Facebook Pages and Profiles are different types of accounts on Facebook that serve different purposes. A Facebook Profile represents an individual person while a Facebook Page represents businesses, brands, celebrities, causes, and organizations. As your business or brand grows on Facebook, you may find it necessary to migrate your content from your individual Facebook Profile to a Facebook Page. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to successfully migrate your Profile to a Page on Facebook.
Why Migrate from a Profile to a Page?
There are a few key reasons why you may want to migrate your Facebook Profile to a Facebook Page for your business or brand:
- More visibility – Pages show up better in searches and News Feeds than individual profiles.
- Insights – Pages provide access to detailed analytics and metrics through Facebook Insights.
- Credibility – Pages represent real organizations and build trust better than individual profiles.
- Monetization – Pages can create ads and use various monetization features not available to profiles.
- Unified presence – Having one Page to represent your brand avoids confusion over multiple profiles.
In summary, Facebook designed Pages specifically for organizations, brands and public figures, so migrating to a Page provides more functionality and visibility optimized for your business or brand’s needs.
Step 1: Create Your Facebook Page
First, you need to create your new Facebook Page that will eventually represent your brand or business. Here are the steps to create a new Page:
- Go to Facebook.com and log into your Profile if you aren’t already.
- Click on the dropdown arrow in the top right and select “Create Page.”
- Choose the category that best represents your business or brand.
- Enter your Page name, usually your business or brand name.
- If desired, upload a profile picture and cover photo to represent your Page visually.
- Click “Get Started” and follow any additional steps to set up your new Page.
Once you’ve created your new Facebook Page, it’s time to start migrating content over from your Profile.
Step 2: Invite Fans to Like Your New Page
To retain your current reach and audience, you’ll want to get the fans from your Profile to start following your new Page. Here are some tips for inviting fans:
- Post a status update on your Profile notifying people that you’ve created a new Page and providing the link for them to like it.
- On your new Page, post an introductory status update explaining that you’ve migrated from your Profile and inviting fans to like the Page.
- Use the “Invite friends to like this Page” option under your cover photo to select friends to invite.
- Personally message your friends and connections on Facebook asking them to like your new Page.
Getting your existing connections and audience to like your Page right away will give you a running start on building your follower base on your new presence.
Step 3: Cross-Post New Content
As you begin posting new content for your brand or business, you’ll want to cross-post it both to your Profile and Page to notify all of your followers. Here are some tips for cross-posting:
- When sharing a status update, photo, video or other new post, select the options to share it on your Profile and Page at the same time.
- Use a social media management tool to schedule posts to both your Profile and Page simultaneously.
- Manually copy and paste posts from your Profile over to your Page or vice versa.
Cross-posting your latest content will allow you to organically migrate your audience over to your new Page as you phase out posting from your Profile.
Step 4: Transfer Key Information to Your Page
Beyond your posts and content, there is other key information you’ll want to transfer from your Profile over to your new Page:
- Profile picture – Upload your current Profile photo as your new Page’s profile picture.
- Cover photo – Use the same or similar cover photo for brand consistency.
- Bio – Copy over your Profile bio to summarize your brand or business.
- Website – Make sure your Page has your current website listed.
- Contacts – Export your Profile friends list and invite them to like your Page.
Transferring this information will enable your new Page to retain the same look, feel and connections as your existing Profile.
Step 5: Migrate Key Content to Your Page
The most time-intensive part of the migration process is transferring your existing posts and content from your Profile to your Page. Here are some recommended ways to migrate content:
- Repost historically significant content – Manually repost old posts that performed well or have lasting relevance to your brand.
- Export posts – Use the Facebook export tool to download an archive of your posts and repost highlights to your Page.
- Contact Facebook – Request Facebook migrate the content for you from your Profile to Page.
Ideally you want your Page to contain your best and most relevant historical content to provide value to new visitors.
Step 6: Update Links and Pointers
Once your Page becomes the primary presence for your brand on Facebook, you’ll want to update any links pointing there:
- Update your website, email signatures, business cards and other marketing collateral to link to your new Facebook Page URL.
- Redirect links from your old Profile URL to your new Page URL using URL redirect services.
- Update any social media management platforms to point to your new Facebook Page rather than Profile.
Updating links will ensure that any traffic and mentions continue to drive visitors to your Page rather than outdated Profile.
Step 7: Phase Out Posting from Your Profile
The last step is to gradually stop posting content from your personal Profile and only post from your Page. Here are some tips for phasing out your Profile activity:
- Slowly reduce posting on your Profile over a period of weeks or months.
- Use your Profile only for personal life updates unrelated to your business or brand.
- Eventually delete your Profile or keep it only for private personal use.
Winding down your Profile posting activity will signal to your audience that your Page is now the official presence they should follow and engage with.
Conclusion
Migrating your Facebook Profile to a Page takes time and effort but provides huge benefits for your brand or business. Following these steps will allow you to successfully transfer your audience, content and connections to a new Page optimized for organizational use. Some key takeaways include:
- Create a Page and invite existing fans to like it right away.
- Cross-post new content to both your Profile and Page.
- Transfer key info like photos, bio and contacts to your Page.
- Repost or export your most important historical content.
- Update links to point to your new Page.
- Slowly phase out posting from your Profile.
With strategic planning and gradual execution, you can seamlessly migrate your Facebook presence from a personal Profile to an organizational Page, gaining all the benefits Pages provide for brands and businesses.