How to Create a Facebook Business Profile that Converts

by | Jun 6, 2018 | Social Media Tips and Tricks

You’re a keen business owner or blogger and you know that you need social media – especially Facebook – to thrive in a digital age. Maybe you’re just starting to set up your Facebook business profile and you don’t know where to start, or perhaps you’ve had your Facebook profile set up for a while but it’s not giving your business the boost you want.

You need a profile that brings real results to your business. In this post, I’m giving you my step-by-step guide to setting up a Facebook business profile that converts – and I’m even throwing in my Facebook Business Page Checklist for you to download and use, completely free!

 

How to Create and Facebook Business Profile that Converts

To get us started, we’re going to talk about why having a business page that’s separate from your personal profile is so important and get our business page created. If you’re already using a separate business profile, feel free to skip ahead!

 

What is a business profile?

A Facebook business page is different than a personal profile that you probably already use.

Your personal profile is listed under your own name, not your business name. You use a unique email/password combination to log into your personal profile, and when you log in, you’ll see updates and news from your Facebook friends, brands that you interact with on Facebook, and a few paid Facebook ads as well. You should be using your personal profile to post updates about your personal life only – no business content here.

A Facebook business page does not require a separate login from a personal profile. One personal profile can actually manage multiple business pages at once! Your business page is listed under your business’s name, not your own name. When you log into your personal profile, you’ll see a section in your righthand sidebar showing all of the business pages you manage. Your business page should be used solely for posting content about your business and for interacting with other business profiles, not with personal profiles.

 

Why do I need a business page?

The main reason that you need to use a separate business page is that it’s again Facebook’s Terms of Service to use your personal page to promote your business. Yes, you read that right! Many people are guilty of violating this rule, and some direct marketing companies even encourage their sellers to use their personal profile as a way to market the brand on Facebook.

But let’s pretend for a moment that promoting your business on your personal page was perfectly acceptable in the eyes of Big Brother Facebook. Why else should you be using a business page?

For starters, using a business page gives you access to Facebook Insights – a tool that lets you see which of your posts are most popular, when your audience is online,  and a variety of other stats that help you curate your online content for maximum success.

Using a business profile also allows you to create Facebook Ads, a booming and highly profitable way to advertise your content to people who would have never seen it otherwise. You probably scroll past 15-20 Facebook Ads every day without even realizing it!

Now that Facebook has purchased Instagram, you can link your Facebook and Instagram business pages for an incredibly detailed Insights report about the efficacy of your online presence and seamlessly run ads across both platforms.

And of course, one of the benefits of having a separate business page that many people overlook is that it makes it incredibly easy for people to find your business and any pertinent information – website, contact info, services, pricing, etc – all in one place!

How do I create a Facebook page?

You get it, you get it, you need a separate business page on Facebook. But how do you actually create one?

First things first: log into your personal profile, go to your newsfeed, and look at your left-hand sidebar for a heading that says Create. Under that heading, click on the link that says Page:

 

That should bring you to the business page setup wizard. You might see an additional page if you already manage a Facebook page – if so, click on the green Create Page button at the top right-hand corner until you see this screen:

 

You’ll more than likely want to select “Business or Brand” to get started. From here, follow the set-up wizard to plug in some basic information – your business name, category, address, etc.

 

Look Like a Pro

First impressions are important, especially in the digital world where people make decisions about whether or not to click to a different page in a matter of seconds. To blow your audience away with your first impression, you’ll need a professional profile picture and cover photo.

I suggest using Canva and its premade templates to easily create these images. You can also upload videos in place of standard images for this if you have appropriately-sized videos to use. Hover over the blank templates on your page to upload your new images.

Once your profile and cover photo are uploaded, you’ll need to add descriptions to each image. This is a great place to give a super short about you, plug in a few keywords, and add a link to your site. Having these descriptions not only boosts your presence in search engines when you use related keywords, but putting a link to your site in the description makes it easier for visitors to click through and find the meat of your online presence.

 

To recap Look Like a Pro:

  • Upload profile picture (created using Canva)
  • Add description to profile picture with link to your site
  • Upload cover photo (created using Canva)
  • Add description to cover photo with link to your site

 

About You

Next, you need to flesh out your “About” section on your business page. Find a link to this section in the left-hand navigation menu for your page that includes other links like Home, Services, Reviews, etc.

You should have picked a name and category while working with the setup wizard, but just in case you didn’t, now is the time to do so.

Next, create a unique username for your business page. This will help people find your page easier and can boost your search engine rankings. If your name is already taken, get creative! Try @TheBusinessNameHere or @BusinessNameHereTN if your business is located in Tennessee, for example.

Depending on the category you select, you will see various categories to customize in this About section – personal interests, business type, start date of your business, etc. Go down the line and fill out the basic information accordingly.

You can add a short biography about yourself, any awards that you’ve won, and any dining menus you have if you are a food-based business.

An impressum is only required for businesses in certain European countries like Switzerland and Austria explaining your ownership of your online presence. If you are based in one of these countries, be sure to fill this out! Otherwise, feel free to leave it blank.

Some things that everyone should fill out under the About section:

Add a link to your website so you can increase web traffic.

Click on “Edit Other Accounts” under the Contact Info header to link your Instagram, Twitter, and other accounts with your business page.

Add a short (think: one or two sentences) description of your business for “About” under More Info. If your business is associated with a club or other organization, list that under “Affiliation.” If you have room, add an additional link to your site here.

Add a longer, narrative description about your business and any captivating images you have under “Our Story”. Make sure you are using plenty of keywords in this section! “Our Story” should end in a clear call to action with a link to your site.

If relevant and applicable, be sure to fill in your business’s physical location to attract a local audience.

 

To recap About You:

  • Clear and appealing short description (about)
  • Link to your site in short description
  • Compelling long description (Our Story)
  • Keywords in long description
  • Call to action and link in long description
  • Select the best category and subcategory for your business
  • Add physical location if relevant
  • Add business phone
  • Add business email
  • Add website

 

Establish Authority

Now that people know who you are, they need to know why they should trust you as an expert in your field. Luckily, Facebook has several features built into business pages to help you showcase your expertise.

When you claimed your username in the About section, you also claimed your vanity URL – this means that the URL to your Facebook page should now be facebook.com/YourUsername instead of facebook.com/randomstringofnumbers. Make sure you’ve claimed your username in the About section to claim your vanity URL!

Again, if you’ve won any awards, you should have entered them while filling out the About section. Just in case, make sure you list any awards you’ve won to establish your authority in your field.

Next, you’ll want to get the grey verification check mark for your business page. Follow the instructions here to verify your page. If your page is new or has been inactive for a while, you might not be able to do this yet, so keep checking back as you continue to grow your Facebook following.

You’ll also want to make sure that your page is published and visible to the public. To check this, go to Settings -> General -> Page Visibility and make sure your settings are set to “Page Public”.

Finally, you’ll want to customize the navigation tabs displayed on your business page. By going to Settings -> Edit Page, you can reorder your tabs to showcase content specific content like reviews or services. You can also add in custom tabs from apps like Mailchimp or WeddingWire to add an email signup form or showcase reviews from different platforms. Explore these partnered apps to determine what would best show off your business’s unique strengths.

 

To recap Establish Authority:

  • Claim vanity URL
  • Enter any awards you’ve earned
  • Verify your profile (get the grey check)
  • Make sure page is published and visible to the public
  • Customize navigation tabs

 

Connect

Whew! Now that you’ve told your audience who you are and established your authority as an expert in your field, it’s time to get connected!

First, you need to turn on your message buttons to allow people to contact your page. Head to Settings -> Messaging to turn your message buttons on. While you’re on this page, view the messaging settings and turn on features like Messenger Greeting and Instant Replies to prompt people to engage with your page and boost your response time and ratings.

Next, you’ll want to turn on visitor tagging so that others can tag your page and spread the word about the good work you’re doing! Click on Settings -> General -> Tagging Ability as well as Others Tagging My Page to turn these features on.

There’s a whole untapped audience waiting to find your page on Facebook. To help them find it, turn on Similar Page Suggestions by going to Settings -> General -> Similar Page Suggestions to choose whether or not Facebook recommends your page to people who might be interested. Hint: you want to turn this on!

Finally, you’ll want to customize the big blue button that sits under your cover photo. This button is one of my favorite parts about Facebook business pages and makes it so easy to gently guide your audience to interact with you in the way you want. Hover over the button and click “Edit Button”. Facebook provides a mini-setup wizard for this button that lets you choose whether you want people to visit your site, call your phone, download your app, etc. and sets you up accordingly. Go through this setup wizard and test your button to make sure all is working properly.

 

To recap Connect:

  • Turn on Messenger button
  • Turn on visitor tagging
  • Turn on similar page suggestions
  • Customize call to action button

 

And there you have it!

Your Facebook business page is fully customized and set up to convert social shares into sales! If you have any questions about optimizing your social media accounts for success, please shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to assist!

Wondering what to do next? Read my post on how I schedule an entire month’s worth of social media content in one weekend here.

 

Want a copy of my Facebook Business Page Checklist to keep for yourself? Subscribe below for a copy delivered straight to your inbox!

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