Facebook Page vs profile for business

Use a Facebook Page for a business. Meta’s own Business Help Centre says profiles are best for personal use, not for businesses or organisations, and that Pages are the way to represent a business on Facebook. A Page is free, it can run ads, it has Insights and a shared Inbox, and you can give other people access to it without handing over your login.

You still need a personal profile, though. Meta states that a personal profile is required to create a Page. So the real picture is not “Page or profile” but “a profile for you, and a Page for the business, with the profile as the key that opens the door”. The rest of this guide covers what each one is for, where the line blurs because of pro mode, and what to do if you started a business on a profile by mistake.

A Facebook profile is the account you get when you join. Meta describes it as intended for personal use, to connect with friends, family and your community. You can follow and like Pages and groups from it, post photos, videos and stories, and message people privately.

A Page is a separate presence built for an audience. Meta’s description is that Pages let you reach new audiences, communicate with customers and people who care about your products, services or community, advertise, and learn about your audience through Page Insights. Meta also lists a Page as a free product, with the option of paid ads.

The third thing on Meta’s page is a group. A group is a space for approved members to talk about a shared interest, with its own member controls. It is not a replacement for either of the other two, and a Page can join or create a group as a Page member, which is a way to build community around a brand without running it from a personal account.

Tip: If a customer would be better served by a person than by a brand, that is a group or a conversation, not a profile. Keep the personal profile for the people who know you and put the business where strangers can find it, which is the Page.

Meta publishes a comparison of profiles, profiles with pro mode and Pages. The table below keeps the rows that affect a business and states them as Meta describes them. Check the live page before relying on a detail, because Meta changes these tools.

Two rows decide most businesses. The first is shared access. A profile has no way to let several people manage it, so a business run from a profile means sharing a password or relying on one person. A Page lets you assign access to trusted people, so a colleague can answer messages without ever seeing your private account.

The second is the Inbox. On a Page, Meta lists a single Inbox that collects Messenger, Facebook comments, Instagram messages and Instagram comments. For a profile it lists only Messenger, Facebook comments and Instagram messages. If customers write to you from more than one place, that gathering of channels is a practical reason to prefer a Page.

Pro mode is a switch on your main profile. Meta describes it as an extra feature set that gives a profile access to Insights, a professional dashboard and, if eligible, tools to earn money directly from the profile. It is aimed at individuals with a public presence, and Meta’s examples are creators, public figures and politicians.

That makes pro mode a sensible fit for a person who is the brand: a writer, a coach or a performer whose followers want them and not a company. It is a poor fit for a shop, a restaurant or an agency. Those have staff, ads, a location and an inbox that several people need, and the comparison above shows pro mode does not offer shared access.

• Pick pro mode when you are the product and you are the only person who needs to run the account.
• Pick a Page when the business has a name that is not yours, more than one person involved, or any plan to advertise or sell through Facebook.
• Pick both if you like: many people keep a pro-mode profile for themselves and a Page for the company they run.

Meta is explicit about the case where someone started on the wrong one. Its help page says that if you created a profile instead of a Page for your professional presence, you should either turn on pro mode or create a Page instead.

Menus change between the website, the app and from year to year, so use the names below as a guide and follow whatever your own screen shows. Meta’s steps for creating a Page have the same shape on a computer and on a phone.

1. Log in to Facebook with your personal profile and find the Pages section, which sits in the main navigation or the menu.
2. Choose the option to create a Page, and when asked what kind, choose the public or professional one.
3. Enter the Page name and pick a category that describes the business.
4. Add a short bio and the basics: contact details, location and opening hours if they apply.
5. Add a profile photo and a cover photo, and review the action button.
6. Invite friends to connect with the Page if you want to, then choose your notification settings and finish.

Once it exists, give the right people access instead of sharing your login. Meta lists assigning access as the way to let several people manage a Page. Give each person only what they need, so someone who answers messages does not also control billing.

Tip: Pick the Page name carefully before you start sharing it. A name that matches how customers already talk about you is easier to find, and it is the first thing a person checks to see whether this is the real business.

Business messaging runs through Pages. Meta’s Inbox for a Page is where customer messages and comments gather, and the tools that reply automatically are built to work with a Page, not a personal profile. DMFast, for example, connects to Facebook Pages (and to Instagram professional accounts) and does not work with personal accounts.

That is a reason to start on a Page even if you do not plan to automate anything today. If you begin on a profile and later want shared access, ads or an auto-reply, you will have to build the Page and invite your audience to it from scratch. A Page you set up on day one is simply there when the business needs it.

If you also have an Instagram account for the business, the Page is the Facebook half of one setup. Meta’s Inbox covers Instagram messages and comments alongside Facebook ones, so connecting the two puts the whole conversation in one place. Our guide on connecting a Facebook Page to Instagram covers how.

• Running the business from a personal profile because it feels quicker, then discovering there is no way to share access safely.
• Treating pro mode as a Page. It adds Insights and a dashboard, but Meta’s comparison does not list advertising, Shops or shared access for it.
• Creating a Page and never posting there, while all the real activity stays on the personal profile.
• Giving a freelancer your personal login instead of assigning access to the Page.
• Mixing family photos and shop announcements on one account, so customers see one and relatives see the other.