How To Set Up A Facebook Business Page (COMPLETE GUIDE w/ Screenshots)
Facebook is a free social network that allows you to execute effective marketing strategies to reach your target audience and increase your revenue. Because of its popularity, a lot of business owners see it as a good medium to market their offered products and services. If you are planning to create a Facebook business page, let me help you learn how you can maximize its potential by setting up your account the right way.
How does a Facebook Business Page Improve your Marketing?
With Facebook Insights, you can immediately get access to a wide array of metrics for you to understand your existing and potential customers. These can help you create a social media marketing strategy based on several factors such as when your customers are online, what their interests are, where they are located, what device are they using, and a lot more.
Facebook Business Page Setup
Setting up your Facebook business page should be carefully done to ensure that you have all the necessary information that you need. Let me help you jumpstart and follow my extensive guidelines, so you won’t miss anything important.
Step 1: Initial Sign-Up Procedure
1. Log-in to your account. You need to have a personal Facebook account as a business page requires a single admin. Your identity is concealed since these are treated as two different accounts, so there’s nothing to worry about.
2. In the upper right corner of your screen, click the plus sign (previously the CREATE button) and choose Page.
3. Choose between the two categories: Business or Brand / Community or Public Figure. [Let’s assume that we’re setting up an e-commerce account] Choose Business or Brand.
4. Write your business name [ex: Digital Marketing Mastermind]. The new Facebook interface allows its users to change it, unlike how it used to be. So, in case you haven’t decided what name should be used, you can update it later on.
5. Choose a specific category [ex: Business Consultant]
Pro Tip: Since you haven’t finished setting up the page for your business, you can unpublish it for the meantime. Go to Settings, choose General, then Page Visibility and click Page Unpublished. This will help you have enough time to plan the overall look of your page before other people view it.
Step 2: Add a Facebook Profile Picture and a Cover Photo
Profile Picture – 170 x 170 pixels
Your Facebook profile picture is an important element for your online presence. Make sure that what you choose can be easily remembered, so you can either use your business logo or your headshot. It has to be professional as it helps people have the right impression as to what your business is all about.
If you do not have a business logo yet, you can hire a graphic designer. However, if you are just a startup, and you plan to work on the initial phase of your business all by yourself, you can use Canva.com. This tool allows you to do graphic designs for free through their premade templates.
Cover Photo – 820 x 462 pixels
Your cover photo is located across the top of your page. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your offered products and services or provide additional information on what your page is all about.
The size of your cover photo has to be 820 x 462 pixels so that it will be displayed well, no matter what device your visitor is using.
Step 3: Add the Necessary Information
First off, make sure that you have set your page’s username. This will not only personalize your URL, but it also ensures that your visitors can easily recognize you. If you fail to update this area, Facebook will give you a numeric URL address.
Also, provide all the necessary information in your about section as this is the first place a potential customer gathers information about you and your business. Remember, everything should be written clear, informative, and even instructional.
- Go to Settings
- Click Page Info (left-hand corner)
- Add the following:
- General
- Description: This is a summary of what your business is all about. Write a short and concise description that should not go beyond 155 characters.
- Categories: This will help people find your page. You can choose up to 3 categories.
- Contact
- Phone Number
- Website
- Location
- Address
- Service Area
Pro Tip: If you have a physical store or office, it is ideal to provide your address and phone number so that customers can easily contact you. However, click the box if you want your address hidden, especially if you do not have a physical office, and you’re just using your home address so other people won’t visit you.
- Operation Hours – if you are open during a specific time frame, put it here. It is a good idea to add in this section to your Facebook Messenger protocol, such as customer service rep’s online hours and estimated response time.
- Impressum – (from LinkedIn: In business, Impressum is a consistent legal term used primarily in Germanic countries, given to a legally mandated statement of the ownership and authorship of a document. In these countries, the “Impressum” by law must be included books, newspapers, magazines, AND websites.)
- Price Range
- Products
- Privacy Policy
Step 4: Getting Verified
Verifying your account will add credibility for your business as people will know that you have submitted all the important documents to prove your legitimacy. This can be done in two different ways: for business and personal identity.
For Business
If you own a business, and you plan it to get verified, you can access additional features such as:
- Certain Developer Features
- Instant Games
- News Page Index
- WhatsApp Business
- Page Transparency
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to verify your business page.
- Go to business.facebook.com and access your page
- Go to Security Center (left side corner of your screen)
- Choose Business Verification
- Enter your business details
- Select your business from the categories or select none of these matches.
- Confirm your business details.
- Enter the verification code. This will require you to provide your business phone number where they can send a text or make a phone call, or via email.
- Submit the necessary documents. Here are some of the accepted legal documents. Facebook will require you to submit these to verify your business name, address and phone number.
- Business license and permits from local, state or federal government
- Certificate of formation or incorporation
- Business Tax or VAT registration certificate
- EIN confirmation letter from the IRS (U.S. only)
- Official tax notices from the IRS (U.S. only)
- Utility bills like a phone or electricity bill
- Bank statement
For Personal Identity
- Fill out the form – http://www.facebook.com/help/contact/342509036134712
- Accepted official documents:
- If you are representing a person:
- A government-issued photo ID that shows your name and date of birth (i.e. driver’s license or passport)
- If you are representing other than a person, provide any of these documents with an official seal or watermark
- Phone or utility bill
- Certificate of formation
- Articles of incorporation
- Tax or tax exemption documents belonging to your organization
Step 5: Strengthen your Page Privacy and Security Settings
Manage the privacy and security of your page setting to not just protect your business but also your visitor. You can do it by going to Page Settings and click General.
- Visitor Posts – allows or restricts visitors to publish posts, videos and photos on your page.
- Tagging ability – allows or restricts visitors to tag themselves or other people on your posts.
- Country Restriction – you can set a restriction so that people living in a specified country won’t see your page.
- Age Restriction – allows you to restrict access to members in a specific age group.
- Page Moderation – block posts or comments containing the following words.
- Profanity Filter – choose whether to block profanity from your Page, and to what degree.
Step 6: Add Page Roles
If you are giving access to your employees, or you are collaborating with another individual, it is imperative not to give them full control. Keep in mind that you should be the sole admin, so you’ll have the most authority in managing your Facebook business page. To edit, go to Page Settings and choose Page Roles, which can be found at the left vertical menu of your page.
- Admin – has full access; preferably the owner of the page
- Editor – has all the access of the admin except adding and deleting page roles, and managing settings
- Moderator – Can send messages, reply or delete comments, ban people, create ads and view insights
- Advertiser – Creates ads, promotions and boosted posts
- Analyst – views insights and page quality tab
Step 7: Templates and Tabs
Setting your template allows you to design your page to make it more functional and enticing for your customers. You can change the order of tabs, the featured button on top, as well as what your visitors will see first when they land to your page. To edit, go to Page Settings and then Templates and Tabs.
Types of Templates
- Standard
- Services
- Business
- Venues
- Nonprofit
- Politicians
- Restaurants & Cafes
- Shopping
- Video Page
Each template has a different set of tabs. However, you can edit and rearrange them to help you and your visitors navigate your page quicker. You can simply drag the tab titles from the settings to move them up or down, based on your preference.
Pro Tip: For added optimization, you can also edit the URL of your tabs.
Step 8: Add your Services
To help your visitors understand what your business is all about, listing down your services can be very helpful. Here’s how you can do it:
- Go to Settings
- Choose Templates and Tabs
- Scroll Down and look for “Services”. If you can’t find it, click the “add a tab” button.
- Go back to your business page and look for the Services from your menu.
- Start adding your services. Take note that you have to provide the following:
- Service Name [ex. Facebook Ad Management]
- Price [ex. $400]
- Description (optional)
- Duration. This area can be turned off, especially if the completion may take more than 8 hours.
- Show service – in case you want that service hidden within a certain period, you can always hide it from your list.
- Include an Image (optional)
Pro Tip: Optimizing your services can be very beneficial especially if you are just starting out. This will help you find potential customers by using your target keyword/s within your service title and description.
Step 9: Add Your Call to Action (CTA) Button
Do not forget to add the right type of CTA at the upper right corner of your Facebook business page. This will prompt your visitors, leads and customers to take action. The platform has preset different types of buttons, depending on your chosen Page Template. You can change it based on your end goal, or delete it if you just want to provide information to your visitors.
- Book Now
- Get Quote
- Call Now
- Contact Us
- Send Message
- Send Email
- Learn More
- Sign Up
- Use App
- Play Game
- Watch Video
- Shop Now
Step 10: Verify the Final Look
Before you publish your page, make sure that you have thoroughly reviewed the final look. Make sure that the cover photo is appropriately aligned, you have added your username, and all the other important information added on top. To check, go to your page home and click the View as Visitor button.
Step 11: Create Your First Post
To get people to see and like your page, you’re going to need to create valuable, engaging content, and you’ll want to start strong. Your first post could be an introduction post, or a friendly welcome/hello post to let people know you’re finally on Facebook.
Also, you might want to have a content strategy in place after you have created your Facebook business page. This can be very helpful since you are building a good reputation or brand equity. This will also ensure that you are only providing helpful and up-to-date information habitually.
Your Facebook Business Page is Ready!
Now that you’ve got your Facebook Business Page set up and have customized it for optimal engagement, you can start posting engaging content and interacting with your followers. Remember that Facebook is also a great platform to run ad campaigns, once you become more comfortable with the platform.
Invite family and friends to like the Page, and use other social media platforms you already used to cross promote your new Facebook Business Page. Add in social media sharing icons on your email signature so everyone you communicate with is directed toward your page.
To help spread the word about your new Facebook page, you could even consider running a contest or some kind where your followers have to share or tag friends in the comments in order to be entered into the contest.
If you want to learn how to make the most of Facebook for your business, then visit Cereal Entrepreneur’s blog and follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook!
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