- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Facebook Business Pages are indexed by search engines. Personal pages... not so much. In this day and age, with the unfathomable amount of pages and websites on the Internet, you need to be doing everything possible to improve your online visibility. A well constructed and engaging "Facebook Business Page" will go a long way in helping make up for what your website is not currently doing for you.
- "Friends" verses "Likes"... or "Fans": There is NO limit on the number of fans... or people who can "Like" your Facebook business page. However, there's a cap on the number of "Friends" you can have on a profile page. That cap is 5,000. Do you really want to set limitations like that?
- One "Profile"... many "Business Pages": You can have multiple business pages... however, you can have only one profile page. Why is this important? Think outside the box for a moment. What if you're a Real Estate Agent by day... and you're a Karaoke Deejay by night. Nope... didn't make that example up! Or perhaps you own a small Bed & Breakfast, but you also own a consignment shop in town. Didn't make that one up either. Point is... you can manage multiple, yet individual, Facebook Business pages... all within one Facebook account.
- Statistics and Monitoring Activity: Everyone loves statistics... hits... visits... etc. Facebook Business Pages have such a thing. It's called "Insights". These powerful statistics display in a graph format and include "Page Overview", "User", and "Interactions". How many people viewed your posts? How many people "Liked" your posts, photos, or videos? How many people have "Liked" or "Commented" on those? How many people "Liked" your page on a certain day? And much more! This information is invaluable when it comes to making your Facebook Business page more useful, engaging, and successful! There's no such information available on a profile page.
- "Landing Pages" and additional "Tabs": Technology exists now for you to turn a Facebook business page into a mini website. For example, you could integrate an interactive business directory or events calendar right into your Facebook business page. You could introduce an additional tab which might have printable coupons and special "Facebook Only" promotions. This is impossible with a personal page.
Your Facebook "Friend Requests": Bad for Business... Annoying to Me!
Authored by:
William Wells III
I'm a Business Social Media Coach, Speaker & Presenter focusing on educating Chambers of Commerce , small businesses, and organizations in the area of Social Networking by familiarizing them with the tools and helping them select, integrate, and use the best combination of these tools for the success of their specific business or organization. I take a "101" approach and enjoy taking the ...» Already a member? Login now to comment!
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A guest says:
I would agree to you that yes, these profiles we make in Facebok are intended for people and not for organizations and yes, I also get annoyed when a something-something online shopping adds me as its friend. But you know, we can't really stop them from doing it because they seem to be taking advantage of the digital population widely spread in facebook.
William Wells III says:
Greetings Zak... I'm not so sure Jason is suggesting a "Personal Page" for business so much as realizing that a "Personal Page" can be used quite effectively in conjuntion WITH a "Business Page"... for the reasons he pointed out.
I've had a "Personal Page" for years. I've never changed it... I've never started a new one. However, I've always strived to maintain a level of "professionalism" where my personal page is concerned. While serving as CEO for a Chamber of Commerce down south, I developed a "Business Page" for that Chamber... however, I overlapped much of the info with my personal page because, in essence, it's two different audiences. This allowed me to connect to politicians... news anchors and reporters... and other influencial people who I wouldn't have been able to connect with from a "Business Page". By keeping my "Personal Page" clean and professional... free of "game requests", cursing, suggestive photos, etc... these people weren't leary of becoming my "Friend" because they knew I wasn't going to embarass them.
Although the focus was on the Chamber "Business Page", I still used that as an opportunity to "softly" make my "friends" aware of upcoming events... new members, etc. I'd create photo albums on my personal page... post local news interview videos I'd done, etc... Basically, I treated my personal page like I would carry myself in public... providing tid-bits of information while steering them toward the business page.
Now... that I'm resurrecting my own business... I've simply changed the focus on my personal page to what I'm doing now. Still "professional" overall... but with the ability to add that "personal touch", as Jason mentioned, that you can't do directly from a "Business Page".
In my opinion, this is an acceptable way to make use of both.
Honey Singh says:
It annoy me too and this is reason why i feel pitty for the that brand. I think does these morons doesn't feel the difference between personal profile and business pages?
Anyway, a Facebook profile is something that should belong to personal only, if one have any brand profile then he should keep that under limited visibility and better opt for Fanpage promotions!
It's better to have clean experiece !
A guest says:
I have to agree with William on this in that as your Facebook presence grows and the technology grows a page is the preferred option. With Jason mentioning using a seperate profile for a personal business front, this is breaking facebook rules and if you spend time growing this profile and in 12 months this is removed by facebook all your time could be wasted, is that worth the risk?
William Wells III says:
Greetings Jason... thank you for your comment. It's greatly appreciated! And I'm in complete agreement with you... 100%... regarding using both. Your very last sentence is the key... and is the thing most often overlooked.
"If it is done right..." and the number of small business owners who don't seem to realize that is staggering. The business page will be professional... as it should be... and the personal page will be full of questionable content, inappropriate photos, comments that include more curse words than you'd hear in a bar full of drunken Sailors on their first "leave" after 5 years at sea.
It's definitely a good topic for a future article.
Thanks again!
Bill
Jason Schroeck says:
exactly Bill! regarding the topic of using both, I actually am now in the middle of writing a blog post regarding this very matter! I will share it with you when it's finished and edited! I would love to hear your thoughts on it! :)
A guest says:
Let me start out by saying, very nicely written article with some great points! I actually prefer both for a business. A "Like" page is fantastic and has great benefits, as you have so nicely and clearly pointed out above. A business page is for the business while a personal profile could be a profile of the person that is managing the business page(s) made specifically for that business with the business name as an alternate name in the profile. There is now a "face" to indenitfy with at the business. A real live person that interacts with others. The human element which is often overlooked in business online. From that profile, I am able to interact more closely with friends, customers, associates, affiliates and potential customers. I can wish a customer's child a Happy Birthday or Congratulations on graduating High School. I can wish my condolences or best thoughts if there is a death or illness in the family. I can comment on their pictures and the list goes on. If it is done right, in my opinion, a business should have BOTH!

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