from the The New York Times to local newspapers to niche technology publications. The big question: Would Graph Search replace Google?

The jury is still out on that one, but the popular answer seems to be: Probably not, but it can change the way we use the Internet. While search engines like Google and Bing scour the entire public web using search algorithms focused on keywords, link profiles, and other signals, Graph Search utilizes data provided by your social network, assembling search results based on the pages, photos, people, and places your Facebook friends "Like" on the site. Facebook engineers designed Graph Search to "speak human," functioning best when users enter phrases instead of keywords, such as "Friends who went to the University of Minnesota and live in Minneapolis" or "My coworkers who like Bob Dylan."

Is Graph Search actually useful? It depends. If you're looking for plain old information, Graph Search isn't a reliable search engine, though it does include some search results from Bing in addition to its own data. But if you're looking for recommendations, Graph Search is a powerful tool. For example, when I search Google for "restaurants in Minneapolis," most of the top results don't appeal to me. If I ask Facebook Graph Search to show me "Restaurants in Minneapolis my friends like," all my favorite restaurants pop up. So Graph Search can be helpful, provided these two things are true: one, your friends take the time to Like something on Facebook, and two, you trust your friends' tastes. As Facebook explains in their Help section, Graph Search "enables people to find information through the filter of their friends."

So what does this mean for your business' Facebook Page? The most important thing to know is that Graph Search amplifies the importance of Likes. There's no quick trick for gaining Likes on Facebook. The best strategy is to create and share interesting content, to interact with other brands and individuals, and to point existing customers and partners to Facebook. (We could go on for hours; instead read this.) Whether Graph Search affects your business or not depends on how people actually use Facebook. If someone hires your interior design company for a kitchen remodel and Likes your company's Facebook Page, great! Your Page got another Like! But, if your customer's friend searches Facebook for an interior design company and sees that their friend Likes your company's Page, they may be more likely to contact you. The question is, will the homeowner looking for an interior designer turn to Facebook instead of Google to search for design companies? Right now, probably not. But if Facebook can change its image and become known as an information network instead of a social network, Graph Search could become an important business tool.

Until that happens, not much changes for companies using Facebook. In addition to building a wide audience and sharing compelling content, business pages can leverage the page name, category, vanity URL, and description to reach more people, as well as maintain a local presence so users searching for a specific location can find your Page. If ArcStone helps manage your Facebook Page, we're doing all this for you, so you can ignore Graph Search--unless, of course, you'd like to find out how many of your friends live in Minnesota and like the Green Bay Packers, or which restaurants in Chicago your friends have been to, or which pictures of you your mom likes.

Facebook is rolling out Graph Search in limited phases as it continues to test and refine the new feature. Users can try Graph Search and sign up on the waiting list here. For more information, read Facebook's article about Graph Search and Business Pages.