How to set up a Facebook business page

Go to https://www.facebook.com/pages

(it will ask you to log in if you haven’t yet)

Near the top, to the right, click the “+ Create Page” button

Click on the “Local Business or Place“. (You almost ALWAYS want this one if you do local business, so that fans can find you!)  Then fill in the information:

• Under “choose a category”, pick the one that best describes your business. Remember this cannot change once selected.
• Enter the business name in “Business or Place”. This also cannot change once selected.  Facebook has updated where you can change this once or twice, so you still need to consider carefully before finalizing the name.
• Enter the address information in the corresponding fields. Your city/state will automatically fill in as you type, be sure to select the proper one out of the options it shows, otherwise it won’t take it.
• All of the above fields must be completed.
• Click the checkbox to agree to the Facebook terms, then click the blue “Get Started” button.

Upload a photo – usually your logo or a headshot. This can be changed later.  You can also add a cover image later.

Provide brief information in the “about” section. You can also add other websites where you want people to find you – such as your professional website, twitter, linkedin. Do so now if possible for the ones you already know you want people to access.  These can be edited later.

Choose a unique name for your facebook URL address. Think carefully, as this can’t be changed. Don’t skip this step, as this is what makes it easy for your fans to find you. Rather than some random number url, it would be facebook.com/YourBusinessName

You shouldn’t need to claim other pages, so skip this step.

It will ask you to Like your own page – don’t do this quite yet. You don’t want people seeing the page in your newsfeed until you’re ready for it to go public. So click “skip” for now.

It will ask you to invite your friends. Skip this now as well for the same reason by just clicking “next”. Same for the invite by email. You can always do both of these steps later.

Go ahead and post SOMETHING on your wall. It’s best to make a post that is something REAL so that when people start seeing your page, information is on it. It might be something like “come see us at XXXXXX event on May 25!”

Next, go read my blog post on the Facebook Page Timeline and complete as many of the steps as possible. You can always go back and complete any others later.

You are now set, and ready to start marketing your Facebook business page!

Interested in learning some ways a Facebook business page can support your business?  Claim a spot on my calendar for a free social media marketing strategy session and we can discuss your social media marketing goals and some effective ideas.