If your business has a Facebook page and you’re seriously maintaining it, it means you know how important the social media giant is to your business’ overall marketing strategy. However, it cannot be denied that many serious social media marketers who spend a lot of time and effort maintaining and growing their Facebook page are also serious rule-breakers as far as its guidelines are concerned.
Over the years, Facebook has developed an ever-changing set of rules for Facebook brand and business pages. These rules tend to be very detailed, and at times incredibly complex. If you’re a social media marketer worth your salt, you need to take those rules for Facebook brand and business pages seriously. It also makes sense to stay current with Facebook guidelines. Neglect those rules and do any of the things listed below, and you’re on way to being caught, suspended and worse, shut down permanently by Facebook, sometimes without any warning and typically without any chance for an appeal.
Post offensive content
Facebook will certainly shut you down if it deems any particular content you post as offensive. You may argue that there’s nothing offensive with your, uh, offending post, but if Facebook says your post has violated the rules for Facebook brand and business page, it has every right to take your page down and there’s nothing you can do about it. Remember, you don’t own your Facebook page. Facebook owns it, and they reserve the right to shut you down if you break the any of the rules for Facebook brand and business pages.
Commit copyright infringement on Facebook
Many high profile business pages have been shut down because of copyright infringement on Facebook, the most recent of which is the Facebook page of culture and design site The Cool Hunter. Post on your business page a picture, a video or any type of content that isn’t yours without any attribution or link to the original author or owner, and you’re bound to share the aforementioned site’s fate. If you stumble upon really great content and you have no idea who owns it, then stop yourself from posting it and avoid committing copyright infringement on Facebook.
Display a cover photo that is not in keeping with Facebook guidelines
There are a number of rules for Facebook brand and business pages that cover the cover photo on your business page’s Timeline, and many page owners are violating these rules entirely. Many cover photos bear contact information such as web address, email address, mailing address or other info that should be in the Page’s “About” section. Many cover photos also ignore the rule against having an arrow pointing towards the “Like” button, or calls to action such as “Tell your friends” or Get it now”. Cover photos that bear prices for special offers or feature more than 20 percent text are also against the rules for Facebook brand and business pages.
Ignore the many guidelines for contests
If you stay current with Facebook guidelines, you probably already know that Facebook has finally decided to lift the long-standing rule about administering contests only through apps. There are still a number of rules for Facebook brand and business pages that you have to follow when holding contests or promotions. Acknowledging that your contest is not in any way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook is one. Not administering promotions on personal Timelines is another. There’s also the new rule against tagging or encouraging people to tag themselves in content that they are not actually depicted in.
Display third-party advertisements
Putting up third-party advertisements is perhaps one of the more prominent rules for Facebook brand and business pages. Also prohibited are ads promoting adult products and services, dating sites with a sexual emphasis, drugs and tobacco and prescription pharmaceuticals. See the Facebook Advertising Guidelines for more details.
These five are just some of the easy ways to get your Facebook page shut down. If you really care enough about your Facebook page to keep it up and running, then you must not do any of the above, and you have to stay current with Facebook guidelines, which keep changing all the time. Clicking here would be a good start.