Social Media

Why You Need to Make a Facebook Fan Page for Your Website NOW!

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When Facebook announced the Fan pages, there were a number of mixed reviews.  Some where hailing it and its integration to the new advertising platform and some hated it – claiming it was turning Facebook into Myspace.  Whatever your stance is, here are 6 reasons you need to make a Facebook page for your website or company now.

1. Pages are public.  Most of Facebook is behind a login, preventing search engines from indexing.  However, some Fan pages are not behind a login and thus search engines can index the page.  Hopefully, people will stumble on the result in SERPs, visit the Facebook page, and then get to your site via the link (see reason #2).

2. Pages include links.  Because the pages are public, you can get some nice facebook.com link credit.  You can’t use an anchor text, but hey, it’s free.

3. Send “updates to fans”.  One of the greatest features is that you can send “updates” to fans whenever you want.  It’s a nice way of building a database of interested users.  Send messages about new products, updated website, etc.

4. You control the page.  Making the page before a Fan or a competitor is critical.  You want to be able to send the messages, edit or remove sections, and control the information to an extent.

5. News feed.  When a someone joins a Fan page, it’s published in their News feed for all their to read (unless they have turned this off).  It makes someone joining your Fan page somewhat viral.

6. It’s free and easy.  Making a Fan page takes just a few minutes – add some information, URL, and upload the logo and you’re done.  You can make your page
here.

Dave Rigotti is the owner of Freezing Hot, an internet marketing company which specializes in seo and paid search management for small businesses.

Dave Rigotti

Dave Rigotti

Dave Rigotti

@drigotti

Speak your mind!

  3. Thanks for pointing out this feature as I hadn’t noticed it yet but I sure will be glad when marketers “get” facebook. Maybe one day they will but for now I’ll just sit back, watch, and shake my head.

    Reply

  15. Working with the development of free, open source software brings challenges in community building. I wasn’t convinced that facebook would be a useful tool, but got talked into it.

    Mambo, the CMS, has created its page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=14050715716) and now also has a group. It will be interesting to see if the work involved in upkeep is outweighed by the advantages to facilitating community building. Of course, SE benefits are nice to have too!

    Reply

  16. Thanks for the advice, when I set up the company page, I wasn’t sure if it was the thing to do or not. Now I know it was.
    Also, I wasn’t sure to make a company group page or product page, since we are manufacturers, so I did both.
    Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5917908183
    Product/Service: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5820397374
    I’ve updated with photos of our products and links to downloads of free white papers. Great advice!

    Reply

  18. Nice catch Rob. I had forgotten to check, but after doing so it is attributed “nofollow”.

    To keep positive, hopefully someone will click the link or maybe the FB page will get indexed and ranked.

    Reply

  22. There is a major drawback of these pages as they cannot be connected to existing groups. A lot of organizations already have groups and networks at Facebook but how can they be linked to their new profile pages?

    Reply

  25. I’ve started a fan page for my environment portal and they offer some nice features but promoting it is quite tricky. With groups you can invite all of your friends but with pages this feature is disabled.

    How are people promoting their pages?

    Reply

  28. I’d say the only compelling reason I can think of to make a fanpage for your web site is to continually remind your ‘friends’ that you are a fan (of your own page) and that way when they sign up, it spreads the word.

    Mungo

    Reply

  31. This is almost the same conversation that I found on the other site. Ah well, too bad about all that Facebook stuff, but I like what this guy said:

    also has a group. It will be interesting to see if the work involved in upkeep is outweighed by the advantages to facilitating community building. Of course, SE benefits are nice to have too! http://www.blowjob-milf.com

    Reply

  46. Is there a way to add a ‘Become a Fan link’ to our current corp website, and when clicked and logged in they become a Facebook page fan, or do you just have to send them to the FB page and have them click’ Become a Fan’ manually?

    Thanks.

    Reply

  54. a good way to add all your contacts to your fan page is to create an event page, invite all your friends and link the fan site on it. Our first single is going to be released on radio in ten days so a couple of days before hand, we will create the event page.
    you are welcome!

    Reply

  56. If I am on Facebook already and want to become a Public Figure, is there a way to link the two pages, do they have to stay separate or should I get rid of my page and just become a Public Figure since the site is not really being used on a *personal* level? I amactually doing this for a firend who is an author and going to be hosting a radio show beginning January.

    Reply

  63. Great post on pages, helped me make some tweaks to my page.
    I work in SEO and figured there has to be a way to gain SEO benefit from these pages, so i did some research –
    http://www.noporkpies.com/seo/seo-links-from-facebook-part-2

    Basically the way it works is to set up an XML feed with optimised links on it. Using a RSS app in Facebook you can then pull this feed into the facebook page. The RSS app i used didn’t add nofollows so offers SEO optimised direct links and followed links.

    Reply

  66. John,
    The idea is not to actually pull in an RSS feed but us an RSS app in Facebook as it doesn’t add Nofollow.
    What you need to do is create an XML file with a list of optimised links pointing where you want them to go – This will be your feed, so no real content on it just a list of links. Upload the XML onto your web server.

    Add an app to to Facebook called Simply RSS and then point the feed to the XML file you’ve just created – this will give you a list of optimised, followed links.

    Reply

  67. Adam,

    OK, what does the XML file look like? Can you give a brief example. BTW, what is an “optimised link”. Sorry if I don’t get the SEO terms.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  68. Have a look at this:
    http://www.noporkpies.com/testfeed.xml

    copy source code and change the information as required, then save it as an .xml and upload it onto your server. Then link to it with simply RSS

    By optimised link i mean optimised anchor text – so the text you want your site to rank for. For instance in my example above i have used ‘search engine optimisation’ so that text will help my landing page – noporkpies.com rank for that search term.

    Just so you are aware this isn’t going to give you site a massive boost unless you build up and get links to your Facebook page as well

    Reply

  71. Dave – thanks for the ideas! I recently set up my page under “Jane Hunt Art” and now realize it’s not really searchable in my catagory (art). Does anyone know if it’s possible to change or add info to the name? I’ve searched everywhere and e-mailed facebook but never heard back.
    Thanks,
    Jane
    http://www.janehuntart.com

    Reply

  73. awesome article man…i got many awareness from it. then i look back to facebook to know many about it. it’s really cool…

    found that many big brand trying to meet their fortune on facebook today…hope i can do so soon.

    Reply

  76. The big problem with the fan page is creating awareness of it. You can’t request or invite fans – which to me completely limits the possibilities of reaching new people.

    I think Facebook needs to reconsider that – I know they get complaints from people saying they’re getting spammed – but a friend/fan request is up to them to confirm or deny – so I fail to see the problem.

    Reply

  77. Guys I need your help, I created a page on facebook, called Bob Baker Subaru. I cannot figure out for the life of me how to create a direct link to that page? I am looking at the above links and they directley to the facebook page that is what I want mine to do. I have tried everything, what am I missing?

    Is there something in settings or what I need your help Please.

    Reply

  79. I think I have seen 4 people post the same question but no answer. The question is how do you add a link on your website to your Facebook fan page? Help Please

    Reply

    • One thing that I have done is taken the HTML code from my Blogger.com widget that the service offers when you want to put up a Facebook fan page banner onto your blog site. But you can actually use the code anywhere on your own web site! Simply adjust the Facebook fan page URL and title to your own fan page…and viola! Hope this helps!

      Here’s the HTML code:
      FB.init(“1c2b7ea5918581fa37785ed8df5cf32d”);NAME OF YOUR FAN PAGE GOES HERE

      Reply

      • The HTML code won’t paste into this window…I saw my response and it is cut off…so sorry.

        Another suggestion is to find a web site that has a fan page banner (or any banner that you like) and change the information to your own and paste the HTML code wherever you want on your site. It will show up beautifully and with a live feed from your Facebook fan page. Just a little trick I use!

    • In order to create a Facebook fan page, you do not need to have a Facebook profile of your own. Simply go to their home page and click on the little link that asks you if you want to create a fan page for an organization, band, or company and get started!

      The only thing that is difficult about the fan pages is there is no way to get friends right away unless you have a personal profile and can share your fan page with your existing group of friends so they become fans.

      To promote your fan page, however, you can blog about it and link back to it, do Web 2.0 sites with links to it, or pay Facebook for a small ad on their site.

      One of the advantages of having a fan page over a group is that Facebook offers fan pages a free banner/promotional box to post on their blog site or web page to promote it. If you were to create a “group” instead, there is no way to get that from Facebook all nice and pre-made for you unless you pay for advertising.

      If you do end up creating your own Facebook personal profile, just know that your personal profile will forever be linked to that page and when you friend people, it will be in YOUR profile, not in the fan page’s profile. So think twice before going that route :-)

      Hope this helped and enjoy your new fan page!

      -Kim, social media marketer

      Reply

      • Kim,

        Read your response, im not a facebook user, and interested in it, and linking to my site. You mention the free blog on facebook page, how does this expose your company

      • Hi Sharon,

        Thanks for your question! Facebook is super easy to get started, and for your business, it is an essential part of success. Twitter is something I recommend getting started on ASAP as well.

        Blog sites that are free are nearly endless, but my favorites are WordPress and Blogger. You can go to those sites today and have a blog site up in less than 5 minutes after choosing a template you like and entering in some basic profile information. The best way to have a blog going is to buy a domain name with your keywords in the domain name and then simply point your blog to your domain (you need to buy hosting to do this).

        What I like to do with Facebook and my blogs is to post my blog content (new blog entries) right into my Facebook wall. You can do this with any of a number of social media posting sites such as TrafficBug, Ping.fm…just to name a few. These sites make it easy to have one simple place where you paste in a short headline and your blog entry URL and it will automatically shorten your URL to make it fit into Twitter, for example, where a 140 character limit is placed on what you post to others.

        Your facebook fan page will serve to promote your business when people search for products or topics related to your site’s business niche on Facebook and Twitter. From there, they can friend you (Facebook) or Follow you (Twitter) and get updates on everything you have to say (blog entry links, free giveaways, free shipping offers, etc).

        This is how people find you…how to get them to buy from you is to consistently provide them with quality content and information, enticing offers (but not too many or you’ll be selling “at” them), and regular conversation with you friends and followers to engage them.

        And that’s what social media is all about for a business!

        Let me know if you have any other questions; I am happy to help!

        Kim

  82. Hi, i have a facebook page that I created a while back and was wondering if I can turn it into a fan page. Or do i have to shut down the existing account and create a new one as a fan page? that may be difficult since i have over 200 friends right now. any suggestions?

    -Hudson River Orthodontics

    Reply

  93. I wondered why I needed a Fan page or if having a regular profile for my page was better. I do have a fan page but I also have a personal profile page and I tend to forget about my fan page. It made me wonder if I should just put my business on a regular profile page instead.

    You just explained the reason for keeping it the way it is. Thanks so much. Would you mind if I posted your article on my blog?

    Reply

  98. Ive used my fanpage to promote my colourful abstract paintings with jamaican south coast sparkling black sand.

    Exciting! I plan to cross link with my website. I would recommend it for others. I have even found business contacts on FB!

    Reply

  101. question: I created a facebook page, nearly immediately I received ‘friend requests’ only to realize what I needed was a ‘fan’ page.
    Is there a way to change a pre existing page, new as it is, to a fan page???
    Thanks

    Reply

  103. Two questions please –
    1–Can I make a Fan Page and not “publish” it until I am finished with it?
    2–Can I use HTML on the Fan Page?
    Thanks

    Reply

  107. I have made a website for used cars and bikes http://www.motors.pk and its fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/motorspk. I have tried to implement best practices and its going good. Any suggestions and comments r welcomed. thanks..

    @Fenton..
    You can put your facebook page link in your website with a title “follow us at facebook” or something like that.. Also invite your friends to your facebook fanpage.. and if you are willing to spend some money, then you can use facebook ads to promote your fan page..

    Reply

  108. 1. you create a link to your facebook fan page like you would any other hyperlink. throw an “a href” in.

    2. the fan page helps when you have over 5000 friends… the limit on a regular page

    Reply

  110. Hi All,

    Thanks for the many good comments and questions. We have a FB page for our children’s eco-band. (My personal name is Monica, by the way.) It seems so weird to me that the page won’t let me “see all” of the fans. I mean they are our fans, right? I know I can’t search for people (like a personal page can) but why can’t I even see our fans?

    Any ideas? Or ideas of how to change this?

    Thanks so much.
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Banana-Slug-String-Band/161689565850#/pages/Banana-Slug-String-Band/161689565850?v=wall

    Reply

  112. The link to my business Facebook page is lengthy and drawn out with numerous characters. How do you get the link to be simply: “www.facebook.com/mybusiness”? I see a lot of businesses have them, but if I cut and paste the URL from the browser, it’s about 100 characters. Looked all over and can’t seem to figure this out. Thanks!

    Reply

  115. Is there any way to know who created a specific fan page? For example in groups it’s clearly stated who is officer, admin etc. However that is not the case with fan pages – but is there a way to find out anyway? Withouth asking on the discussion board and hope that he, or she, reveals himself?

    Reply

  118. I also need to know ASAP if there is a way to turn my existing page (almost 5000 friends!) into a fan page so that I DONT lose my existing ‘friends’! Is there a way????

    Reply

    • Unfortunately, there is no way to “migrate” your personal profile friends in one fell swoop to your new fan page. That would violate people’s ability to pick and choose which pages to become fans of…and Facebook is all ,about “friending” and “fanning” right?

      That said, the best way for you to go about doing this is to create your fan page and once it’s done post a message on your personal profile wall to your 5000 friends inviting them to join. You can also follow up in a week by going to your inbox and sending a mass message to your 5000 friends, inviting them to join your new fan page (don’t forget to include a link to your fan page in every communication you send). If this is a special interest type of fan page, don’t expect every one of your friends to be interested enough to join. However, you can entice them to see what it’s all about by offering something for free (a free eBook, written “report” or video) to peak their curiosity.

      Hope it works out well for you! Let us know how it goes :-) Oh, and don’t forget to make a fan badge for your blog site and web site so that others can click in and join your fan page from those places! It’s free and Facebook provides you with the HTML code and everything!

      Reply

  123. Hi,

    I’m trying to create a link to my business page on facebook, from my website. You cannot create a “badge” on a business page. How do I do this?

    thanks,
    Lana

    Reply

  124. Nice piece David great synopsis of the reason to have a Facebook Fan page, I have emailed the article to a few friends and added it to my websites social networking news. Thanks Niall

    Reply

  126. Great post. I’m now realizing the importance of social media in promoting my business despite earlier resistance. Thanks for this post and the link to make it easy. I literally clicked the link, and came back to post this comment. Thanks

    Reply

  128. How does one add more information to the info panel on the left of a Facebook fanpage. When I try to edit the info area, I’m only given the option of adding a ‘founded’ date. I would like to add more details like a web address, contact phone number etc.

    Reply

  131. I have made a website for used cars and bikes http://www.motors.pk and its fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/motorspk. I have tried to implement best practices and its going good. Any suggestions and comments r welcomed. thanks..

    @Fenton..
    You can put your facebook page link in your website with a title “follow us at facebook” or something like that.. Also invite your friends to your facebook fanpage.. and if you are willing to spend some money, then you can use facebook ads to promote your fan page..

    Reply

  143. I started an add, not for a business just to see how many people would like it. Fb keeps sending me these notifications that I need to spend 50 dollars a day to expand on my add. Why would I do this? Does Fb pay you for each fan you get??????????????

    Reply

  144. wow great news and article is so nice on this topic .What I nice way to start my day! Your site was the first I stumbled into and you have great content all wrap up in a nice package ready for me to take away. Great! Following you is a must! Can there be more ideas?.

    Reply

  146. When I was looking for a compelling reason to create a FaceBook fan page, this article was one that helped me make up my mind. I didn't realize that pages are public (reason #1) nor had I considered they had any SEO value (reason #2). I'm glad this post was still here (and I can see others are still making use of it, too). I've included it as a reference in one of my recent blog posts and in an EzineArticles submission.

    Reply

  149. what if I deactivate my account and then activate it a week later will I lose my fan page information or administration priviliges?

    Reply

  151. Great info from Dave. When FB first began it was only about staying in contact with friends and family – now it has become a very sophisticated marketing platform with so much more to know. I love it and find it endlessly fascinating. Jeffri.

    Reply

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