Should we have customers like our URL or our Facebook brand page?

[DanielH]

(Note: main question in bold)

I know this post basically establishes that Facebook shares are not a strong cause of increased rankings.

But what about likes? I've searched and read through the forum and YouMoz blog but haven't really found this question answered.

We just redesigned our site and we're implementing sharing options in the booking and order completion processes - should we point the Facebook Like button to like our URL or our Facebook brand page (currently with 3,800+ likes)?

Seems that a like of the URL would be more direct ranking value (what we're going for), but according to that same post mentioned above, Google doesn't crawl or index FB wall pages... so is all Facebook activity - shares, url likes, brand page likes - for naught? (at least for now, till Google starts using that info)

[RyanKent]

should we point the Facebook Like button to like our URL or our Facebook brand page

The Facebook page would be preferable.

If someone likes your facebook page, you establish a very important communication channel with the user. You can post news or specials on your facebook page and it will appear on the user's wall even if they do not visit your site. That connection is a huge advantage because most facebook users see their wall updates daily, where they probably visit your site much less frequently.

[DanielH]

True, and I see the benefit of that. As a personal user I interact more with the brands I follow on Facebook.

But as far as SEO value goes, is there any advantage to more likes on our URL vs our page?

What I'm scared of is that the info I've been reading is starting to say there's not a way to get direct ranking SEO value out of social interaction with Facebook...

[RyanKent]

There is a lot of speculation on this topic but I am not aware of any hard facts. There are a few analysis articles such as the one you mentioned in your original question. Search engines do not share this information. Even if you had a confirmation of Google's policy from 6 months ago, it could have completely changed. Facebook is constantly making changes and so is Google.

I can only share my practice is I try to ensure each visitor is presented a means to Like each web page, and the home page also offers a means to Like the Facebook page. I also recommend other methods of encouraging a Like to the main Facebook page. One example is a 10% off coupon to anyone who Likes the page.

[DanielH]

Thanks for the feedback Ryan. It's true things could've changed. I was just curious if anyone had done any tests one way or the other. I think I'll go with continuing to build up our Facebook brand page community, although building likes on the URL is tempting and seems like something Google will count in the future if they don't now... Anyone else have any input or experience with rankings improving because of likes on a URL or FB brand page?