Links to Facebook pages

[RyanKent]

I would like to ask if anyone has any knowledge regarding linking to a company's facebook page. I have built a few links to a client's facebook page in an effort to have it rank better in SERPs.

I just learned that unlike twitter and linkedin, it is apparently not possibly to directly link to facebook pages. At least it is not possible from a search engine's perspective. If you follow any facebook page link while you are not logged into facebook, you are redirected to the facebook home page.

I can't think of any way around this obstacle. I'd love some clever solution such as providing a URL which includes a basic dummy facebook login but there is nothing I am aware of to achieve this result.

Does anyone have any ideas on this topic?

[JoshGill27]

Ryan,

We have built links directly to clients Facebook pages that we were doing Reputation Management for and they did indeed climb in the SERPS. I am not sure if this correlation or causation since we also began managing those clients social media as well around the same time. It could have been just by increasing the engagement on their Facebook pages that it helped it rank. Obviously if you get the custom URL from Facebook after getting 25 followers, and make the page focus on the branded keyword of the company name then that will help to an extent. Hoep that helps a bit. Take care.

[MikeQ-BACC]

Hey Ryan,

Are you making sure to use the custom Facebook URL for your client's page? You'll need at least 25 Likes before you can do that.

Check it out (try clicking without being logged in): http://www.facebook.com/the.bacc

(shameless plug to prove a point!)

[RyanKent]

Thanks for the feedback Joshua.

I advise each client to establish a Facebook page if they do not have one already. Once the page is created, I also advise them to immediately gather 25 likes and secure their company name for the facebook page. The reasons are many and include the reputation management factors you mentioned.

What I am finding interesting is it seems all facebook pages are directly linkable without being logged into facebook, while my client's page is not.

www.facebook.com/McDonalds

The above link works fine. I have also tried facebook links for company pages newer then my client's page and they work fine. For some reason my client's URL is redirected to the facebook home page when the user is not logged in. The issue is apparently only with my client's facebook URL. I am trying to determine the cause.

[RyanKent]

Thanks Mike.

Yes, I am using the identical URL which works perfectly when logged in. The moment I log out I am taken from the client's facebook page to the facebook home page. I am very familiar with the need to have 25 likes to obtain a named page. He definitely has a named page and it works.

[RyanKent]

I figured out the root issue. The site's facebook page had an Age Rating of "alcohol related". It seems if you have any age setting other then "13+" then the page is not publicly visible unless you are logged in to facebook. Mystery solved.

Thanks to all for sharing your ideas.