I have recently heard of a business page with over 10,000 fans that was shut down, without warning, simply for going against Facebook’s rules.
A post by Anna Gervais got me thinking and writing Social Media 101: Facebook Rules.
Social Media 101: Facebook Rules
Below are just a few things you are NOT ALLOWED to do on your Facebook Business Page:
Include your website, call to action or contact details in your timeline cover or icon photo
Forget to mention Facebook when explaining associations for giveaways (you must state that they are not sponsoring the event).
Force fans to ‘like’ another page in order to enter a giveaway.
Use ‘likes’ as votes (ie. photo with the most ‘likes’ wins).
Notify winners through Facebook. Be sure to receive email addresses of entrants.
This list is only a brief overview of some prohibited actions. It is not an exhaustive list. For all the details visit Facebook.
For an excellent resource on How You Can Use the Facebook Cover Photos check out this Social Media Examiner post.
So what do I do to help abide by the rules? I use my blog for our giveaways and watch my wording in posts. I only use photos or my logo as my timeline photo and icon.
Even ETSY breaks the rules!
Tell me in the comments below if you have broken a rule or two. Please don’t link your pages, we don’t want you to get into any trouble!
Read similar posts How to Connect Twitter Account to Facebook Business Page Tutorial.
Thanks for this valuable information! Yes, I have broken *most* of these rules unknowingly! I held a giveaway drawing for people who “liked” my page and did not mention FB! Whoops! My page doesn’t have many fans yet, so apparently that’s why it didn’t draw their attention. I’ll know better next time.
What do you mean by “include your website, call to action or contact details in your timeline cover or icon photo”.
Are we not allowed to state our website name or our website link/address? And as far as a call to action, can we have our ‘tagline’?
Hi Tami,
Thank you for pointing out this important point (error). The inspiration for this idea is found here where they suggest you graphically promote a Call to Action e.g. “Click Like” with an arrow. Thanks for commenting.