Facebook is a great way to share your information with friends and family. It’s also a super way to reach out to clients and fans. All of this does not come without a catch, however. Facebook can be very confusing at times. To make matters worse, they are constantly changing the user interface. To be fair, this is something that is common for any website. The logic of the never ending changes eludes me, but I digress.
Today I will share with you some basics when it comes to using your Facebook business or fan page.
Logging In To Your Facebook Page
When posting to your page it is important that you login as the page manager. If you do not do this your post will only show up in comments, and then under your regular user name. I see this all the time and have even been guilty of doing it myself.
Step 1: Click on the little gear at the top of your page. Note: Facebook is changing this, so some people may see an arrow that points downward instead. (Loving Facebook changes already, aren’t you?)
Step 2: Choose the page you want to login to.
Congratulations! If you followed the instructions correctly, you should now be logged in to your Facebook page.
Let’s continue, shall we?
Adding A Post To Your Facebook Page
Note: For this example I am just adding a link to a page on my website. Text can be added above the link if you would like to do so.
Step 1: Assuming you’ve already copied the link you wish to share, paste it into the “Status” area of your Facebook business/fan page. Give it a little time and a preview of that link should appear.
BUT WAIT……
Houston, we have a problem!
There is a blank area where an image should be! What on Earth is going on here?!?
As you can see in the example to the left of this text, Facebook is not showing any image at all. Other times it might show completely unrelated images, or just images I didn’t want added to my post. It can seem like Facebook has a mind of its own. In a way, it does.
The good news is that there are ways to work around this. The solutions aren’t always perfect, but they will at least make your post look closer to what you had intended.
3 Approaches To Wrong Facebook Page Images
Approach 1 (Above) : Scroll through list of available thumbnail images, choosing the one you want. This is only applicable if there are actually thumbnails showing up. Again, Facebook can seem to have a mind of its own when it comes to this kind of thing.
Approach 2 (Above): Upload your own image.
Approach 3: Make the post without any image. (Obviously, the least desirable approach)
The Image Is Set, But I Don’t Like The Title!
Solution: Simply click on the title before submitting the post to edit it. This works the same for any excerpt that may appear.
Note: Once you have submitted the post, the title and excerpt are no longer editable.
Final Step – Choosing When Your Content Should Be Published To Facebook
Submitting Your Post Immediately
Simply click on the “Post” button and your content will be immediately published to Facebook.
Scheduling Your Post To Be Published At A Later Date/Time
Facebook gives you the ability to create content and schedule it to be posted at a later date or time. This is very useful for those who find themselves with a lot of content to share all at once, but do not want to over post.
Step 1: Click on the little icon that looks like a clock.
Step 2: Enter the time and date you want your post to be published on Facebook.
If you’ve followed all of the instructions above and things still don’t seem to be working correctly, try entering the URL into the Facebook Opengraph Debugger. Sometimes just doing this will fix the issue.
Bonus Tip: The little icon that sits to the right of the clock icon is called a “Pin”. You can use that to tag a location. Useful if you are making a post about an event, or if you just want to share where you are at.
I hope this tutorial helps you get the most out posting on your Facebook business or fan page!