SEO & Social | More SEO effect by liking the page URL rather than the Facebook Page?

[tomypro]

SEOMoz Gurus,

I am wondering what our best implementation strategy shoul dbe around linking up the Facebook Like button on our pages.

Essentially there are two options:

A) Linking the button directly to the Facebook Page of the web site so every Like is actually converting into a Facebook "Fan" which can be messaged going forward through our Facebook page.

B) Having them like the actual URL which might be more beneficial from an SEO and viral perspective as now a link to the actual URL gets shared on the Liker's facebook wall and it should also be easier to use that lIke for Google & Co. as it's tied to the actual URL not a random Facebook page given that search engines already convert those signals.

Both approaches obviously have their benefits. Are there any common guidelines on what is a better approach to take from a pure SEO perspective?

Thanks /Thomas

[jennita]

Hi Thomas,

I think this is a question that comes up often. One way to do it is to have both types on your page like we do on our blog. You'll notice the SEOmoz page "like" in the right nav bar, and the post "like" at the bottom of the post. If you're trying to figure out the best thing to do purely for SEO purposes, then I'd say you want them to like the actual URL of the content.

I say that because Google now shows social sharing in the SERPs. So if for example you're logged in and do a search, if you have a connected friend on FB who has shared content on that topic it would show their face in the SERPs.

Hope this helps!