Can I create a Facebook page without linking it to my profile? The quick answer is yes.
I get asked this question quite often by folks that are nervous about their online privacy and/or that want to keep their personal life separate from their work life. This is a valid concern and one I will address below.
So, you CAN create a business account, which is just a Facebook business page that is not linked with your Facebook profile. But, the real question is what is the difference, why should or shouldn't you set it up so it's not attached to your profile and what is best practices when it comes to setting up a business page?
Some of the missing components of the Facebook business page that's not connected to a personal profile include:
- You won’t be able to link to your Twitter account
- Your basic information will be limited to year founded, and not:
- Address
- Phone number
- Hours of operation
- Your detailed information about your business will be limited to website, overview, mission, and products, and not:
- Parking
- Public transit
- You won’t have the ability to tag (your personal) friends in photos
- You won’t be able to invite your (personal) friends to become fans
- You won’t be able to add any admins. (You can only add friends as admins.)
- You won’t be able to get a vanity URL.
Aside from the above, Facebook will ask you when you go to set up a business account if you already have a personal profile. If you do, you need to say yes. Some people are not on Facebook, they have no interest in being on Facebook and that's okay. Business Accounts have become a way for folks to take advantage of having a page without having to create a personal account. However, if you DO have an personal profile/account already it's against Facebook's guidelines to create another account. This means that if Facebook finds out that your business account is you, regardless of if you use a different email etc, your page could get pulled permanently. Which means all that hard work you put into gaining fans and building a Facebook business presence is lost.
Lastly, if you have a business account rather than the page attached to your personal profile, it will not be searchable in Facebook. This is kind of a Biggie! What's the point of having a page no one can stumble across on their own?
Now lets talk about keeping things separated, meaning your personal profile personal and not accessible from your business page. Here is what Facebook says on the matter:
In addition, Pages are managed by admins who have personal Facebook profiles (timelines). Pages are not separate Facebook accounts and do not have separate login information from your profile (timeline). They are merely different entities on our site, similar to how Groups and Events function. Once you have set up a Page within your profile (timeline), you may add other admins to help you manage this Page. People who choose to connect to your Page won't be able to see that you are the Page admin or have any access to your personal account.
Therefore you don't need to worry about your personal info getting mixed up with your business page or your privacy being breached.
And, here are some benefits of having it attached to your personal account:
– You don't have to sign in and out of different accounts all day in order to check in on things or make an update.
– You can switch between using Facebook as your page and as yourself. This is great for commenting on other pages and even commenting on your page as you or your page.
So, my recommendation is that you create a business page through your personal account making it easier on yourself and making sure that you get a pages full functionality.
Joan Woodbrey Crocker
“You Don't gotta keep em separated” – Facebook does for you 🙂