Facebook unveils online guide for businesses
A new online help offering from the popular social network tries to explain how businesses can use Facebook pages to market and promote themselves.
Businesses and other organizations not sure how to set up the right Facebook page can now get help from a guide just launched by the social network.
The new Facebook for Business help guide offers a step-by-step tutorial on how business users can set up a page and use it to market themselves and connect with customers. It comes as Google is trying to work out the kinks with its new Google+ social network, including ways for businesses to make use of it.
The how-to guide first explains how to create the best page for specific types of businesses, ensuring that it can draw in the right customers and other interested parties. Moving further, the guide then shows businesses how they can publish ads and sponsored stories to market themselves and boost their image. Finally, Facebook suggests various built-in apps to transform a business page into a richer platform designed with social media and mobile use in mind.
With each page of the guide, Facebook also provides links to create the actual pages, apps, and other content.
The social network has lately been encouraging its business users to set up the right type of page. In March, the company launched a new feature that can migrate a personal profile into a business page.
Google, meanwhile, has bumped into trouble with companies eager to set up Google+ profiles. The search giant's social network, launched in June, has so far focused on individual profiles, prompting Google to shut down a number of Google+ accounts created by corporations. Scaling back on its plans to support enterprise accounts, Google is now advising companies to pick one individual to create a profile that can represent the entire business.