Facebook is the second most visited site on the internet after Google so when it comes to setting up a Facebook Page for your business it’s a question of when, not if.
Once you have an effective website up and running that converts your visitors into customers, and you’ve claimed your Google Places page, then the next thing to do to expand your online presence is set up some social media profiles. And there’s no better place to start than with a Facebook Page, or as it’s sometimes known a Facebook fan page or Facebook business page.
In the olden days (and by the olden days I mean a few years ago, Mark Zuckerberg is only just out of nappies after all!) businesses who wanted to get a bit of Facebook action would set up a Profile like any other personal profile or a Group.
These days the Page is king. Facebook Pages have become more and more optimised for business use, allowing you to put your personal stamp on them, so it’s now easy to use them for marketing, lead capture and list building in very effective ways.
Business Profiles are Against Facebook Rules
You can now interact on Facebook as your Page name, so you can do pretty much everything you can do with a profile with your page. For this reason, if you do have a profile for your business I’d advise you to phase it out by getting your friends to like your page and then deleting the profile. A page is far superior to a profile and businesses who have both tend to have a broken, disjointed presence, fan interaction and following.
It is also against Facebook’s terms to use a Profile page for commercial purposes, so there is a possibility that your business profile page could be shut down without notice and all your hard work lost.
So the Page really is King!
To create a Page on Facebook you need to already have a personal account or a business account (if you don’t want a personal profile on Facebook you can create a business account to administer your Page as well as Ads if you decide to run them in the future). So if you need to you can quickly open up a new window and go to Facebook.com and create an account.
Now, let’s get to creating that Facebook Page:
1. Log into Facebook.
2. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
3. Choose what type of page you want to create – you’ll probably want to choose the ‘Local Business’ or ‘Company, Organisation, or Institution’ option. Fill out the details before clicking the ‘Get Started’ button.
I’m creating a page for Sing Tonicity who do therapeutic voice work and song so I selected the ‘Company’ option – that’s the route we’ll follow for the rest of this tutorial.
Don’t overthink it – choose whatever category fits your business best but don’t worry if you get it wrong, once your page is created all of these settings can be changed at any point.
4. Upload a profile picture. This image will always show at the top left of your Facebook page so it’s a chance to incorporate some branding and expert positioning into your page. Your image must be at least 180 pixels wide (the image I use in this example is 190 x 308 pixels). Once your image is uploaded, click the ‘Continue’ button. 
5. The next step Facebook guides you through is ‘Get Fans’ where you can invite your friends to ‘Like’ your new page. BUT, right now all your page has on it is a profile picture so it’s best to hold off and invite your friends AFTER the whole process is complete and your page is full of info and looks great. So for now, just click ‘Continue’.
6. Add the basic info about your business. Bear in mind that while you may only look at this once, it’s highly likely that EVERY new visitor you get to your Facebook page will look at what you’ve written to see what your business is all about. So make it count! Don’t just give a personal history of your business, talk about what your customers want to hear – what do you do for them? What are the benefits of what you do?
7. That’s the initial set up done! Easy, right? Facebook now shows you the ‘Get Started’ section of your page – you can come back to this later by clicking the ‘Get Started’ link under your profile picture. Facebook might think you’re done but I’ve got more work for you so keep reading…
8. We need to flesh out the information about your business so click on the ‘Edit Info’ link at the top of the page (if you’re having trouble finding the ‘Edit Info’ link then click on the ‘Edit Page’ button at the top right of your screen and then click on the ‘Basic Information’ link on the left hand menu). On this screen you can fill out all the information about your business. Again, as you write this focus on the customer who will be reading it and make sure you tell them what they want to know.
Remember I said you can change the category of your page later if you need to? Well this is the screen to come to if you need to change it now or in the future.
You can also explore the settings options in the left hand menu – you have much more control over a Page than you do over a personal Profile. If you need to change any setting on your page, this is the place to come.
9. It’s time to add some photos to really set your page off! Click on the ‘View Page’ button to go back to the Get Started page. Click the ‘Photos’ link under your profile picture to add some pictures to your page. If you have a personal profile on Facebook, this will all be very familiar to you. Be sure to add at least 5 images because Facebook will use 5 of your photographs at the top of your wall and info pages. You can even use images with text in them to act as mini ads for your products and services.
10. Now she’s sucking diesel! Your page must be looking pretty sweet by now so the only thing left to do is start inviting your friends to ‘Like’ your page. You can do this from the ‘Get Started’ page. You can also publicise your page by adding a link from your website and your email signature, emailing your list of customers and prospects as well as taking every opportunity to let people know you’re on Facebook.
Your first target should be to get 25 fans (‘likes’) because once you hit 25 you can claim your username, aka your vanity url, so you can start directing people to www.facebook.com/YourUsername.
Make your username the same as your business name if possible – it helps you maintain a consistent profile across the internet and it looks more professional.
Become a Facebook Page Super Ninja…
Watch out for part 2 of our Facebook series, which shows you how to optimise your Facebook page to get more ‘Likes’ by adding a custom landing page.
You should click here and like us on Facebook now to be the first to know when new articles are published… Click here to see our optimised Page in action.
If you run into any problems setting up your Facebook page leave your questions in the comments section below.