More than ever, Facebook is the place to be for businesses. Small businesses can practically run their business completely from Facebook. Service businesses can establish themselves as a thought leader with a solid Facebook presence. Larger brands use Facebook to establish relationships, gain customer insight, provide customer service and promote loyalty as well as sales. Facebook marketing has practically become a cultural norm. If you haven’t created your Facebook business Page yet, simply Click here to get started.
Facebook provides a fairly simple “Get Started” process that privately walks you through the initial steps. Just be sure not to publish your page until everything is set in place. Start by choosing what type of business you are, then select the sub categories. Tip: You can change these later as often as you wish.
Page vs. Profile-Making the Right Choice
There are many benefits to having a Facebook Page for business vs. using a personal profile, but the greatest one is that only Facebook Pages are indexed by Google. Profiles are not. Facebook, boasting a hefty Alexa ranking of #2, will provide an excellent source of link authority to your site (make sure that you list your business website) and for your business name. This may seem very basic and obvious, yet I come across this mistake over and over. Fortunately, Facebook has recently allowed you to convert your personal profile to a Business Page without having to start over from scratch. Here’s a nice write up on how to convert a profile to a business page by Social Media Dragon. as well as instructions from Facebook.
Name your Business Page with SEO in Mind
When it comes to choosing your Facebook Business Page name, conventional wisdom is to use your real business name. This makes sense from an SEO point of view as well. You can also add a brief description after the name, but keeping it simple is advisable. As of this writing, Facebook does not allow you to change your name once it is set, so choose wisely.
Select your User Name & Snag your Vanity URL
Your username, also known as a vanity URL, makes it easier for people to find your business and to use it on communications such as business cards and collateral. User names take on this format: www.facebook.com/UserName. Once your Business Page has at least 25 Fans, your Page is eligible for a user name. According to Facebook, “Once you have claimed a username by clicking the “Confirm” button, it is not possible to edit it, or to transfer your username to a different account on Facebook. Additionally, when an account is removed from the site, its username will not be made available to other users for security reasons.” To choose your user name, click here: http://www.facebook.com/username
Show off a Branded Page Graphic
This is one spot where it pays to have a professional design a banner-type graphic that includes the business logo, tagline and any relevant messaging. Before you start this process, do a competitive review and see how others are using this space. Facebook allows for graphics with dimensions up to 180 X 540 pixels. Tina Cook, a fellow Certified Strategist, shows good examples of branded profile banners here.
Zappos, always noted for their social savvy, has used their banner graphic to highlight the “Fan of the Week”.
Info Tab – Not to be Missed
The Info section that Facebook provides is often skimped on to the detriment of search engine optimization. Facebook gives you three fields to describe your business About, Description and General Information. Use them all. And as always, think SEO and KEYWORDS when writing. Make sure to link back to your company website, even adding in your Twitter and Blog URLs as additional sites.
Beyond the Basics
There are many settings and tweaks to be made for Pages, but these are the basics. Following is a tour of the changes implemented in March, 2011 that will help you with more of the detailed aspects of setting up your Facebook Business Page.
