Whether we like it or not, Facebook is still the largest social network out there. I saw a quote somewhere recently that its membership is larger than the memberships of all other social networks combined. Whether that’s true or not, it is still massive, and as a blog or business, we all need to have a presence there – if for no other reason than to keep an impostor from claiming our names there!

I’ve seen a lot of people bemoaning the fact that Facebook is preventing their posts from reaching their fans. Barely a day goes by that people aren’t posting requests to “lke this post if it turns up in your newsfeed so I know it’s getting through” – that’s a con, by the way. Facebook clearly shows page owners how many people see each of their posts, and a request for you to like a status is just a rubbish attempt at increasing interaction on a page. Everyone seems to be really fed up with Edgerank, and feeling like nobody sees their posts unless they pay to advertise them.

Here’s the thing though: of course they want us to pay; it’s advertising! You wouldn’t dream of taking out an ad in your local paper or on a billboard without stumping up some cash; Facebook has the potential to reach twice as many people as those two combined, and to target your advertising – so why shouldn’t they charge for that?

facebook page

I know a lot of bloggers and businesses have tried to get around Edgerank by setting up a personal account, calling it their blog or business name. People think they’re terribly clever in doing this, but here are three big reasons you should have a page rather than a personal account:

1. If you use a personal account, your posts still don’t show on everyone else’s timeline, but you don’t have access to Insights to see how many people have been reached. With a page, you can see which posts have performed better, which have had the most engagement, and exactly how many people have seen your post.

2. In order to get your updates and information, people would need to add your personal page as a friend. Not only does that mean they have to send a friend request and wait for you to respond, but more importantly it means the flow of information goes both ways. If your business is “friends” with Joe Bloggs up the road, you, the faceless, impersonal business whose profile picture is your logo or a photo of your premises, now has access to your friends’ personal updates. Their baby photos, their complaints about their mother in law, their confessions about what they got up to last night. A lot of people aren’t comfortable having a business or blog as their “friend.”

3. Most importantly: Facebook is not stupid. It is cracking down on personal accounts that do not appear to be people, in fact I’ve known more than one person whose real name has not been accepted by Facebook as it doesn’t seem real enough. If your account name doesn’t seem real enough, Facebook will catch up with you – and many people are saying they will delete these accounts. If your account was deleted, what would that mean for you? All those connections, gone in an instant.

 

And that’s not even mentioning the complete pain in the bum it is, to log out of your “real” Facebook and then login to your business Facebook!

The basic fact is that yes, you do need a presence on Facebook, and no, you can’t cheat by making that a personal account rather than a page. Your only choice in this is to play by the rules Facebook makes. It’s not the end of the world, though; I’ve a post planned for later this week to show you how I consistently have a page reach of at least six time the number of fans on my page. Watch this space!

 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy 7 Ways to Boost Your Facebook Page or 13 Ways to Promote Your Blog Using Facebook


Vicky Charles

Vicky is a single mother, writer and card reader.

8 Comments

Silly Mummy · 08/06/2015 at 02:26

Helpful post, thanks. I am currently confused & divided on whether to try to do fb. I realised that I can’t set up an account in blog name even if I wanted to, but I want to keep the blog anonymous. This would be especially true in respect of links with fb as I would want to keep the children anonymous & that would not be possible if link between a blog page & my personal account was clear. So what I’m confused about is can you set up a page for an anonymous blog linked to your real personal account & have no one know they are linked?

    Vicky Charles · 08/06/2015 at 09:11

    I’m fairly sure you can. A lot of bloggers list their blog page as their place of work – but if you don’t, then there’s no reason people would know it’s you. Apparently one in every five clicks on the internet is on Facebook, so it’s definitely a great place to have a presence.

Louise @ Birds and Lilies · 08/06/2015 at 19:13

This is all so true, and I can’t wait for your next post on Facebook! xx

    Vicky Charles · 08/06/2015 at 22:16

    Ah thanks Louise, what a lovely thing to say. I hope I can live up to expectation!

Leanne Cornelius · 08/06/2015 at 21:03

Great post, it annoys me so much when people open business pages as a friend, I refuse to accept them because, as you’ve mentioned, I don’t want them seeing all of my personal information. I would be a little bit more likely to accept a blogger but only one that I interacted with regularly and had met!

Leanne – A Slice of My Life Wales

    Vicky Charles · 08/06/2015 at 22:12

    I know what you mean! I find it difficult with bloggers because often I don’t recognise their real name either – so I have to check which mutual friends we have and make an ecucated guess!

Keisha | The Girl Next Door is Black · 13/06/2015 at 18:37

You make some very good points, Vicky. I’ve heard this debated before as for many, they get better post views on their personal page than FB page – I certainly did. But, I think having a FB page for your blog makes it more legitimate.

    Vicky Charles · 13/06/2015 at 19:15

    Thanks Keisha, I think you’re right about a page making it more legitimate. I also find the insights incredibl useful and you don’t get those with a personal account.

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