No, you can’t – not anymore. With fake news still a serious international concern, influencing elections through public opinion alteration, companies like Facebook are seriously cracking down on ill-intended online practices. Before 2017, one was able to establish a Facebook Business Page without having it linked to a personal profile. In the name of online security and the eradication of fake news, this is no longer possible.
However, Facebook has greatly improved its offering, and the social media platform places paramount importance on a user’s privacy and online security. What this means is that you must sign up for a personal Facebook profile if you want a Facebook Business Page, but you can make your personal profile so secure that nobody will ever find you!
Why You Need a Personal Facebook Profile
Wired.com, in an article about Facebook taking down fake business pages, shares that, “Creating a network of anonymous pages is one of the easiest ways to quickly spread fake news or propaganda on the social network. This tactic has most famously been used by Russian trolls—even long after the 2016 presidential election.”
Facebook needs to verify that a business page is representative of a real business, and that the business in question is managed by a real person. They can’t send someone around to your town and see if your business really exists. For this reason, Facebook will only let people actually using the social media platform establish business pages.
Concerned About Privacy?
As mentioned in the introduction of this article, you really don’t have to worry about privacy concerns on Facebook. As a Facebook personal account holder, you have complete control over the following:
- Who can find your personal profile on Facebook.
- Who can view your personal information.
- Who will see the posts you decide to upload or share.
- Who can see your photos, videos, profile pictures, cover photos, groups, likes, etc.
Websolutions.com shares valuable information regarding the differentiation between a Facebook Profile and a Facebook Page. “Facebook requires every business page to be linked to a personal Facebook profile, but all the information—posts, comments, photos, updates, etc.—are separate. The information on your personal profile will not appear on your business page and vice versa, unless you manually share them between pages. The general public will not be able to see what personal profile your Facebook business page is linked to.”
How to Establish a Facebook Business Profile
You might have to sign up for a Facebook profile to setup a Facebook business page, but the benefits certainly do make it totally worth it! Here’s how to establish your own Facebook Business Page in minutes.
1/ Navigate to http://facebook.com/business. Here you’ll find a wealth of information about optimally leveraging both your personal Facebook profiles & Facebook Business Page.
2/ Next, find the dropdown arrow next to the CREATE AN AD button, and click on CREATE A PAGE.
3/ You’ll be directed to Facebook’s ‘create a page’ section, where you can choose between setting up a business or brand, or a community or public figure. Click on GET STARTED to start the process.
4/ You’ll be taken to a login screen, but since you don’t have a personal Facebook profile, you’ll need to click on the green CREATE NEW ACCOUNT button.
5/ Provide your information as requested by the Facebook account setup process, and once you’ve setup your personal profile, you’ll be able to proceed with the business page setup.
6/ Next, choose your business or brand name & assign a suitable business category.
7/ You’ll need to upload a profile picture for your business page. Consider using your brand logo here.
8/ Business pages with cover photos get way more attention than those without. Since this image is wide, horizontal one – use a landscape image of your staff, your premises, your branded vehicles, etc.
9/ Once you’ve assigned a profile picture and a cover photo, you’re all set up! Facebook will now offer PAGE TIPS that will guide you through the process of optimising your Facebook Business Page.
Facebook Business Page Setup Pointers
Setting up a new Facebook page for your business? Keep these pointers close by to ensure your page is well optimised:
- Your logo should be an image file of at least 170 X 170 pixels.
- Your cover photo should be an image of at least 400 X 150 pixels.
- Your Business Page should feature at least one telephone number & one email address.
- Be sure to add your business website address should you have one.
- Add your services & products to your Business Page and turn it into a virtual store.
- Add a button to your page, prompting visitors to either message, call or visit your website.
Data-Driven Social Media Marketing in South Africa
If you’d prefer to outsource the setting up of your business page to professionals, start a project with WSI Durban! We’re skilled at establishing and optimising Facebook Business Pages, and can perform social media marketing to give your business the best chance to secure leads via the world’s best-supported social media platform.