How to use Facebook Local

Like Google+ Local, and Qype and Foursquare before it; Facebook is getting into the local mobile search area with its new Facebook Nearby effort.

The social media’s mobile phone apps on both IOS and Android have now incorporated Foursquare style functionality and allows users to find and rate businesses in the local area, and even review them. The new addition also allows them to see where their friends have checked in and also search for local business by name or type.

With over 500m mobile users worldwide, Facebook offer significant potential and this change makes it even more central to any SoLoMo strategy you have. So, let’s see how to best integrate it.

Create and Claim

Visibility is first and foremost. To ensure you can be seen on the new Facebook Nearby you’ll need to claim or create the Place and Business pages and add the relevant details, which include phone, email, address, opening hours etc. When this is done users can rate your business and this in turn helps rankings on Nearby search results.

You will also require a Facebook Place page for the physical location of the business. This allows you to see what visitors are saying, doing and any recommendations or check-ins. It’s quite easy to do.

Pages

The page is also a necessity and it should be created with keyword rich content as Google can index it. This means it can be used to provide information to potential customers and if liked can be used to share content. It can also be merged with the aforementioned Facebook Place page.

Merging

Merging is not available to all businesses as of yet, but you will be prompted by the site if it is possible to do so – so, keep an eye out if it’s not yet an option. One thing to note is that only single locations and pages can be merged currently. So, if your business has a number of locations it cannot be merged together as of yet.

Of course, once the pages are merged, people who Like one or the other will be able to see photos, details and information for both. Also, if they Like your business via Nearby, they will also like your business page and you’ll pop up on their Newsfeed from now on.

Results

As we’ve hinted, the results and your position during local search are dictated by the number of stars, check-ins and other information. These actions inform Facebook on what businesses to showcase in the app for others in the area.

So, to make the most of the feature you will have to encourage fans to check-in and also to provide stars. Incentives, such as a free desert with a check-in or encouragement on the form of in-store signs and Facebook posts and emails all help to encourage this and improve your ranking locally.

The potential for Facebook Nearby is significant thanks to its app integration, Facebook’s huge user base and other factors. So, for 2013 it’s definitely worth considering it in your New Year social media resolutions.

Over 1 Million People Are Protesting The ITU With Google

In just a few hours, delegates from around the world will be meeting in Dubai to discuss changes to the ITU. The results of which could lead to further regulation of the Internet by less than reputable countries that want more power in controlling how and what its citizens access online. Google doesn’t like that for a variety of reasons, some self-serving, and the company has invited citizens from around the world to protest with them.

In a post on the Google Public Policy Blog, Vint Cerf details his hand in helping create the Internet. He says that “openness is why the Internet creates so much value today.” He also says that the Internet is “borderless and belongs to everyone.” That’s the basic gist of Google’s initial protest movement in getting people to share why the Internet is important to them. You can now see the results of that first movement in an interactive map.

That map shows a real time count of how many people are signing Google’s petition from around the world. It’s now at over 1 million people and climbing rather quickly. The largest number of those opposed to an ITU takeover of the Web are obviously in more developed nations, but citizens in less developed nations are doing their part to let their voice be heard. Surprisingly enough, even some people in mainland China have signed Google’s pledge.

The ITU negotiations will begin today and continue until December 14. You can add your voice to the growing number of those opposing the ITU until then. The sooner the better, however, as some governments may perhaps have a change of heart after seeing its citizens raise a stink. It worked for SOPA and ACTA. It can work here too.

Yog Hopes to Connect Runners in Real Time

Yog, a new social running app, has been launched as a method of connecting runners around the world to get them running together in real time.

The app allows you to arrange a run and invite people from around the world to participate. Or, you could “Run Now” to join in with one of the many runs that other “yoggers” may be doing at that very moment.

Audio notifications and a social running map aim to make the experience feel like you are right alongside other runners during the exercise.

Yog’s international community of runners are brought together by an iOS app which links the “yoggers” in real time. Using the platform, users of the app can organise runs by entering the date, time, and distance of their run.

The iOS app also accumulates all data during the run to give users the opportunity to measure and track their performance.

With social fitness products such as Nike+, Strava, and MapMyRun already greatly popular with fitness fanatics and the like, Yog hopes to relate to the real life experience of running instead of just measuring and sharing your achievements.

Peter Pelberg, founder of Yog believes that “The majority of people don’t exercise enough . . . We’ve seen how exercising with others positively impacts the frequency and level at which people exercise. Yog’s point of differentiation is that the app is entirely synchronous. Our community members are not tracking activities in isolation and sharing them to a stream after the fact, they’re running together, from all corners for the world, in real-time.”

The social app was founded by former athletes who struggled to keep up with their exercise regimens while away from teammates. They began constructing the app in 2011 and have since had “yoggers” join in 55 countries from all over the world.

Will you be using Yog?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or via Twitter.

Daniel Barr