[Best of 2019] Facebook Business Pages: 4 Hidden Features to Boost Visibility

We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in January and is #6 in our countdown. See #7 here.

Want to maximize your presence on social media as a brokerage or individual agent? A Facebook Business Page is a great starting point--so long as you're venturing past the default settings.

Whether you recently set up shop or your business has lived on Facebook for a while, fine-tuning your page with the following tools is a must. Learn how to customize your layout, communicate with customers, compete for business, and analyze trends:

1. Customize: Personalize Page Layout

Your business page essentially serves as a resume or cover letter to potential clients. To garner interest and trust, make sure your page is unique, consistently branded, and content-rich.

Ensure that you're starting with the right page template. Go to Settings > Templates and Tabs. Under the Template section, you can choose from various models: Business, Shopping, Venues, Nonprofit, etc. Once you choose your template, Facebook will automatically add buttons and tabs to your page that relate to your business type.

In the "Tabs" section, you can add, remove, and rearrange page sections according to relevance. Tab options include Reviews, Photos, Events, Offers, About, and more. At first glance, will visiting eyes land on the spots you want to emphasize? Rearrange focal points as necessary.

2. Communicate: Call-to-Action Button

Want to bring customer conversations off Facebook? Add a "Contact" button to your page. You can point users to your preferred method of communication—email, phone, or message.

Timely communication gets you major kudos on Facebook. Consider adding instant replies and away messages for Facebook messenger (Settings > Messaging), and when you're online, respond to messages as quickly as possible.

To receive a "Very responsive to messages" badge from Facebook, aim for a response time of less than 15 minutes and a response rate of 90 percent or more. All Facebook users can see the response rate badge once you earn it.

3. Compete: Similar Page Suggestions

Wouldn't it be great if a potential client were perusing a competitor's page, only to switch over to yours after seeing you on a "Similar Page Suggestion"? Here's how to give yourself that chance: Go to Settings > General > Similar Page Suggestions. This one's easy; just make sure the box is checked, and congrats! You've added another tool to your online visibility arsenal.

4. Analyze: Audience Insights

Your business page "Insights" provide a wealth of information on your audience. Here you can track trends on metrics such as:

• Followers
• Likes
• Reach
• Page views
• Page actions
• Post engagement
• Stories
• Events
• Messages

Want to find out which types of posts have performed better than others on your page? Go to Insights > Posts > Post Types.

Interested in breaking down the demographics of your page visitors? Go to Insights > Page Views, and choose the audience characteristics you want to filter by.

Curious what actions visitors most often take on your page (e.g., "Get Directions" clicks, "Website" clicks, "Phone Number" clicks)? Go to Insights > Page actions.

To view the original article, visit the Inside Real Estate blog.