Chapter 3
In This Chapter
Understanding how a business page is laid out
Familiarizing yourself with business page tools and options
Using Facebook as a personal timeline or a business page
After you set up your business page, one of the first things you may notice is that business pages look a lot like personal timelines. However, several features of personal timelines (list of friends, summary of personal information, and so on) have been replaced with features related to interacting with your followers, tracking your followers, and more.
This chapter explains how a business page differs from a personal timeline, what each business page feature does, and how you can manage your page presence on Facebook.
Your business page is laid out in sections: the blue Facebook navigation bar at the top of the page, the Admin panel, your cover photo, basic page info, apps, and your timeline, as shown in Figure 3-1. The following sections explain what is included in each area of the page and how you can use the links and information to manage your business page.
If you don’t automatically see your Admin panel, click the Show button, above your cover photo. The Admin panel includes five sections, as shown in Figure 3-2:
In addition to the five sections described in the preceding section, you see a toolbar at the top of the Admin panel with five options: Edit Page, Build Audience, See Insights, Help, and Show (or Hide). Click each one to manage different aspects of your business page.
When you click Edit Page, a drop-down list appears with options for the following:
You can control how content appears on your business page by choosing to allow, highlight, hide, or delete content. You can also report or mark content as spam, and change the date of the post. To control content, click the pencil icon next the update you want to manage and make a selection from the drop-down list, as shown in Figure 3-3.
You can manage content from the past as well. On the right side of the Activity Log page, click the year and month for which you want to see posts. You can filter your activity log also by choosing one of the options in the left sidebar, such as Photos, Videos, or Comments.
When you click Build Audience on the toolbar, a drop-down list appears with the following options:
Clicking the See Insights option opens Facebook Insights for your page. Insights is a collection of data that shows you the performance of your page and posts on your page. You also see detailed demographics regarding those who are following your page. Anyone running a business page should become familiar with Insights. We go into more detail about Insights and its importance in Book V, Chapter 3.
When you click Help on the toolbar, a drop-down list appears with the following options:
Click the Hide button to hide your Admin panel. Your cover photo appears at the top of the page. Remember that only admins can see the Admin panel, so you don’t have to hide it unless you just like a less cluttered look.
Below the cover photo, you see some basic information about your page, as shown in Figure 3-4. This information serves as an overview of your business page, as well as provides basic navigation.
The basic page information has the following:
See Chapter 1 of this minibook for instructions on how to implement the Message button. We encourage you to keep this feature turned on because it allows customers to contact you directly if they have an issue rather than sharing their comments publicly on the timeline.
The options for reporting a page change, depending on the type of page.
You also have the option of reporting theft of your intellectual property. To do that, click the Is This Your Intellectual Property? link in the bottom-left corner of the dialog box. The Facebook instructions for reporting infringement claims appear.
To create a usable link, be sure to include www. with any URLs you share in this box. For example, if you type Shop our online store at postplanner.com, that link won’t be clickable. You can fix that by typing Shop our online store at www.postplanner.com.
In Chapter 2 of this minibook, we explain each link on your business page Admin panel. One of those links is the Featured setting. From there you can choose to feature the admins of your page. If you do so, the featured admins appear on the About page for your business page.
When you feature admins, their personal timelines are listed as links on your business page’s About page. In addition, the business page that lists the featured admins also appears on that person’s personal timeline in the About section.
If you refer to Figure 3-1, you see four pictures under the cover photo. These pictures depict apps installed on the page to enhance its functionality.
You can have many apps installed on your business page: a newsletter sign-up, a contact form, links to downloadable content, custom applications … the options are endless. Facebook displays apps in rows of four, and by default only the first row is displayed. Users can click the small number at the end of the row (the number at the end of the row indicates how many more apps are hidden) to expand the apps box to show more rows of apps (up to 12), as shown in Figure 3-5.
As the admin of a business page, you can see all your apps when you expand the apps box — you aren’t limited to seeing the top 12.
You can choose the order in which your apps are displayed. The only exception is that the Photos app must always appear first.
You can also create and display your own images for each app, as described later in this chapter.
When you click an app, you go to a new page with that app’s functionality. For example, if you click a newsletter sign-up app, you leave the business page and end up on a page with the newsletter sign-up form. As you design your application landing page, it’s helpful to know that the page is 810 pixels wide. That’s a lot of screen real estate, and you can create some snazzy stuff with third-party application builders such as ShortStack, North Social, and Tabsite.
You can change the order in which your apps are displayed. The only exception is that the Photos app must always appear first; you can’t move it. That means you really have space to showcase only three apps on the first row of apps under your cover photo. We suggest showcasing your most important apps (such as a newsletter sign-up) in the first row of displayed apps so they aren’t overlooked.
To change the order of your displayed apps, follow these instructions:
The apps swap positions. You can continue to tweak the order of your apps until you’re satisfied.
You can also create and display your own images for each app. To do that, you need to create an image that is 111 pixels wide by 74 pixels tall. These images need to catch people’s attention and have a clear call to action. For example, if you want people to sign up for your newsletter, create an image that reads Join Our Newsletter! We’re sure you can come up with many creative ideas for customized application images.
When you have your image ready to install, follow these steps:
A dialog box appears with several options.
The Upload a Custom Image page appears.
The image must be 111 x 74 pixels and will become the thumbnail for your custom page app. After you choose the image, it is uploaded and the screen updates.
Your page opens in another window.
Highlighted apps are the top four page tabs that appear below the cover photo on the right side. These apps are built in to all pages by Facebook, such as a map to your location or the number of Likes your page has.
You can also put up to three custom page tabs in this area. To do so, click the down arrow to the right of the Highlighted Apps area (the row containing Photos, Likes, Map, and so on) to reveal other applications or available spaces, as shown in Figure 3-6. Click the plus sign at the top-right corner of any blank area to add an application to your list. Only the top three appear at first glance on your business page. Users have to click the down arrow to reveal all the other applications you've installed on your business page.
Photos is always the first app on your Highlighted Apps. You can’t move this one. All your latest photo uploads are here, with the most recent one displayed in the box. Upload great photos that people will want to click!
When you can see all the applications on your business page, hover your mouse cursor over the top right, and you see a pencil icon, indicating that you can edit the application. Click the pencil icon to edit the settings as follows:
Editing the settings allows you to change the name of the application, as well as change the image that appears on your business page. The image acts like a button that leads to the page tab from your business page.
The timeline portion of your page houses status updates and community interaction. The timeline is where you interact with your followers and where they interact with you.
Just like on your personal timeline, your business page has a line down the middle and information on the right and left sides. On your business page, though, the top-right side displays what other people are saying about your business page, friend activity, and Likes (the other pages you’ve Liked as your business page).
The timeline provides you with an opportunity to tell the story behind your business. Because you can add updates and assign them to a specific year, you’re able to start with your first product sold and mark each milestone throughout your business history. Two companies that do a good job taking advantage of this feature are Red Bull (www.facebook.com/redbull) and Fanta (www.facebook.com/fanta). Each gives a complete history of their growth with fun pictures and interesting facts.
The list choices are self-explanatory. When you click a choice, the timeline shows only posts highlighted by the business page owners (usually milestones, but can be any highlighted content), posts by the business page (usually general status updates), or posts by others (anyone who has interacted with the business page — whether as a follower or not).
The following sections explain each timeline component.
At the top left of your timeline, you see the status update box. Just like with your personal timeline, the status update box is where you type and share your status updates for your business page. Your business page status update options are
When you click Milestone the first time, you'll see an Invalid Date error, as shown in Figure 3-8. Go to your Admin panel, select Page Info, and add the date when the page Joined Facebook or the company started.
You can’t create a milestone if you’re trying to post to your business page as your personal timeline. Below the search box on your page, you can change between posting, commenting, and Liking as your page or as yourself.
For information on targeting your status updates, see Chapter 5 of this minibook.
If you’d like to add a milestone (either now or later), click the Offers, Events+ option and then choose Milestone in the status update box. The Milestone dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-9.
With the Milestone dialog box open, follow these steps to create a new milestone:
When you create a milestone, it spans both the left and right columns of the timeline, as shown in Figure 3-10.
You can edit a milestone or status update by clicking the drop-down arrow in the upper-right corner of the update. From here you can choose from the following:
One of the best ways to get the most out of a pinned post is to use a strong call to action in your update, and then provide the means to complete that action (such as including the link to a specific page).
When you visit a business page, at the top right of the timeline is a list of your friends who also Like that business page. The purpose of this is to provide social proof. In other words, the hope is that if you see that your friends Like a brand, you’ll take that as an endorsement and also Like the brand. We discuss the idea of social proof and how it works with Facebook throughout this book. Facebook and businesses both realize the power of word-of-mouth, and they take full advantage of it by reminding you that your friends are on board — and encourage you to come on board too.
When a follower or nonfollower posts on a business page, those posts appear in the Recent Posts by Others box. Because these comments don’t show up in the main timeline as individual updates, it can be difficult for page admins to see at a glance who has posted a question or comment directly to the timeline. We suggest using your Admin panel to see new interactions. Click the action and you go directly to the update so you can respond.
Just as you can Like a page as yourself (your personal timeline), you can also like other business pages as your business page. Any pages you Like when you’re using Facebook as your business page will show up in the Likes area. If you Like more than five business pages, the displayed pages will rotate each time the page is refreshed.
You can control which pages are displayed by going to your Admin panel and clicking Edit Page⇒Edit Settings⇒More and choosing Featured in the drop-down list. Then click the Edit Featured Likes button. Use the list to choose the five pages you want to feature. When you assign featured pages, those five pages are displayed randomly each time the page is refreshed. Other pages you’ve Liked will not appear.
Most business pages allow their followers and other pages to share information on the timeline. The idea is that an open community is an inviting community. Usually people are respectful and are truly interested in engaging with your brand.
Sometimes, though, you’ll find a spammy or otherwise inappropriate post on your business page. You can manage posts by others by moving your cursor over the post you want to address and clicking the X to the right of it.
When you click the X on someone's post, it becomes hidden and you see the following options:
If you want to delete the post, click the icon and choose Delete Post. The Delete Post dialog box appears and you have three choices: Delete, Delete and Ban User, and Cancel. If you choose Delete and Ban User, the person who posted can’t interact with your business page again. A warning appears, asking if you’re sure you want to delete the post and permanently block the person or business page from posting to your timeline. If you’re sure, click Remove Post and Ban Page (User).
When you click X on someone's comment, it becomes hidden to everyone but that person and their friends and the following options appear:
The right side of your business page has two items: a navigation button and a clickable list of years. At the top right of any business page is a button that changes depending on whether you’re an admin or not. If you’re an admin, you see a Promote Page button, which takes you to Ads Manager, discussed more in Book V. If you’re not an admin, you see the Create a Page button, which takes you to the main page for creating your own business page.
Below the button is a list of years associated with posts from the business page. The number of years (and which years) listed depend on how the business page has updated its timeline. As we discuss earlier in this chapter, it’s possible (and encouraged) to create stories associated with years that predate Facebook. (Again, the timeline on the Fanta page at http://fb.com/Fanta was updated to reach as far back as the 1950s.)
People have both personal and professional relationships. Sometimes those relationships overlap; sometimes they are unrelated. The same is true on Facebook. You may choose to keep your personal timeline focused on friends, family, and a few colleagues, and use your business page to connect with other businesses and to interact with your customers.
Because your personal timeline and your business page are separate but connected, the Facebook folks thought it would be a good idea to give you the choice of how you’d like to interact on Facebook and your business page — either as yourself (your personal timeline) or as your brand (your business page). That means you have the option to post comments to other business pages either as yourself or as your business page!
The idea of switching back and forth between timelines may be confusing at first, but after you get the hang of it, you’ll see how useful this feature can be.
Your personal and business pages are connected to you. When you use Facebook as your personal timeline, the people and pages you interact with see the image and name associated with your personal timeline (such as Scott Ayres). When you use Facebook as your business page, the people and pages you interact with see the image and name associated with your business page (such as Post Planner).
Table 3-1 shows how your personal and business pages differ.
Table 3-1 Personal Timeline versus Business Page
As a Personal Timeline |
As a Page |
You can interact with friends on your timeline, in groups, in chat, and so on. |
You can interact with individuals in the confines of your business page. Your business page can’t post to an individual’s personal timeline. |
You can make new friend requests. |
You cannot make friend requests. |
You can Like a business page. This Like counts toward the total number of Likes for a page. |
You can Like a business page. This Like does not count toward the total number of Likes for a page. |
You can tag individuals in status updates, photos, video, and so on. |
You cannot tag individuals in status updates, photos, video, and so on. |
To use your Facebook account as yourself (meaning as your personal timeline), just log in to Facebook as you normally do. When you’d like to switch to your business account, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the blue toolbar. From the menu, choose Use Facebook as [Your Page]. (The menu lists all the pages you are associated with as an admin.)
You can easily switch back to using your personal timeline by clicking the gear and choosing Switch Back to [Your Name].
Being able to switch between appearing as your brand (business page) or yourself (personal timeline) allows you to do a few things:
When you Like a page while using Facebook as your business page, that Like does not count toward that page’s overall Likes. Facebook counts only Likes received from a personal timeline. In other words, if Scott uses the Post Planner business page and Likes the business page for ShortStack, that Like is not recorded as part of the overall number of Likes for the ShortStack page. But if he switches back to using his personal timeline, and then heads over to the ShortStack business page and clicks Like, that Like is recorded in the overall number of Likes for that business page.
When you switch to using Facebook as your business page, your Facebook experience is similar to when you’re using your personal timeline, but everything is now focused on your business page instead of your personal timeline page.
In this section, we describe how the elements on the Facebook toolbar differ, depending on whether you’re using Facebook as your personal timeline or as your business page.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the Facebook link takes you to your main news feed, where you see top stories, recent updates, updates from your Facebook friends, pages you’ve Liked, and groups to which you belong.
When using Facebook as your business page, the Facebook link takes you to a news feed for your business page. Because a business page can’t connect with individuals and is restricted to Liking other pages, this news feed displays only updates from the pages you have Liked while using Facebook as your page.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the friend requests icon (silhouette) displays a list of people who have requested to become Facebook friends.
When using Facebook as your business page, this icon displays a list of Facebook users who have recently Liked your business page. You may click their names to see their personal timelines, but you may see only limited information, depending on their privacy settings.
If you’d like to see a list of all your followers, click the silhouette icon, and then click See All at the bottom of the list. The People Who Like [Your Page Name] dialog box appears. Unfortunately, Facebook does not make it easy to find specific followers — you have to scroll through the list one by one.
You can grant administrative privileges to any follower by clicking the Make Admin button next to the person's name (see Chapter 2 of this minibook for instructions on how to grant admin privileges). Alternatively, you can ban a specific follower from your business page by clicking the X next to the person's name.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the messages icon (two speech bubbles) displays a list of personal messages various people have sent to you. Depending on your privacy settings, you may also receive personal messages from people to whom you are not directly connected (such as friends of friends). You can read more about managing your privacy settings in Book I, Chapter 4.
When using Facebook as your business page, the messages icon displays a list of personal messages followers have sent. Facebook allows followers to send you private messages as a way to handle communication away from the public timeline. Although followers can send a private message to a page, a page cannot initiate private messages to followers.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the notifications icon (globe) displays a running list of people who have mentioned you in status updates, posted updates related to your actions (for instance, Liking a photo you shared or commenting on a status update you already commented on), and so on.
When using Facebook as your business page, the notifications icon displays a list of your followers who have recently interacted with your page either by Liking a status update or link, tagging your business page in an update, or commenting on a status update or link.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, you type search terms in the Search text box to find people, pages, groups, apps, and events. You can also find basic web results, posts from friends, posts published publicly, and posts to public groups.
When using Facebook as your business page, you can still use the Search tool. However, your results are limited to people, pages, events, general web results, and posts by everyone. Because a business page can’t join a group, you don’t see results for groups.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the Profile link goes to your personal timeline. When using Facebook as your business page, the Profile link goes to your business page.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the Home link sends you back to your main news feed.
When using Facebook as your business page, the Home link sends you back to your business page’s news feed. However, your business page news feed displays updates by other pages, not friends associated with your personal timeline.
When using Facebook as your personal timeline, the gear icon provides the following options: Switch to Using Facebook as Your Business Pages, Create a Page, Manage Pages, Your Ads, Create Ads, Mange Ads, Create App, Manage Apps, Settings, Log Out, Help, and Report a Problem.
When using Facebook as your business page, the gear icon provides the following options: Switch to Using Facebook as Your Personal Profile, Use Facebook as Page (this could be another page for which you are the admin), Create or Manage Pages, Facebook Ads, Log Out, Help, and Report a Problem.