Age Doesn’t Matter: Why Age Restrictions on Your Facebook Page Won’t Hurt Your SEO

In an effort to keep young people safe, Facebook now requires you to add an age restriction to your page if you are displaying content related to subscription services, student loan services, or dating apps.

In other words, anyone under the age of 18 will not be able to view your Facebook page.

Setting an age restriction is often necessary to comply with Facebook’s guidelines. Obviously, this will restrict how many Facebook users are able to view your content.  The question is this:

Will setting an age restriction on your Facebook page impact the organic results you get from people doing Google searches?

Believe it or not, the answer is no!

Here’s why:

  1. Google only identifies Facebook home pages in its search results, not individual posts which may have restricted content. A comparison of Facebook pages with and without age restrictions shows that the organic traffic sent over from Google follows the same pattern for both types of page.
  2. If we’re being honest, then we’ll admit that Google isn’t too interested in displaying Facebook content in their search results anyway.  In the same way, Facebook isn’t too interested in displaying Google content (including YouTube videos) in their feeds either. So restricting views in one area really doesn’t have much of an effect on the other.

Bottom Line:  When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and online visibility, age really doesn’t matter.

Don’t waste your time going through every old post and scrubbing out every reference to guns or other 18+ content – it won’t impact your search engine activity and just isn’t worth the time or the energy you’ll spend!

Nor is it worth agonizing over how to get more Facebook organic traffic results from Google searches. This is a waste of time. It will not help you keep your marketing priorities in line, grow your business revenue, or increase your ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).  

When it comes to optimizing your search engine results, age really doesn’t matter!

Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations. He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications. Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries. Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.