Facebook recently opened up something called Graph Search to all its users in the United States. It’s been touted as Facebook’s answer to search engines like Google and Bing, but that’s not what it is. It’s a way to search through Facebook to see what your friends are doing, what they like, etc. Even if you’re not a frequent facebooker personally, there are a few ways for you to make the most out of Graph Search for your business. Today we’re going to talk about them, but don’t worry. It’s not going to be a labor-intensive thing on your part. It’s just something to be aware of—for now at least.

What Graph Search does

Like we mentioned earlier, Graph Search is not a place where you can search the web. It’s just a way to get access to things like people, places, photos and interests that are already posted on Facebook. You can see things that have been shared by you, your friends, and friends of your friends. If Facebook doesn’t know what to do with the results of your search, then it will refer you to Bing results to help you out.

How to do a Graph Search

Graph Search is not turned on automatically, so you have to activate it. Look for the white “F” Facebook icon next to your search bar up at the top. Click inside the search bar and it should say “New Graph Search is here!  Take a tour.”  Look at the list of things you can search for that drops down below the search bar. Then, think of something you’d like to search for like “Friends of friends who like ice cream and dogs who live in Providence” and type it into the search. Facebook will then turn up a few new friends for you. It kind of works like a dating website in that it matches up your specific criteria with a person on Facebook. 

It’s not a perfect system and it’s still got a long way to go before it knocks your socks off, but it’s still kind of cool. Play around with it for a few minutes so you fully understand the user experience. Once you’ve got that down, you can start thinking of ways you can use it.

How you can use this for your business

This new feature can be neat for business owners in a few ways. Let’s say you own a dog grooming parlor/ice cream shop in Providence and you want to learn more about the people who might be interested in your place. You can do a search for dog loving ice-cream-eating Providence residents and learn more about them. Is it a little stalker-ish, a little creepy?  Yes, yes it is, but it’s a great way for you to learn more about your demographic. Besides, you’re going to make the dog-loving ice-cream-eating people of Providence very happy someday because you know so much about what they want and need!

Right now you might be thinking: “how can I get my business to come up in these searches?”  Well, the first thing you can do is to make sure your business Facebook page is filled out as completely as possible. Check to make sure your location is clear and that you have indicated what your products and services are. Have a great looking image up too so that when you get visitors, you’ll look spiffy and professional. 

Continue to do your very best to engage your customers on your Facebook page because every interaction you have with your fans will form a sketch of your business. If you have a devoted following, you’re going to be bumped up in the search. This is an amazing way for smaller businesses to compete with the big guys. Basically, Graph Search gives you a chance to shine on Facebook that you didn’t have before.

Like we said earlier, this is not perfect and has a way to go before it will knock you off your chair in amazement, but for now, it’s pretty neat and it’s something to be aware of. As always, building engagement with your fans is a great way to ensure success on Facebook. Offer discounts on your Facbook page; respond to comments and post interesting stuff and you’ll be on your way to a successful appearance in Graph Search.