How To Create Your First Business Page On Facebook
With well over 1 billion users using Facebook, this represents a massive opportunity for all businesses, whatever their size, niche or type.
So how do you get started as a business on Facebook?
Well, the good news is that you really don't need to ship in a team of technical experts ... it's no harder to create a page for your business than it is to create a page for yourself.
Important Alert!
I used to see this problem a lot when I first started using Facebook for marketing in 2009. In the early 'gold rush' days of Facebook, many people used 'cheats' - whether knowingly or not - that are against Facebook's terms and conditions.
- You should only have one personal profile
- That personal profile should use your real name
- You should use Facebook pages for your business, not your personal profile
I think Facebook users are much better informed about the dangers these days ... but just in case, make sure that you do this correctly!
Step-By-Step Guide
Creating your first business page is simple ... and remember, it's also free.
Step 1: Log in to your Facebook account
Step 2: Click on the menu link on the top right hand side of the page, then select the 'create page' option:
Step 3: You will now be presented with the options below. Usually you'll select one of the three highlighted options, whichever is most suitable for your business.
Do not use a brand name unless you own that brand or have paid for official licensing rights.
Take care and advice also if creating a page that is based around a music star, celebrity, TV programme or something similar.
You need to make very clear that you are not acting in any official capacity and also take note that you may be required to remove your site if you misrepresent or pass yourself off as 'official' in any way.
Step 4: Read and accept Facebook's Terms And Conditions for business pages.
These are pretty brief and straightforward, but it's time well spent learning what is and is not permissible.
My view on this is it would be a terrible thing to build up a brilliant community on Facebook only to lose it all because you didn't follow a few simple rules.
Step 5: Make sure that you complete the page information section fully because this is where you can make the most of Facebook as a brilliant SEO power tool.
Tip: You should make sure that (without keyword stuffing!) your keywords are included in the description area.
Depending on your business type, you might even use your geographical location here.
Make sure that you add your web site links to (this is how you drive Facebook web traffic to your main site) and take great care when selecting your unique Facebook web address too.
These are difficult to change but, most importantly, you get to ride on the coat tails of the 2nd most popular web site in the universe, make sure it counts for your SEO purposes!
Step 6: Add your profile picture.
Remember that these are displayed quite small most of the time, so make sure that it works well in your Timeline feed.
For businesses, it's fine to use a professional face picture if you're the 'face' of your business, but logos are fine too.
Step 7: Add your page to your 'Favourites' for future easy access or just 'Skip' for now:
Step 8: Skip ad creation for now!
I don't recommend that you promote your new business page until you have some decent content to share.
At the moment your page looks a little sparse, so keep it quiet for a little while longer.
Step 9: Add a cover image to really make your business page stand out.
This needs to be 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall.
You can use a photograph for this or use a service like TimelineCoverBanner.com.
You have just created your first business page on Facebook.
Paul Teague
Paul Teague is a social and digital marketer and creator of the Clixeo software for Facebook at http://clixeo.com
How To Create Your First Business Page On Facebook
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Reviewed by Paul Teague
on
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Rating:
Paul Teague
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