How to make Facebook Page

Create A Facebook Page

What is a Facebook Page?

A Facebook Page, sometimes referred to as a "Fan Page," is a single page that you can create off of the Facebook.com domain for anything you want...a particular subject you like: a celebrity, a business profile, whatever your heart desires (as long as you have the legal rights to do so). Think of it as a one-page meeting place, with information, links, a message forum box, RSS and anything else you want. Best yet, anyone can create them. All you need is a Facebook account!

These days, everyone and everything important, famous or notable has a Facebook Page -- fromPresident Obama, to Intel and Lady Gaga. The obvious question is "how do I get one for myself?" That's what this resource is all about!

Facebook Pages are important for a few reasons. They've been showing up high in search engine positions. You can get unlimited "fans" for your Facebook Page, and really tap into that massive audience that is 'Facebook.' It's an awesome way to get new people to discover whatever it is you have to offer. So, unless you want to create a social networking site the traditional way, a Facebook Page is almost like a free, specialized social networking mailing list that you can reach out to at any time!

How Do I Find the Facebook Pages Area?

For newbies, it can be confusing to figure out how to find Facebook Pages. Facebook changes its interface and appearance on a regular basis, and things tend to get re-named or move around. This happened once again in 2012, when Facebook completely re-organized the sidebar
as well as the Pages listing.

On your main wall, look at the left hand column for a section of icons called "Pages." Hover over the title, "Pages," and it will be clickable while displaying the word "More" to the right of it. Once clicked, you'll be taken to a full list of your owned Facebook Pages, with a button on the upper right that says "+ Create a Page."

Go directly to the Facebook Page creation wizard by clicking this link. Onward to more tutorial goodness!

Create a New Facebook Page

You should see 6 major categories here. Click the one that has to do with the Page you're looking to create, and more options will pop up that will help you drill down further into a subcategory. So, if I wanted to create a Facebook Page for my personal website, I'd choose "Brand or Product," and then "Website."

When done, you can then type out the "Name" for your page. Be absolutely sure that you're happy with your Page name, because it will be in the Page's URL (something of interest to you SEO pros), and next to every post and reply you make on the page. Keep it short and sweet! If your Facebook Page is for your personal website named "JoesCarBlog.com," it would be best to name the page either "Joe's Car Blog" or "JoesCarBlog.com".

Depending on what "category" you choose, your Facebook Page will have different fields in its "About" area. So, some choices will give you a "working hours" or "awards" field, while others won't display these. These are all hard-coded for each subcategory.

Technically speaking, you now own a Facebook Page! As you can see, it's bland and needs some serious modifications. Next, we'll start customizing the page:

Customize Your Page

Major Parts of a Facebook Page

The image above shows a typical Facebook Page - it's from the Facebook Page Tutorialthat I created for you, which will remain in-tact so that you can see what I did.

In this resource, we'll go over each part, and what it means to you as a Facebook Page administrator. While everything looks simple enough, there are a lot of things you'll really need to know about each section of your Page. Using the numbers on this screenshot, here are the sections in this guide:

1. Profile Picture: This picture is a permanent fixture on the upper left corner of your Page. It also represents you whenever you post information or links on the page.


2. Page Title: Your page is as good as what it's named. Once you reach 200 "likes," it's permanent. The category, however, can be edited anytime.


3. "About" Section: This small area allows you to include a very brief description of what your page is about, and should be used as a greeting for brand new visitors.


4. Page Body: The main event of your page. This is where you post new information or calls to action, and where your Page fans respond to them.


5. Page "Likes" Showcase: This often overlooked area is actually a big way to promote your other pages (or those of other Facebook Pages).


6. Admin Panel: As an admin, only you can see everything within this region. This is where you'll be able to edit how and what the page displays.


7. Cover Image: The "cover" image is a newer feature that lets you add a custom made dashboard graphic to your page to spice it up or draw attention to something.

1) The Profile Picture

The Facebook Page's "face"

Your Facebook Page's profile picture is important. Think of it this way: its the image representation of your page and everything in it. When people search Facebook and look for Pages, one of the first things that will attract their eyeballs is the Page icon you chose.

Now that you can see how important this image is, make it count. Create a great image that represents what the Page's subject matter is about!

A Facebook Page Profile Picture must be exactly 180x180 pixels. After being uploaded, Facebook will automatically resize it to 160x160. Because of this, the picture will lose resolution if it's a GIF or JPG, so, I recommend you use a PNG image instead!

2) Facebook Page Title

It's all in a name...make it count!

Make sure you're happy with your Page name, and make sure the spelling is on par. As previously discussed, changing the name of your Page is a problem once you've already saved it. Facebook remedied this. Kind of.

Renaming A Page
If your page has 200 fans or less, you'll be able to edit the name of your Facebook Page (don't confuse "Page name" with "URL," they're two different things - we're talking about the title of the Page). The bad news about this is the <200 fan cutoff. You'll have a major issue if your page has >200 fans and you desperately need to edit your Page name. It can't be done... the only option would be to re-start the Page from scratch (not an option for most).

If you desperately, terribly need to change your Facebook Page's name and you already have over 200 "Likes," the only way to do it is to delete fans until you hit #199. This is a pretty disrespectful thing to do, though.

3) The "About" Box

A sentence to summarize the Page

The little "about box" you see below your Facebook Page profile picture is what you'll need to give first-time visitors the scoop on what the entire Page is about - make sure it's brief, and don't forget to squeeze in a backlink to your site!

Don't go overboard here -- just a simple one-sentence description of what your Facebook Page is about will suffice! At the end of your description, you can type in a full URL (with the "http://www." before it) and it will appear as a live link right on your page.

4) Facebook Page Body Area

Get the conversation started...add some content!

You can post anything you'd like on your Facebook Page, in the exact same way that you would on your own Facebook profile. There's not much else to say about this, since I'm assuming you already know how to use Facebook :)

Promoted Posts
As of late 2012, there's a new catch...when you post something on a Facebook Page, it will only reach a fraction of your fans, because Facebook got greedy and started a new "Promoted Posts" feature where you have to pay to have your posts reach more fans. A single promoted post costs a minimum of $5, lasts 3 days, and can reach either current fans or fans + their friends.

Pin To Top
Another newer feature is called "Pin To Top." You can find it by posting something, then clicking "Edit" and choosing this option. It will cement that post to the top of your page, and it's a great option if you want to call attention to something specific.

Facebook created somewhat of a "Catch-22" with the new Promoted Posts feature. If you don't pay, your posts might reach around 1/4th of your fan base. Can't afford to pay to promote your posts? Too bad -- this is capitalism, baby!

5) Page "Likes" Showcase

How to showcase other FB Pages on your Page

A feature called "Add To My Page's Favorites" is a way to permanently showcase other Facebook Pages directly on your own (hint: this is awesome for bringing attention to other new Facebook Pages that you own!)

In order to get this done, visit any Facebook Page that you'd like to showcase on your page. For example's sake, let's look at Coca Cola's page . Click the little "gear" icon on the right, next to the "Like" and "Message" icons. Choose "Add To My Page's Favorites" and then select your Facebook Page from the dropdown. In doing so, Coca Cola's page will be featured as a "liked page" on your Facebook Page.

This can be un-done at any time, of course. Simply visit Coca Cola's Facebook Page again, go to the "gear" icon again, and select "Remove from my page's favorites."

There are plenty of advantages to using this feature, from associating similar pages you own with each other, to promoting your friend's page (and having him/her return the favor for you, etc.) to bring more traffic, awareness or attention to them.

6) Hovering Administration Panel

Only you can see it

Impossible to ignore: this huge administration menu hovers over the top of your Facebook Page. While it might look rather annoying, don't worry - nobody else can see it but you.

This menu has several important sections:

1. Notifications: When you get a new "like" on a post, or a new post altogether, it will be shown here. It's basically a quick list of new things that have gone on within the page.


2. Messages: This is one of the better features that Facebook added to Pages, allowing any visitor to send you a private message to your page. Only you can see it. Also, it is entirely separate from your Facebook Profile's personal messages, and only pertains to that individual Facebook Page..


3. New Likes: It's simply a list of the most recent people who have "like"d your page.


4. Insights: This is like Google Analytics for your Facebook Page, except it's done Facebook style. Clicking this chart will show you a large version, giving you details about exactly who is liking your page, and how it is trending over time.


5. Page Tips: Facebook basically uses this corner to advertise a new app or feature. It pretty much never changes, though.

Additional drop-down boxes on the upper-right portion of this floating menu for "Edit Page" and "Build Audience" are pretty self-explanatory, and contain all of the other tools you'll need to update and maintain your page. Become familiar with them as soon as possible.

7) Cover Image

Decorate and stylize the top of your Page

This great feature allows you to assign a "header image" on your Facebook Page. Simply click that icon on the top-right area that says "Add A Cover" and upload one from your computer. You can use the cover image as decoration, or a complement to your strategy. Here, the New Jersey Devils used their cover image to announce a new "fan of the week."

Your Facebook Page cover image must be exactly 851x350 pixels. Be sure to make it be a PNG image (instead of a JPG or GIF) so that it looks crisp and loses no resolution!

Publishing Your Facebook Page

New Facebook Pages with little to no content, no likes and pretty much nothing else updated will be treated with the warning: "This page has not been published. Learn about unpublished pages and publish this page when you are ready."

Here are two things to follow through with:

1. Did you "fan" your own Page?: Seems obvious, but if a page has "0 fans," it's not going to get published. Give it a little jumpstart.


2. Did you add any content?: Facebook won't see you as being a serious Page owner if your Page has no content in the body area, no Page profile picture and no "About" section filled out. Go ahead and add these things!

Advanced Tips

Get a "Vanity URL" for Your Facebook Page

Register a URL to look like "facebook.com/mypage"

No Facebook Page is truly professional until it has a decent vanity URL. What's a vanity URL? It's a short, easy-to-remember URL (like "facebook.com/mypagename"), unlike the default Page URL that looks something like "facebook.com/pages/My-Page-Name/0123456789".

Getting Permission Granted for Vanity URLs
In order to unlock your ability to name a Facebook Page, you'll need a minimum of 25 fans. Once you've gotten this many, visit facebook.com/username, and you should see an interface that lists a drop-down of all of your owned Facebook Pages. Select only the ones that have 25 or more fans, and you'll be able to name them.

A Huge Warning!
Please be extremely careful here, since this is yet another feature that is set in stone when finalized! Once you choose a name for a Facebook Page, you get one extra "do-over" to change it, and then that's it - it will remain that way forever. Make sure the spelling and grammar is correct, and that you're happy with your selection. Then, click Submit.

Other Notable Things About Facebook Vanity URLs
Facebook has blocked the ability to register many possible Page Names, so, don't be shocked if you can't register something like "facebook.com/diamonds" or "facebook.com/cars." They're not available to anyone, regardless of who you are. Many of these were granted to worldwide organizations (but not corporations).

Note that since we're able to give our own Facebook profiles a vanity URL as well, both Facebook Profiles and Pages compete against each other for the registration of words and names. So, you might not be able to register that Facebook Page name you really wanted, because someone already chose it for their profile name. It's extremely frustrating for any business owner.

Facebook Page URLs can never have dashes or underscores in them, but they can use periods. You can register a Facebook vanity URL with or without periods, and you'll own both versions. So, if you've registered "facebook.com/mikes.marketing.blog", then you'll also own "facebook.com/mikesmarketingblog" and every other combination with periods in the URL.

There was a small handful of times where I was able to register Facebook Page vanity URLs right after creating a page with 0 likes. I'm not sure if it's a glitch, or if Facebook lets you do it for URLs that are not common words. Always give it a try right away, you might luck out, too!

Facebook shows their seriousness about Page name legitimacy 

Trademark Owners Get Advantages

Gaining control of your rightful FB Page name

In unfortunate scenarios where someone else already took your trademarked company name as a Facebook Page, you'll have a gigantic line of defense if you own a trademark for it. That's why trademarks are so worth their while!

Contacting Facebook for Trademark Violations
Let's say you own the company "Acme Anvils," you own a trademark on that name, and someone already registered "facebook.com/acmeanvils." You really NEED that URL for obvious reasons. Facebook will work with you on handing it over to you, its rightful owner, if you feel your trademark rights have been violated per their TOS for infringement. Facebook used to offer an online form to report these cases, but have now made it more difficult, as you'll have to contact Facebook the traditional way.

State Your Trademark Registration # and Case
When you report a trademark violation or wish to gain control of a Facebook Page name that represents your trademark, be sure to have your trademark registration number ready (it typically looks like "01/234567" in the US and "TMA123456" in Canada, and varies in other countries). Be sure to have a strong statement justifying why you believe this is infringement. If your case is weak, you probably won't be granted the Page URL. I've done it twice - once for a previous company I worked for, and another time for a registered trademark I own, and Facebook has been nothing but helpful and speedy in both situations.

Trademark owners are exempt from the "minimum 25 fans" rule for Facebook Pages in this case. Learn more about registering your own trademark -- I highly recommend getting one if you can afford it, since they carry countless protections and conveniences.

Promote Your Page

Suggest A Facebook Page To Your Friends

An initial push toward getting your Page some quick "likes"

Your new page only has one "Like," and it's your own. What's a quick way to get a bunch more? Why not suggest the page to your friends -- people who will willingly help you out!

Here's how to do it: go to your Facebook Page, and look for the drop-down box on the upper-right that says "Build Audience." Click it, and choose "Invite Friends." You'll now see a full list of every single Facebook friend you have. The bad news is that you'll have to manually check the box next to every single one of them if you want to suggest your page to everyone.

There's one more catch: when you suggest the page, Facebook won't allow you to attach any kind of note to the suggestion. Your friends will see a message in their Notifications window (it's the little globe icon -- the 3rd icon to the right of the Facebook logo on the upper left) that will say "YourName has invited you to like his page PageNameHere." Most of your friends will probably ignore it, unless you also private message them and let them know you need help getting more "Likes" to your new page.

Alternately, you can share your new Facebook Page as a new post on your personal profile. Kindly ask everyone to "Like" the page. Unfortunately, a large majority of your entire friend list might not see it, so do this during a time when most people are on Facebook (after work and dinner on a weeknight).

Put a Facebook Like Box on Your Website

Even major corporations are doing it!

One of the coolest ways to promote your Facebook Page is with a "Facebook Like Box." Want to get one? Go here, enter the URL for your Facebook Page, and tweak a few settings. Then, put the code on your blog or site!

Facebook Like Boxes display random fans from your page (all of them are represented by their icon and first name, and are clickable, bringing your to their profile page). It lists the number of fans for your page, and also includes a link going to the page itself. Overall, these Like Boxes are widely recognizable. Major companies are putting them on their pages to boost their social networking campaigns. You can further tweak how the Like Box works, too.

Ranking in Facebook Search

SEO within Facebook - who would have known?

Facebook has its own internal search engine for Facebook Pages. Above, I searched for "pizza," and this is what I saw. Facebook never made public statements about how these search results are compiled, but there's no doubt that the following factors are involved:

1. Number of Likes: More likes = a higher ranking in Facebook search. There's no contesting it, and this will be true for any search you perform.


2. Updates: The more a Facebook Page is added to (updates, pictures, polls, videos), the more likely it will appear higher in Facebook Search for its keyword/category query.


3. Activity From Fans: The more a Page's fans interact with its posted content, the greater the chance appears to be for that page to appear in Facebook search results.

It's pretty evident that Facebook doesn't tailor its search results to your geographic location (at least, not in this point in time). When I searched, I got results for India, the Middle East & UK, even though I'm in New Jersey.

Viral, Trendy Things Work

Promote your page by jumping on the bandwagon

Regardless if you think it's annoying or not, the biggest trend to bring attention to Facebook Pages these days are the sharing of those stupid little eCards, picture-based quotes and sayings, and other internet memes.

Even if you hate going mainstream -- success may come by replicating these annoyingly popular methods for your own Facebook Page...if they're funny or memorable enough.

Give it a try, if it makes sense for your Page's strategy. Meme Generator and SomeEcards are the most popular ones on the internet, and will let you easily create your own meme images.

Create a Facebook Page Tab

Add a "splash screen" that people see first

A "tab" can be used as an introductory screen with graphics, links text or other things that visitors see before they even get to your Facebook Page wall. Here's a separate tutorial I've put together for creating one:

How to Create A Facebook Page Tab

A Facebook Page Tab can be used as a "splash" page or welcome page that visitors see the instant they visit your Facebook Page. This tutorial will show you how...

Facebook Page FAQs

Facebook Pages vs. Facebook Groups

What's the difference? Which is better?

This is perhaps the biggest question in the realm of "Facebook Business." Should I create a Facebook Page, or a Facebook Group? Which is better, and how are they different?

Here's the deal: a Facebook Page can be seen as a "website within Facebook" for a particular subject. It's a static venue to bring a "voice" (YOUR voice) about a particular product or service to Facebook for a niche community to read and react to. That's why you see TV commercials where a company will actually advertise "Facebook.com/CompanyName" rather than their own "www.CompanyName.com" website. That's the power of a Facebook Page.

Some people "fan" things on Facebook because it adds to their persona and further defines who they are. It's also human nature to represent yourself for the things you find interesting, funny or relevant, and that's what Facebook Pages help accomplish.

Here's a comparison, to make things easier:

• A Facebook Page is kind of like a website. It gets updated by you, just like a website would. Use it to promote your small business, your personal website, or something else you have tangible or intellectual/legal rights to. A Facebook Page can get a branded URL (like facebook.com/mypage). A Facebook Page is treated like an official representation of a brand, product, service or location.


• A Facebook Group is kind of like a message board. It gets moderated by you, and its focus are the conversations that are posted to it by you and other members. It is central around calendar events and updates. A Facebook Group can not get a branded URL, and Facebook Group URLs are rather ugly, with a long string of numbers. Facebook made them this way, so that people who are not official representatives of an organization/product/etc. cannot have 'ownership' of an established piece of Facebook real estate for it.

A 2nd Facebook Account for 'Business?'

Is creating a 2nd account the right thing to do?

Does makes sense to create multiple Facebook accounts to manage individual pages? According to Facebook's terms of service, creating more than one personal Facebook account is NOT allowed. This is stated several times, and Facebook takes the issue seriously. In other words, I wouldn't attempt to create more than one account for the purpose of organizing Facebook Pages:

Facebook's Statement:

"Please be aware that managing multiple accounts is a serious violation of Facebook's Terms of Use. If we determine that an individual has more than one account, we reserve the right to terminate all of their accounts. Maintaining multiple accounts, regardless of the purpose, is a violation of Facebook's Terms of Use. If you already have a personal account, then we cannot allow you to create business accounts for any reason."

In essence, Facebook Pages nullify the need to create a 2nd Facebook account for your business. You're never allowed to have more than one account -- in doing so, you're risking that 2nd account AND your personal account getting banned at any point. If you've already created a 2nd account and don't know what to do, Facebook recommends that you convert the account to a Facebook Page.

Business FB Pages & Your Personal Account

Should my job's Facebook Page be managed under my personal one?

Most people are leery over the prospect of maintaining a Facebook Page for their full-time job within their personal Facebook account. Long story short - yes, you should create a Facebook Page in a personal account, rather than creating a 2nd Facebook account altogether. The Facebook Page will then be in the possession of that account, and only you can access it, unless you appoint other administrators.

Don't worry about being showcased on your Facebook Page - you won't be. In fact, nobody will ever know of the owner of a Facebook Page, unless they went out of their way to let it be known. Your profile name, picture, etc. will never be visible on the page. Not even when you post things on the page (when you do, the Facebook Page's avatar and name appears as the poster, instead of yours).

The FAQ point above this one mentioned that you're never allowed to create a 2nd Facebook account, even if it's for business. Well, here's the dumb part: there isn't a major corporation on earth that is stupid enough to allow one of their employees to have ownership of the corporate Facebook Page under their private account! They are all breaking Facebook's terms of service by either creating a Facebook account for business, or having their third-party creative firm do it for them.

If you really need to play by the rules, make sure an executive at your office has "ownership" of a Facebook Page and simply appoints you as an administrator.

Transfer A Facebook Page to Someone Else

Is this possible to do?

Facebook says that you can't transfer a Facebook Page to someone else. Well, that's not entirely true. You can set someone else as the administrator of the page, and then you can be demoted to a regular fan. Once that happens, they become the new "owner" the page.

If you want to delete your entire Facebook account, but not lose your Facebook Pages -- simply appoint someone you trust with your life as the Facebook Page administrator.

Then, delete your account...and create a new Facebook account. Visit the pages you transferred to your relative/friend, and "like" them. Then, have your relative/friend set you as the administrator. You'll be the page owner once again, and you can de-admin or remove your relative/friend.

When A Facebook Page Is "Cybersquatted"

If you don't own the rights, you can't own the Page

If you didn't already know, a "cybersquatter" is someone who knowingly registers a domain name of a trademarked product or company name. Back in the old days of the 'net, it was a good way to blackmail that company into paying you a large sum of cash for the name. Then came the Anti Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999. Now, it's a great way to get a company to force you to hand it over, or else.

Just like how you should never register a domain name with someone else's trademark in the title, you should never create a Facebook Page with one, either. In other words, don't create a Facebook Page called "Coca-Cola Bottles" or "Ford Truck Parts." Pages like this will be under a constant threat of being banned by Facebook.

Facebook's Statement:

"Only the official representative of an organization, business, celebrity, or band may create a Facebook Page. If you would like to create a Facebook presence for a celebrity or organization and you are not officially authorized to do so, we suggest you create a Facebook group instead, as these may be created and maintained by any user."

Facebook also cracks down on anyone attempting to "sell" a page, or use their page as a way to solicit affiliate links or spam a list of fans. These days, it may even be impossible to register a branded Facebook Page URL, due to the filters that Facebook has in place.

What is a Facebook Community Page?

What it means when your Page gets this classification

If your Facebook Page appears to be "just for fun" and is not an official representation of something specific, it might get classified as a Facebook Community Page. If this happens, you won't see much of a difference in the way things work -- the page will just appear differently in Facebook search, and in advertisements. You'll be notified if this happens right on your admin menu of the Page. If you disagree with it, you can remove the "Community Page" designation and have it become a regular page.

Typically, if you edit your page and go into the "Basic Information" section and designate an "Official Page," your Facebook Page will be classified as a Community Page.

Facebook Page Analytics

Intro to Facebook Page Statistics

Marketers, are you paying attention?

If you're a marketer or are creating pages for any kind of promotional or corporate purpose, you are probably wishing that your Facebook Page had Google Analytics. Well, here's something that's close enough: Facebook has built-in analytics for Facebook Pages!

Based on the tabs above the chart, here are the 4 main components of these analytics:

1. Overview: The main dashboard showing a line chart correlating the posts on your page, the number of people talking about (mentioning/sharing) them, and the weekly total reach (the number of people who have seen your Page's posts on their Facebook wall). It also states both static and variable statistics from "likes" to weekly trends.


2. Likes: This data is priceless if you're in business on Facebook. It has pinpoint demographic data about gender and age, countries visiting your page, cities, languages, and devices used to "Like" your page. This is data the kind of proprietary information that you will never get from any website analytics package -- it shows the true marketing data prowess of this social network.


3. Reach: This dashboard looks very similar to the "Likes" dashboard, except it shows you who (and how many people) your Page updates have actually reached. A "reach" is when someone actually sees the stuff you've posted. Lately, reach has suffered with Facebook Promoted Posts' requiring you to pay to get a greater reach. So, this is a good "damage report" to see how far your "unpaid" campaign has been going.


4. Talking About This: For most people, this area will be "grayed out" since it requires a decent number of people to constantly be mentioning your page or its posts (a minimum of 30 people at a time, to be exact). If active, it shows you the gender and age of the visitors who are "talking about" your page. At the bottom, two charts show 7-day spreads of data for Page visibility.

My Facebook Page Doesn't Have Analytics!

You'll have to "unlock" this option...here's how:

Quite simply, your Facebook Page won't get its analytics feature (called "Insights") unlocked until you get at least 30 Likes. That's why you'll want to get the ball rolling by inviting your friends to "Like" the page, so that it will start catching on and increasing the possibility that their friends, and their friends' friends will "Like" it as well.

Facebook Page Statistics...Via eMail!

Free reports sent to you each week

Facebook sends Page administrators an email summarizing all of their Page's weekly progress. These emails are great for the lazy Facebook Page webmaster - if you fail to log in on a regular basis to check your stats, don't worry about it! They'll just get emailed over to you.

You can activate or de-activate the sending of these weekly emails by setting them within your account's "Notification Settings"

On these reports, you'll see info about your monthly users, likes, number of wall posts and visits for the week...as well as last week's numbers in comparison, along with eye-catching green up arrows and red down arrows. It's a great way to peek at an entire week's activity without having to do it the hard way.