So, you’ve created a Facebook Page for your business but still haven’t achieved any significant number of followers? Facebook is hands-down the most effective social media network for promoting a small business. More than 1.4 billion people from around the world log into the site each month, attesting to its popularity. But if you want to promote your business on Facebook, you’ll need to optimize your Page.
Choose Vanity URL
By default, Facebook Pages are given a generic, nondescript URL. You can create a custom URL for your Facebook Page in just a few quick and easy steps. While logged into your Facebook account, visit www.facebook.com/username, select your Page, and enter your preferred URL under the “name.” Facebook will then check to see if it’s available, and assuming that it is, you can set this URL for your Page.
Upload Images
Add both a profile pic and cover image to your Facebook Page to enhance its visibility. Studies have shown that users are more likely to follow a brand’s Page if it has these two images. You can one step further, however, by uploading entire galleries of images. Regardless of your business’s niche/industry, there’s probably something relevant that you can take pictures of. Take a bunch of relevant photos and upload them to your Facebook Page.
Use a Call to Action
Many small business owners overlook Facebook’s call to action feature, assuming it offers little-to-no benefit. Although optional, using this feature is a great way to drive engagement. Click the “Add a Button” link on the right-side of your Facebook Page, at which point you should see a list of different CTAs, including contact us, book now, call us, send a message, use app, play game, shop now, sign up, watch video and more. Including one more more CTAs encourages followers to, well, take action. And this increased level of engagement usually translates into more sales for business owners such as yourself.
Complete the ‘About Us’ Section
A fourth tip to optimize your Facebook Page is to complete the “About Us” section. This serves as a general overview of your business for prospective customers, revealing what your business does, where it’s located, when it’s open, etc. If you want to achieve greater visibility in the search engines, you should limit your description to no more than 155 characters; otherwise, the search engines may cut off some of the description.
Remain Active
The single most common reason why small businesses fail on Facebook is infrequent posting. Unless you post new, relevant content to your Facebook Page, there’s no reason for users to like and follow your Page, nor is there any reason for your existing followers to continue following your Page. To prevent this from happening, try to get into the habit of posting new content to your Facebook Page at least once daily.
