What is a Fan Page on Facebook, you ask?

Fan Site, Fan Page, Facebook Page…if you’ve ever heard any of these terms before, they mean pretty much the exact same thing. But for our purposes, we will refer to it interchangeably as a Page or Fan Page.

Because after all, what good is a Page without any fans?

What is a fan page on Facebook and who needs one?

A fan page is the only way for entities like businesses, organizations, celebrities, and political figures to represent themselves on Facebook.

Unlike a personal Facebook profile, fan pages are visible to everybody on the Internet. Anyone on Facebook can connect to and receive updates from a page by becoming a fan (i.e. ‘Liking’ the page).

Like a friend’s profile, Facebook pages enable public figures, authors, speakers, restaurants, hotels, bands, retail stores, photographers, realtors, community organizations and other entities to create an authentic and public presence on Facebook.

Unlike your  friend’s profile, Facebook pages are visible to everyone on the internet by default. You, and every person on Facebook, can connect with these pages by becoming a fan and then receive their updates in your News Feed and interact with them.

Authenticity is at the core of a fan page on Facebook. Just as profiles should represent real people and real names, so too should pages for entities. Only the official representatives of a public figure, business or organization should create a fan page on Facebook.

What’s the difference between a Fan Page and a Group?

Unlike groups, fan pages are visible to unregistered users and are thus indexed in search engines (important for reputation management, for example); Unlike pages, groups allow you to send out “bulk invite” (you can easily invite all your friends to join the group while with pages you will be forced to drop some invites manually).

Because of this, groups are better for viral marketing, meaning that any group member can also send bulk invites to his or her friends.

General Rule:

Pages are generally better for long-term relationships with your fans, readers or customers.

Groups are generally better for hosting a (quick) active discussion and attracting quick attention.

Your Turn

Readers: Have you ever joined a group or made a fan page for your business on Facebook? How do you feel about them?

Meet David A. George

David A. George I'm a UX + Growth Marketer passionate about people, music, intelligent UX, Android, and breathing underwater. I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn, Twitter, and on my website.