Having a Facebook brand Page is a privilege, not a right. If you don’t follow Facebook’s rules, the hugely popular social media platform reserves the right to reject or remove any Page for any reason at any time. If your business is intent on keeping their Facebook Page, make sure to avoid doing the following three things:1. The Inappropriate Timeline Cover Photo: Timeline has been out just shy of a year now, yet this is still one of the biggest issues on Facebook. Just because it’s common to see a cover photo with a telephone number, web address or a call to action, it does not mean it’s right. Facebook has set in place many restrictions– four to be exact– for Facebook Timeline cover photos. These limitations are enforced by Facebook because they do not want cover photos to double as ad space for a company. Rather, cover photos should serve as an opportunity for businesses to showcase their brand in a unique and thoughtful way. 2.  A Facebook Profile Instead of Page: Did you know it’s actually against Facebook’s policy for a brand to be represented on Facebook through a personal Page, rather than through a brand Page? Yup, that’s right. This is mostly due in part to Facebook’s Page requirement that states “content posted to a Page is public and viewable by everyone who can see the Page.” With a personal Facebook profile, Facebook has vastly more privacy setting options– options that Pages do not have because businesses have to maintain a certain level of  transparency. If your business is manged under a personal Facebook account, go here for steps on how to convert the profile to a Facebook Page. 

 

3. Running a Facebook Contest/Promotion without a Third-Party Application: Facebook has very strict rules regarding running contests and promotions on the platform. The most important rule to know is that Facebook requires that all promotions be administered within applications (like ShortStack) on Facebook.com using either a canvas Page or a Page app. Users are in no way allowed to run a contest, sweepstakes or promotion just on their Facebook wall. Facebook does this so there is a communication channel between the promotion winner and the Page running the promotion.  Also, this is one way of preventing suspicious spam.

For a more detailed list of what else to avoid doing on Facebook, click here.