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.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

The key points here are:

• 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 see it much less frequently these days, but I have met several people now who built their business on a personal profile only to have it terminated without mercy by Facebook - and losing all their followers in the process!

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.

That's it, you're done!

You have just created your first business page on Facebook.

How To Add A Free App That's Essential For Every Business

One of the many fabulous things about Facebook is in the ability for users to add 'apps' to business pages.

These apps add amazing functionality to a basic page.

This is another pressing reason why businesses should not use their personal profiles incidentally, because these apps can only be added to business pages and you miss out on a lot of good things if you don't use the correct business page format.

 

Image source: actualphone

So what is an app?

Without getting all technical about it, it's like a bit of software that you can add to a Facebook page that allows you to provide a useful service without having to download anything.

It just 'attaches' itself to your business page and you're good to go!

To give you a basic introduction to using apps on your business pages, I've selected a free app which will be pretty useful for virtually all businesses.

It provides basic and useful functionality which applies in most business settings, so you're bound to be able to make use of it, whatever line of business that you're in.

The great thing about apps is that they're usually free with basic functionality, then you have to pay for extra features.

In this step-by-step guide, you'll not only see how easy it is to add apps to your business page, you'll also be able to add this excellent free app to your own page.

Essential App: Add A Contact Form To Your Business Page

Direct link: https://www.facebook.com/contactforms

This app adds a 'Contact Us' form to your business page and allows you to take a prospect's email address - great for follow up!

Step 1: Go to the URL above (Hint: I found this more straightforward using Internet Explorer as my browser).

Step 2: Click the 'Go To App' button.

Step 3: Read through the simple instructions, then click the 'Get Started' button.

Step 4: Select the business page that you want to add the app to:

Step 5: Confirm that you want to add the app to that page:

Step 6: The app has now been added to your business page.

To access it, just click on the new button that was just added to your page:

Step 7: Enter your email address so that you can receive notifications, then click the 'Setup account' button:

Step 8: Your contact form is now ready to use:

Please note that because you are the admin of this page, you see the form slightly differently to your page users.

You will see the 'Customize My Form' button and the 'Admin' button - because as page admin you need to see these - but your page users will see a different view:

The support for this free tab is extremely good, so if you have any problems or issues, you can get in touch with the ContactMe team here.

The installation process for any other app is pretty well the same as this one, so if you're new to apps, you can use steps 1-4 for most other Facebook apps, the process is very similar every time.

First Steps For Every New Facebook Fan Page Owner

 

Image source: webinfermento

So, you have a brand new Facebook business page... but it's probably looking a bit sparse at the moment and in need of some TLC!

Although it is extremely easy to create a page, there will be a few things that you need to know to really get some momentum going.

So first let's sort out the basics!

Basics Tip 1: Get An Eye-Catching And Professional Timeline Banner

The best way to use your Timeline banner space is to think of it as a billboard.

Really make that space work for you!

Here's an excellent example showing you just what you can do with that lovely space: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/creative-facebook-timeline-covers/

If that's not to your taste, there are now many great Timeline cover creators.

Here a some of my favourites:

http://timelinecoverbanner.com/

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/banner-maker/

http://covertimeline.com/

Basics Tip 2: Sort Out A Great Profile Picture

Remember that your profile picture is like 'real estate' on Facebook, it appears in everybody's Timeline feeds.

So make it count for you!

 

Make sure it is clear and appropriate for your business.

A logo may be more appropriate or a personal photograph, but whatever you decide to use, make sure that it looks fine when it shows up as an icon next to your posts.

Basics Tip 3: Make Sure That Your 'About' Section Works For You

This top area of your business page is prime real estate on Facebook.

You must take the time to set it up correctly for maximum impact.

Make sure that your 'blurb' clearly and concisely gets your message across but, most importantly, ensure that you include at least one link so that prospects can access your main business web site from this area.

Basics Tip 4: Complete Your Page Info Fully

I can't emphasise this enough, complete your page info fully.

Add a physical address and phone number to build trust and credibility.

The more information that you add, the better you will be found in searches, both on Facebook (using the powerful Graph Search system) and on Google.

Having sorted out the basics, here are some tips and techniques to get your new business page active and lively and purring like a well-oiled machine.

Advanced Tip 1: Use Google Alerts To Find Great Content

It's really important to post regularly on a Facebook business page.

3-4 times per day is the ideal/maximum posting limit, spread evenly across the day (never post everything at once!)

Your posts should be a mixture of information, conversation, occasional promos (do not use your page to sell, sell, sell!) photographs and videos ... and maybe even the odd contest.

In short - keep it varied, personal, non-salesy and interesting.

Use Google Alerts to find great content related to your niche or business topic:

Advanced Tip 2: Don't Fully Automate Your Facebook Page

I use a mixture of automation and natural posting on my Facebook pages.

I use automation to make sure that I am posting every day, consistently, even if I am away on business, on holiday or ill!

However, if you never reply to queries and comments and you never respond to live events, your page is going to become dull pretty fast!

I use https://bufferapp.com/ for automation alongside the Buffer widget in the Chrome Store, which allows me to grab interesting content and auto schedule as I go about my daily business on the web.

However, I constantly supplement this with 'live' updates as I'm inspired, to keep a sense that a real person runs the page and is actually responding to page users.

Advanced Tip 3: 'Like' Other Business Pages 

To get some viral traffic going on your business page, you need to 'spread the love' a little.

To do that, make sure that you are using Facebook as a page (not via your personal profile!).

You should now find some pages that are related to your area of business and take part in their community.

Never promote your page or your own product on somebody else's business page without seeking permission first.

If somebody does this on my business pages I regard it as spam, delete the links and ban the user - so be warned!

The great thing is that as you take part in communities and add value on 3rd party pages, you are identified by your own business page icon and link anyway, so prospects can easily find you and like your own page ... and make that all important connection with you.

The trick on Facebook is not to sell, sell, sell, but to build trust, credibility and relationship first.