How to Optimize Your Facebook Page to Get More Sales

Learn how to optimize your Facebook page for maximum sales in with this complete guide, where we breakdown how to get more customers into your business.

Social media is a key ingredient to an effective marketing strategy. And, if your target demographic is thriving on Facebook, you want to make the most of your presence there.

Don’t worry – we can help make that happen. Here’s how to optimize your Facebook page to get more sales:

1) Select the best category for your business
2) Choose the right Facebook page template
3) Complete your profile
4) Reorder your Facebook Business page tabs
5) Use the “Our Story” section strategically
6) Select a CTA for your Facebook page
7) Get more Facebook reviews (and respond strategically)
8) Enable Messaging and setup an auto-response
9) Optimize your Facebook posts
10) Pin your most important post to the top of your business’ Facebook page

1) Select the best category for your business

When people come to your business’ Facebook page, they’re looking for information. Maybe they want to know your hours or see your menu ahead of time. Sometimes, they’re looking for a deal.

Choosing the appropriate category for your business makes it so much easier for your target customers to find the information they came for. 

You only get one category on Facebook, so it should be strategically chosen. You may think of yourself as as falling under “medical service,” but would your target demographic be more likely just to search for “dermatologist?” 

Think about what makes sense to your ideal customer base. The category you choose matters because it’s how Facebook will identify your business when people search Facebook.

When you create your Facebook business page, you’re asked to choose between two umbrella categories: 

From there, you can select a more targeted category for your business:

 

If you already have an established page, here’s how to optimize your Facebook page by reviewing and updating your category:

  1. Go to your business’ page.
  2. Select “About:”

  1. Review your category and select “Edit” to change.

2) Choose the right Facebook Page template

In more recent years, Facebook has developed page templates that are laid out so customers can easily get the information they need from your business. Each template has call-to-actions and a layout specific to that business type. 

There are 10 templates to choose from:

 

  • Standard
  • Business
  • Shopping
  • Venue
  • Movies
  • Nonprofit
  • Politicians
  • Services
  • Restaurants & Cafes
  • Video Page

The purpose behind these templates is to provide customers with an elevated experience with your brand, so you want to consider your overall goals when choosing a template. 

You may be a nonprofit organization, but do you sell merchandise for your cause? If so, you may opt for the shopping template, which allows you to list and tag items right from your Facebook page.

You may be a politician, but find that the video page template better suits your needs, as it offers a nicer layout for displaying videos of yourself speaking on important stances.

Go through the options each template offers you before you make the selection, thinking about the people you are trying to reach as you do so. This will help you see things from their perspective, ultimately providing a better user experience, and increasing sales as a result.

Here’s how to change your Facebook page template:

 

  1. Go to your business’ Facebook page
  2. Select “Settings:”

  1. Go to “Templates and Tabs” and click “Edit” to change your current template:

  1. Review the options and select the template that best meets your business’ needs.
  2. Select “Apply Template.”

3) Complete your profile

Once your category and template are solidified, you’ll need to complete your profile so there aren’t any missing pieces to your basic information: 

  • Add a profile picture: many businesses opt to use their logos as their profile picture, which is great for brand recognition.
  • Add a cover photo or video: video is highly effective on social media platforms like Facebook, as they encourage visitors to spend more time on your page. We encourage you to experiment with video and see where it takes you.
  • Add your website: make it easy for your customers to find you by adding your website to your profile. Remember, a Facebook page should not take the place of a website for your business.
  • Add a phone number: Make sure you have a local number as opposed to a national customer service number that people can call.
  • Add your address, if applicable: Include your address if this is a location people can physically visit.
  • Add a business description: Include the most important keywords in the brief business description section to make it easier for customers to find you.
  • Create a custom URL: Facebook generates a URL for you, which you can update to something easier to remember. We highly recommend you do so.

Here’s how to optimize your Facebook page by adding a custom URL, also known as your page username:

 

  1. Go to your business’ Facebook page and click “About” in the left-hand sidebar.
  2. Under “General,” locate “Username.”
  3. To change, click “Edit:”

4) Reorder your Facebook business page tabs

When you take time to reorder your business’ tabs, you’re making it easier for your target customer to find the information he or she is looking for. That leaves little room for customer frustration, which often leads to them going somewhere else for what they need.

By doing simply changing the structure of these tabs, you give customers access to the most valuable information you have to offer first.

You can reorganize your sidebar tabs to easily optimize your Facebook page. Your sidebar may look something like this:

https://staging.risingstarreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/Facebook-business-page-tabs.png”

The tabs should go in order of most important information to least. Here’s how you can reorder and even add new tabs to your Facebook business page:

 

  1. Go to your business’ Facebook page.
  2. Select “Settings” from the top.
  3. Click “Templates and Tabs” on the sidebar.
  4. Scroll down to the “Tabs” section.
  5. Drag to reorder, or click “Add new” at the bottom to add a new tab to your page. 

5) Use the “Our Story” section strategically

Facebook’s “Our Story” section for businesses displays like a blog post and should read in the same way. This is your opportunity to connect with your customer base by sharing the why behind what you do.

Why does that matter? Well, sharing the behind-the-scenes of your business humanizes your brand. It gives customers a reason to build a relationship with your company over someone else. 

This establishes trust between people and your business, which eventually leads to sales. 

Here’s how to optimize your Facebook page through the “Our Story” section:

 

  • Connect with customers by sharing your brand’s story. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should be thoughtful. Share how you started and why it matters.
  • Add a meaningful photo. Perhaps use a photo of your team, your brick-and-mortar, or the product it all began with.
  • Use keywords throughout the content. Don’t go keyword-crazy, but include a couple solid keywords, like your business type and where you’re located for best results.
  • Add links to your website and other social profiles at the end. This is a fantastic place to add further information about where customers can connect with your brand, products or services.
  • Include a discount code. If you’re interested in seeing how many people read your story on Facebook, hide a coupon code inside that entices customers to purchase your products or services.

6) Select a CTA for your Facebook page

The CTA button tells potential customers exactly what kind of action you want them to take after visiting your Facebook page. Once they’ve seen your Facebook page, what do you want people to do next?

Do you want them to request an appointment, visit your website or send you a Facebook message with any questions they may have? You can give people the most valuable information in the world, but they won’t know what to do with it if you don’t tell them.

Telling them what to do next can help you increase sales.

Facebook has several call-to-action options for your business’ page, which are easy to add. There are six categories to choose from when selecting your CTA:

 

  • Book with you
  • Contact you
  • Learn more about your business
  • Shop with you
  • Download your app or play your game
  • Join your community

There are even more specific options depending on the category you select. Here’s how to optimize your Facebook page by adding or changing your CTA:

 

  1. Go to your business’ Facebook page.
  2. Select the large blue button beneath your cover photo:

3. Choose the category for your CTA:

  1. Select a more specific option, then click “Next.”
  2. Follow the prompts to update your CTA.

7) Get more Facebook reviews (and respond strategically)

Facebook is an excellent place to draw in reviews. For one thing, customers tend to leave more positive reviews overall because it’s a social platform. And, for another, literally half of those who are online are on Facebook – about 2 billion people, to be exact.

So, extensive reach and a trend toward the positive makes getting more reviews a win-win for your business. 

As far as optimizing your page goes, remember that Facebook is a social platform. They encourage interactions between individuals and businesses. So, responding to reviews is the part that really optimizes your Facebook page.

Here’s how to get more Facebook reviews:

 

  1. Earn the trust of your customers. Before you ask Mr. Smith to leave you a review on Facebook, ask for honest feedback privately. That way, you can make changes internally based on any negative feedback, and you can direct those who give positive feedback to leave a review on Facebook.
  2. Follow-up. Many customers may not initially leave a review because they forget. By sending a reminder, you can double the number of reviews you get overall.
  3. Send review requests frequently. By sending review requests every day or week, you are asking for feedback from customers when the experience at your business is still fresh in their minds.
  4. Automate the process, so you aren’t manually sending requests for reviews – we know you don’t have time for that.
  5. Check out our Facebook review management tool which utilizes all of the above best practices to help you get more raving reviews of your business to optimize your Facebook page.

Here’s how you can strategically respond to Facebook reviews:

 

  1. Use keywords in response to positive reviews. For example, if you’re a hair salon in Pittsburg, you may want to try to implement the words “hair salon” and “Pittsburg,” when appropriate. Your business’ name is also considered a keyword. Here’s a sample response to a positive review:

“Hi, Julie! We’re so glad you enjoyed your experience at our hair salon. We pride ourselves on being the best in Pittsburg!”

  1. Avoid keywords in response to negative reviews. When responding to negative reviews, avoid using keywords to keep those reviews from appearing in searches. Here’s a sample response to a negative review using the same example of a hair salon in Pittsburg:

“Hi Carla, we’re so sorry you didn’t have a fantastic experience with us. We value customer satisfaction above all else, and we regret that we missed the mark here. We’d love to offer you a free recut if you’re willing to give us another chance! Please contact Liz at 555-5555 to claim your voucher.”

 

  1. Always respond to all reviews. Negative feedback is tough to swallow, but it’s more of an opportunity than you might realize. You have a very public chance to show off your dedication to excellent customer service – use it!
  2. Report fake reviews. If you have a bad review, you may be able to delete it if it violates Facebook’s Community Standards. Don’t let a fake review drag you down unnecessarily. 

8) Enable Messaging and setup an auto-response

Over 2 billion messages are exchanged between individuals and businesses every month. It’s one of the leading platforms for customer service, and if you’re not there, you’re missing out.

Facebook Messenger allows your business to be highly accessible to your customers. However, before you enable Messaging to optimize your Facebook profile, it’s a good idea to have a strategy in place.

Facebook displays your Messenger response time to customers, so you want to keep it fast, without having to get up at midnight to answer a question about the services you offer. The best way to do this is by setting up an auto-response, letting people know someone will answer their question within regular business hours.

Here’s how to enable Messenger for your Facebook business page:

 

  1. Go to your business’ Facebook page.
  2. Click “Settings,” then “Messaging:”

  1. Read through the options and select the kind of Messaging prompt you’d like for your business.

Here’s how to setup an auto-response for your Facebook business page:

 

  1. On your Facebook business page, click “Settings,” then “Messaging:”

  1. Scroll down to “Response Assistant.”
  2. Click “Go to automated responses:”

  1. From here you can customize instant replies, away messages, and more:

9) Optimize your Facebook posts

The first 18 characters of every Facebook post you create acts as the meta title and meta description for it.

The meta title is the title that appears in search engine results, and the meta description is the short description beneath it. In this example, the meta title is in the red box, while the meta description is in blue:

The meta title and description are key players in SEO, so include keywords or the most important information you have to share at the beginning of your posts.

There’s a lot to consider when optimizing Facebook posts, but here are four key characteristics of effective Facebook posts:

 

  1. Keep it short. People don’t tend to read paragraphs on Facebook, so keep your messaging to no more than 160 characters.
  2. Add value. Other than the products and services you offer, what can you do to connect with your audience? You can educate, entertain, inspire, and so much more with your brand’s Facebook presence.
  3. Include media. Facebook posts perform exponentially better when a photo or video is added than they do when there’s only text.
  4. Engage. Ask questions, put up polls, go live; there are so many ways to engage your audience on Facebook.

10) Pin your most important post to the top of your business’ Facebook page

A pinned post is a Facebook status you choose to appear at the top of your business’ page. It’ll be the first thing your customers see when they visit, which makes it prime real estate for important information.

Here are the types of content that could be pinned:

  • Urgent information. If you have to unexpectedly close or if you have any other timely information to share, pin it.
  • A “welcome” post or video. If there’s something you want to share with those visiting your page for the first time, it’s a good idea to pin it.
  • A coupon code or special offer. If you’re running a special, let your customers know by pinning it.