How to Adjust Privacy Settings on your Business's Facebook Page

Once you get a Facebook page set up for your business, you will want to make sure it’s secure, with only certain people having access.

Facebook has several settings on the “back side” of your page that you can adjust, allowing you to control WHO has access and WHAT can be posted on your page.

Pull up your business’s Facebook page, and let’s walk through this step-by-step.

Click on the “Settings” menu in the top right corner of your page.

You will now see a whole host of options. For now, make sure you have “General” selected on the left-hand side, and we will walk through the options here.

It’s a good idea to look through each option in this list and make sure that what’s selected is what you WANT to be selected.

“Page Verification”

Having your Facebook page verified means that Facebook has jumped through the hoops to claim you as a real business. Meaning, you are who you say you are. This will give you some credibility, and also will allow you to show up higher in search results.

You will want your page verified as soon as you can.

In order to do this, you need to have a business phone number. It has to be uniquely tied to your business, and not just your cell number. When you choose to get it verified, you can click on this option here, and Facebook will call you. They will give you a 4-digit verification number to put in. Once you do that, you get a little blue checkmark next to your page name. This means you’re verified!

“Visitor Posts”

Here’s where you decide whether other people can post to your page. Based on your business, and also your comfort level, you can select one of the options.

“Messages”

This is where you can choose to either allow people to message you, or disallow that feature. If you don’t click on the checkbox there, Facebook takes the “Message” button off of your page.

Depending on your business, and whether you have the band-width to answer messages, you can select the option that fits you.

“Tagging Ability” & “Others Tagging this Page”

These 2 options control whether your audience can tag people in your photos and videos. Also, this allows them to tag your business on other Facebook pages.

To get maximum visibility for your business, I would suggest that you allow these options. Tagging always drives eyes to your page. It either draws people who are tagged to your posts, or when YOU are tagged on a different page, people can just click through to your page.

“Age Restrictions”

Depending on your business, you may need to select what age your business is visible to.

“Page Moderation” and “Profanity Filter”

Here’s where you can block certain words and profanity from your page. If there are certain words or phrases that you want kept off your page, you can type them in here.

Also, you can set your “profanity filter.” I have set mine to “Strong,” so if anyone uses profanity in a comment on my page, it hides the comment automatically.

“Similar Page Suggestions”

This is a GREAT box to check! When someone searches for a page or a topic on Facebook, this allows your page to show up in the search results. Don’t we all what to be searchable?

“Page Updates”

If you check this box, Facebook creates a post or a notification on your page every time you change your business’s information.

For example, if you change your hours, Facebook will automatically create a post that shows that you updated this. You can decide what fits your business best. If you have a physical store or business, it may work well for your audience to know when your phone number/ hours/ address, etc. changes.

“Content Distribution”

You can decide whether people are allowed to download your content and videos.

“Merge Pages”

This isn’t one you will need often, but if you do need it, you’ll want to know where it is!

Facebook is funny in that anyone can create a business page for you, simply by “checking in.” In fact, if you are a location with a physical address, Facebook may just create a page for you, if you haven’t done it yet!

If you find out that there are multiple Facebook pages for your one location, you will likely want to “merge” the pages into one. Merging them means that Facebook moves all of the Likes and Followers to your current “real” page, and then Facebook takes down the other page.

“Remove Page”

And then, here’s where you have the controls to delete your page, should the need arise.

Let’s move on to the “Messaging” tab on the left-hand side.

This is where you control all of the features in your Facebook messenger. You can set up an automatic reply for when people contact you. You can even set up a response assistant, allowing automated responses to your audience.

The “Page Info” tab on the left-hand side is next.

Here’s where you can edit all of the details about your business. It’s a good idea to check here periodically and make sure everything is still up-to-date.

“Templates and Tabs”

You can really get into customizing your Facebook page here. You can experiment with different templates if you’d like. This is simply the layout of your page.

Also, you can (and should!) customize which tabs are on the left side of your Facebook page. You can go through now and “turn off” ones that don’t apply to your business. You can also “Add a Tab” at the bottom of the list.

You can also rearrange the order of the tabs. Simply click and hold on one of the tabs, and you can drag it to the order you would like.

“Notifications” on the left-hand side

Here’s where you can decide when Facebook should notify you. If you would like to get a Facebook notification for each activity on your page, you can. Or, you can turn them off for certain things. You can also decide whether you’d like to get emails that notify you of messages or activity on your page. You can even select to get texts.

“Page Roles” on the left-hand side

This is a VERY important tab to keep tabs on. (hah, pun intended.)

This is where you control WHO has access to the controls of your page, and who can post as your business on your page. You can also set up certain levels of control for your team here.

As a rule, you don’t want to have everyone as “Admin.” This setting means full control of your page. At the most, it should be you (the business owner) and possibly a social media manager.

Any of the rest of your team will be just fine with “Editor” controls, or even one of the other options.

When someone joins your team, or leaves your team, you come in here and add or delete their names.

And, those are the highlights of your security settings!

Now you can press on with your business Facebook page, knowing that the privacy and security is set up exactly as you’d like.