How to create a Facebook Page for your BDN blog

By now you’ve heard of Facebook Pages and have probably heard folks talking about their “insights”, “stats”, and “reach”. Creating a Facebook Page for your Bangor Daily News (BDN) blog is a marvelous way to increase your readership because you are exposing your blog posts to a potentially larger pool of content consumers. Not only can you share your BDN blog posts, but you can share other BDN bloggers’ work as well! Heck, you can share almost anything from links to websites, memes, pictures, videos, poll questions and more! Outside of your BDN blog there really is no better way to directly engage with your readers than a Facebook Page.

Ready to create one? Great! Here we go…

Please note that the images and instructions below are based on mobile Facebook, but still apply to desktop view.

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To create a Facebook Page for your BDN blog you need to first have a Facebook profile. In your profile you can look at your sidebar under the HOME section to find PAGES, from there click on CREATE PAGE.

STEP ONE – ACTIVATING A NEW PAGE
You should see something like that looks like this:

step1

On this screen you may choose your Facebook Page name and assign the topic and subtopic of your page. In this case you should use your BDN blog name so that readers do not get confused. Also, it is wise to choose WEBSITES & BLOGS as your topic and choose a subtopic that closely relates to what you intend to use the Page for. The reason for this is Facebook will create algorithms based on what you choose and those algorithms will directly affect how your readers interact with your page.

STEP TWO – THE ABOUT PAGE
The next window you will see is a series of questions about you and your topic. This is your chance to tell readers and Facebook users who you are and what your page is all about. Fill in your ABOUT section with the same ABOUT PAGE info that you have on your BDN blog. This is another way to create consistency across social media and your readers will appreciate it! It makes you look professional, cuts down on confusion, and saves time when all you need to do is copy and paste text from your blog to your new Facebook Page.

step2

STEP THREE – CHOOSING AN ADDRESS
Choosing a unique Facebook web address is important. You should absolutely use your BDN blog name as your Facebook Page address! If the name you choose is already taken then you can tweak it by adding the word “blog” to the end of your unique Facebook Page name. If that doesn’t work then try adding a number to the end.

step3

STEP FOUR – SETTING UP YOUR PAGE
This is where the fun begins! You can choose a cover image and a profile image. Anytime you post or comment, your profile picture will be the same image that appears in the upper left hand corner of your Facebook page. This is how the world will see you, just like your private Facebook profile.

step4

When you choose your cover image there are a couple of things to consider. First, for consistency it is wise to use the same image that you have set as your header image on your BDN blog. This is a visual cue to readers that they are on the right Facebook Page and it also helps to make your page look more professional. Second, it is also wise to stick with Facebook format and make sure that your cover image fits correctly.

For Facebook cover images the photo should be: 815 x 315

For Facebook profile images the photo should be: 360 x 360

STEP FIVE – POST YOUR FIRST STATUS UPDATE
Before you get to far down the dashboard rabbit hole, you can test out your new Facebook Page by copy and pasting a link from your BDN blog to see what it looks like! Give it a great introduction and hit publish.

STEP SIX – INVITE FRIENDS
Until you have 100 “fans” you will not be able to access all of your “insights” to see details about post stats that include those tricky words like “reach”. A quick way to get to that magic number is to invite your friends and family! Click on “Invite friends to like this Page” (as seen in picture in STEP FOUR) and select the names of folks from the menu that will pop up. You could also create a new BDN blog post that tells your readers at the Bangor Daily News about your new blog page!

STEP SEVEN – CREATE A LINK BETWEEN YOUR BDN BLOG AND FACEBOOK PAGE
Go into your dashboard on your BDN blog and select APPEARANCE then WIDGETS. From there scroll down and select FACEBOOK LIKE BOX (JETPACK). This will allow you to have a button on your BDN blog sidebar that allows readers to follow your Facebook page.

And there you have it! This is your starting point for creating a Facebook Page that can compliment your BDN blog. With time you will discover all the nuances of maintaining a Facebook Page and you will see how readers engage with your blog from Facebook. Try not to get too caught up in stats as you will find that Facebook users and BDN blog readers do not always interact with content in the same way. Just produce good work and put out into the world and you will find your readership tribe!

Got any tips and tricks that work for you? Share them in the comment section! We want to hear from you!

Sarah Cottrell

About Sarah Cottrell

Maine-based writer Sarah Cottrell is the voice behind Housewife Plus at the Bangor Daily News and is a regular contributor to Disney’s Babble and Momtastic. She is a co-author in six books including I Still Just Want To Pee Alone from the New York Times Bestselling series. Sarah’s work has also been highlighted and featured by SELF Magazine, National Public Radio, Washington Post, and VICE Tonic.