Sick of hearing about how important Facebook is for your local business? Sorry, but you’ll have to get used to it! We can’t stop talking about Facebook—that’s how critical it is to your overall web presence. With more than 2 billion active monthly users, Facebook is indispensable.

However, in all our talk of how important a Facebook page is, we also need to explain what an effective Facebook page looks like. To that end, we put together a handy checklist of what you need on your page. This will attract the right attention, highlight your best attributes, and convince new customers to give you a chance.

Ready to start building your local business’s Facebook page? Let’s go!

1. Bare Necessities

Here’s what you absolutely must have on your Facebook page:

• Profile picture. Show off who you and your business are. Using a logo is best.
• Cover photo. Be a little more creative with your cover photo to reflect your personality. A group photo with your whole team is a great choice.
• Accurate business category. Choose “local business” if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront or office that people can physically visit. Choose “company” if you operate out of your home or aren’t open to the public.
  • Accurate business subcategory. Choose a business type or description that best matches your company. Examples include “Pediatric Dentist,” “Massage Therapist,” “Appliance Repair Service,” and so on. Keep in mind, there may not be an exact, perfect match. However, there should be a subcategory that at least comes close.
• Correct page name. Make sure the spelling, spacing, and punctuation exactly match how your business name looks elsewhere on the web.
• Facebook web address. Create your own, custom address on Facebook’s domain. Ideally, it will be identical to your page name, minus the spaces. This makes it easy for people to find your page without having to use Facebook’s search bar.
• Up-to-date contact information. You know the drill: add your phone number, street address, website URL, and email address so people know how to reach you.

2. Should-Haves

These Facebook page elements aren’t necessarily requirements, but you really ought to have them on your page:

• Complete “About” section. There are several text boxes where you can write brief descriptions of your company, your mission statement, your products and/or services, and so on. Include keywords frequently so you’ll appear more often in related search results.
• Call-to-action button. Add a button that will lead page visitors to take an action. You choose whether the action is to call you, email you, or visit your website. This makes visitors more likely to contact you, especially if they’re accessing your page on their phone or tablet.
• Uploaded photos. People are visual creatures. If you can, upload pictures of your staff on the job, products you’ve made, before-and-after photos of projects you’ve completed, and so on. This reflects the people behind the company, and it also shows off your brag-worthy work.
• Recent posts. People also want to see that you’re up to date and engaged with the world around you. They also love to see specials, discounts, sales, and upcoming events—all of which you should post about on your page.
• Customer reviews. Get as many people to leave you reviews as you can. People put a lot of stock in online reviews. Reading feedback from past customers will verify they can trust you.

3. Features That Wow

These are a few, special frills that advanced Facebook users may wish to have on their local business pages to take them to the next level:

• A badge that boasts your fast response time. Facebook only adds this badge after you establish an average response time to private messages within a couple of hours. Your page visitors will be impressed that you respond so promptly, and they’ll be more likely to contact you.
• Engaging videos. If you want to take a step beyond photos, try uploading a few videos! Just make sure they’re brief (three minutes or less) and, most importantly, interesting. Use videos to highlight a special promo or to capture an impressive job you just completed.
• Timeline “milestones.” Facebook’s “milestones” allow you to showcase significant dates and achievements. For example, let’s say you won a customer service award, hired a new team member, or were reviewed in a local paper. These are milestones you can add to your timeline. Why not brag a little about your success? It will definitely capture the attention of potential customers.
• Facebook ads and boosted posts. These aren’t exactly page features, but they certainly improve your ability to engage with your audience. By creating ads or sponsoring posts, you’ll get in front of more people and spread awareness of your business. And reaching your desired audience is more than half the battle. You can learn more here: “Facebook Ads Are the Flexible, Affordable Tool You Need.”

This list is not exhaustive, either. As Facebook evolves to become more of a hub for local businesses, it continually rolls out new features and capabilities for business pages. Follow this blog or like us on Facebook to stay updated on any important developments!
Social media isn’t as easy as it looks. However, by completing the checklist outlined above, your local business’s Facebook page will be in great shape. Good luck out there!