Facebook profiles were designed for social purposes. Makes sense. Some folks who are incorporating business purposes through their profiles are risking problems with Facebook, including termination. Ouch.
The solution is to create a Page. According to Facebook’s Terms of Use, Pages are special profiles that may be used only to promote a business or other commercial, political or charitable organization or endeavor. Create a Facebook Page here.
Pages are like free mini Web sites. There is also the benefit of Page content being indexed by Google, whereas regular profiles are hidden in the Facebook walled garden.
Here are 10 Facebook Page tips to help you get started and to customize your look and feel. If you have others, share them in a comment below:
1. Lengthen your photo/image. Bigger may be better. If you submit a large photo or image, Facebook will crop it. Here’s a trick. If you make the image only 180 pixels wide, Facebook let’s you make it 540 pixels in length (this is a recent change from 200 pixels by 600 pixels). This is valuable real estate for brand promotion. Samples are here: http://www.facebook.com/vitaminwater and http://www.facebook.com/Cheetos.
2. Create custom Pages/tabs. Simply by adding HTML code, you can create wonderful interactive and graphic custom pages, which are contained in tabs. You can create pages for interactive ads, calls to action, announcements, blog posts, anything. First you have to add the Static FBML application. Once the app is added, simply click "Edit Page," then "Edit FBML" to title your page and add your code. Believe it or not, you can copy the code from your blog, such as the "About Me" page or a blog post, and display it on your Facebook page.
Note: If you want to create more interesting interactive pages, reach out to a person who knows coding for Facebook — a guy like Mike Mueller.
Tip: Use the Facebook Developer FBML Test Console tool to preview how your code will display.
3. Choose a landing page for visitors. The default setting on Facebook pages is the Wall. Yuck. You can change this by clicking "Edit Page," then "Edit Wall Settings" to make any page the landing page, such as a custom page you created. Simple.
4. Create events. Create event tabs that include descriptions, images, links and video. You can invite Facebook contacts to your events. Once you have the event, you can display photos and video on your event page. You can share the event links in e-mails or on your blog or Web site. I am volunteering for an event in Westchester, N.Y., so I helped out with the event tab (I like the pic).
5. Add blog posts manually or automatically. You can add your blog posts to your wall manually by clicking link and adding the blog post URL. If done manually, you get to describe the post in your own words (keywords). Since Facebook pages are indexed by Google, a keyword title may help.
If you’d rather have your blog posts automatically display on your page, add your blog to the Networked Blogs application. …CONTINUED
More from Joseph Ferrara
