3 “Must Haves” for your Facebook Business Page
Let’s look at some of the facts :
- Facebook has 1.11 billion users (as of March 2013)
- Facebook offers 70 languages and 75 percent of its users are outside of the U.S.
- Every 20 minutes around 1 million links are shared on Facebook.
What do these stats and more mean for your business? A must-have when it comes to branding and marketing (not to mention social recruiting ).
That said, whether you are providing a freelance service or trying to bolster your organization’s brand online, you need a professional Facebook presence. Let’s explore some of the most important elements every Facebook business page should include for best results.
1. An Effective Cover Photo/Infographic
Facebook allots professional pages a cover photo area. This space is used for uploading a graphic (851pixels wide x 315 pixels high). That makes for a perfect place to include an infographic or header. Think of it as a billboard for your freelance service or business. It’s the largest graphic on the page and is a perfect spot to display your information in a visually interesting way.
This graphic should include a professional image and important contact information. Some suggested details that could be included in this space would be your name, profession, email, telephone number, website address, and other contact information. Even though this graphic will not allow someone to ‘click and go’ to your official website, the visitor can still easily see what your web address is and visit your website manually.
If you’re setting up a company Facebook page, the cover photo should be your logo. This helps with branding when users see your company’s name, they’ll immediately recognize the logo that goes with it.
2. Highlighted Posts
Another slick feature for your professional Facebook page is a highlighted post. This is a great way to draw a visitor’s eye to a key feature or something new that you want to showcase. Highlighted posts stand out by automatically being converted from 403 pixels wide to a full 843 pixel x 403 pixel high format, drawing in your visitors instantly. Some great ideas for such posts would be a current coupon, a time sensitive date, or a link to an important page on your official website that you’d like people to visit.
3. Pertinent Milestones
Facebook milestones feature significant moments in your life or business that you want to share on your timeline. These milestones are automatically converted to the 843 pixel wide format (referred to as widescreen) and are visible to everyone that visits your page. You also have the ability to utilize Facebook’s privacy options that will allow you to choose who can or cannot see these milestones.
Including certain milestones about yourself (if self-employed) or your business would be beneficial when hiring an employee. Adding details, such as when your company started, expanded, merged or relocated, could prove beneficial. Milestones gives consumers more background information on your company, and depending on what they are, they could potentially help draw those consumers to your business. For example, maybe one of your milestones was successfully implementing a “go green” initiative throughout your company. This will certainly attract a certain group of consumers and could influence their decisions to use your business/service.
Even though these are only three examples of what every Facebook business page should include, they are certainly among the most important of your options. They will unlock a major part of your online social network presence. Don’t forget to share your updated Facebook business page with your business colleagues, professional contacts, friends and family members. The more you spread the word, the more traffic and contacts you will get.
Have a great point you don’t see listed here? Share the “must haves” of every Facebook page below.