Facebook is one of the world’s largest social networks. Boasting over 300 million world-wide members, there is a good chance that your customers (or potential customers) are already spending a significant amount of time on Facebook. Finally, as ubiquitous as Google has become in our daily lives, Facebook is quickly catching up to the search engine in total monthly traffic.

Compete.com – Facebook and Google

Beyond traffic, Facebook is a great choice for businesses looking to promote themselves online:

• Advertising platform puts your ad in front of the most qualified traffic through advanced demographic and behavioral targeting

• Easy to set up and maintain, low cost solution for a web presence

• Facebook “Insights” provide in-depth look at the age, sex and location of your fans, as well as help you identify the type of content they enjoy interacting with

Getting started

Creating a Facebook page is a relatively painless process. To get started, visit the Facebook Advertising page and click the “Create a Page” link near the top of the page.

The next thing to consider is what type of page you would like to create. Using the pull downs select the business type which best reflects your own. Facebook will provide you with a set of default page options that match which type of business you select in this step (e.g. non-profit, celebrity/personality, national for-profit business) so choose wisely. Facebook also uses this information to determine how your page is listed in the site’s online directory of Pages.

Facebook Page Creation

After digitally signing for your page you are now presented with a rather boring “default” page for your business. It is important to note that this page exists now in an unpublished state meaning that it can’t be found (yet) by your customers using the search function on Facebook. This is a good thing though as the page lacks the polish necessary to entice people to become your fans. Never fear, soon this page will be customized and ready for publishing.

An un-customized Facebook Page

Lets go ahead and put in some information that describes your business. First, click on the “edit information” link (generally next to an icon of a pencil) on the “Info Tab” and fill out the form fields. Based on what type of business you selected, you may see different fields. For this example I selected a “Cafe” business. When you are done filling out information, click the “Done Editing” button.

Customizing your Facebook Page

This process works through most of the tabs on your page. If you ever want to edit the information contained on a tab, look for the pencil icon.

Now it is time to give your page a “face” by uploading a picture. Click on the image of the question mark at the top left of your page to select a new one.

Add your company logo

There are few things to keep in mind when uploading a photo for your page. The first being that, eventually, whatever image you use is going to be condensed down into a small thumbnail image measuring 50×50 pixels. It is important to anticipate this when choosing an image because most people will see the thumbnail when interacting with your page.

It is generally a best practice then to:

• Use images that are square
• Use images that contain your logo
• Use images that look good at small sizes

You still may use large images with more “scenic” pictures so long as some part of your image can be “squared off” down to small size and still maintain your branding.

Facebook page with large and small icons

Now that you have some basic information and a photo uploaded which represent your business you can move on to some additional customizations that will make your page more interesting to your fans.

Photos – Upload photos of your business. Ideas include: photos from events, visual tour of your office or store front, notable people or products.

Videos – Upload videos of your business. Ideas include: video recap of events, interviews or promotional advertisement.

Discussions – Topical message boards. Ideas include: ask customers for ideas, get to know you topics, frequently asked questions and answer sessions.

Ready-Set-Publish

Once you are comfortable that your new page has enough interesting content to satisfy your new fans you are ready to unleash your page on the greater Facebook world.

To do this, click on the “Edit this Page” link directly under the large picture on your “Wall Tab.” Look at the top right on your page’s admin screen and click “Publish this page”

Publish your Page

You now have a publicly accessible business page on Facebook! Tell your friends about it by giving them the name of the page (or address) or create an ad using Facebook’s advertising system to build your fan base. Make sure to update your fans on a routine basis with special promotions or news related to your business by adding messages to your wall.

Don’t forget! Become a fan of your own page to let your friends see what you’ve created!

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