In terms of Facebook, there are “Profiles” and there are “Pages.” What is the difference between the two and why does it matter, you ask? Read on and I will walk you through some of the major differences.
Basically, Profiles are for people and Pages are for businesses. Sounds simple enough, but there is a surprising amount of stuff to explain about both of them. Let’s get started.
Facebook Profiles are for individuals like you and me. You can connect with friends, share photos, join groups, etc. As an individual you may care more about your privacy and who you share your personal information with. This is why profiles require that you accept/extend a friend request before you are connected to another individual. Profiles have an extensive array of features to protect every piece of your information and help you differentiate what you share with whom. If you want to create a list of your co-workers that will only see certain pieces of info you post, you can. You can also have another list for your family that you allow to see all your updates and photos. Perhaps you want to post some photos of that day you called in sick and really went to the breweries with friends; you can exclude just your boss or the entire list of your co-workers from seeing that particular album on your profile. The possibilities are endless. Profiles have the functionality that suits individuals.
So why is it ‘bad’ to have a business set up as a Profile?
Well, first off it is against Facebook Policy. If the Facebook “Powers That Be” come across a profile that is set up to represent a business, they can and will shut it down. No warning necessary.
And the list goes on:
- With a profile, those who want to connect with you must first wait for you to respond to their friend request.
- You cannot create custom tabs to welcome new fans, gather emails, or host a contest.
- One of the ‘biggies’ that every business should care about is that with a profile, you cannot see your insights (analytics, stats). You don’t know how many people are coming to your profile every day or how far your posts are reaching. With a proper Business Page, you can.
Facebook Pages are for Businesses, Places, Organizations, Non-Profits, Companies, Brands, and Bands. Pages can be viewed by the public including people who do not have a Facebook account. They are well suited for businesses because:
- They can easily be maintained by multiple people on your team by simply adding additional admins.
- You can view your insights to understand who your fans are, which posts are the most viral, how far your reach is, and much more.
- If your business is international or multilingual, you can target your posts by language and country.
- Pages can be promoted with Facebook Ads
- Customization opportunities are nearly endless. You can set up a variety of tabs to welcome fans, collect emails, host a contest, and provide additional information in a way that matches your branding.
If you prefer tables, here you go.
| Profiles | Pages | |
| To create a connection | Friend Request must be extended and accepted | Click the ‘like’ button |
| Privacy | You can protect everything from anyone. Possibilities are endless. | Everything posted is public |
| Posting on the walls of others | Can post on your friend’s profile wall and a business’ page wall | Can post on other page’s walls but not an individual’s profile |
| Number of connections allowed | 5,000 friends but unlimited ‘subscribers’* | Unlimited |
| Insights/analytics/stats | No | Yes |
| Customization | Only the main photo on the top of the new profiles (timeline) | Yes, possibilities are endless |
| Multiple administrators | No (unless using the same login) | Yes, easily |
| Able to create events | Yes | Yes |
| Join a group | Yes | No |
So, how do you know if you have a profile or a page for your business? Simple: Go to your account’s wall as if you were going to type in a post. Look under your main picture on the left-hand side. If you see a number with the words ‘like this’ below it, you have a Page (see below).
If you see a listing of ‘friends,’ or your account recently turned into a completely new format (timeline), you have a personal profile. But there is hope; Facebook now offers a way to convert your profile into a page. It will only convert your profile pictures and your connections, and nothing else but it is better than leaving your business as a profile. Fair warning – there have been glitches in the past, so please try at your own risk. I recommend you download your information before you convert. Click here for more details and instructions here on how to do that.
Then click here to learn how to convert your profile to a page.
If you have any additional questions along the way, feel free to reach out!
~Amy Alcorn
Marketing Director
Aspen Grove Marketing
*A personal profile can be ‘opened up’ so that others, including non-friends, can ‘subscribe’ to their public posts. This is a great feature for public figures that essentially are their business. This feature can also be turned off so that nobody can subscribe to your public updates and only your friends will receive them.
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