Facebook business page verification just isn’t an option for most businesses.
The social network claims that only certain pages and profiles are eligible for verification:
- Celebrities and public figures
- Global brands and businesses
- Media
In other words, most of us just can’t verify our Facebook business page.
However, Facebook isn’t the only network around, and there are other ways to verify social accounts online.
Why Verification Helps Businesses
Verification, whether it’s by Twitter or Facebook or another social network, helps both businesses and people stand out online. In general, verified accounts are more likely to show up in search results and feeds than unverified accounts.
This is clearly a marketing benefit, so it’s certainly understandable that a business would want to become verified.
What to Do Instead of Facebook Business Page Verification
If your goal is to create social accounts that stand out when your customers are looking for brands, products, and topics, then there are a few other steps you can take:
Complete every last detail of your business pages and profiles across all of your social media accounts.
Facebook states that this is another way to improve your rankings in Facebook searches. And it’s also a way to help yourself stay visible in Twitter, on Pinterest, Tumblr, and virtually every other social network.
Like Google, social networks’ internal search engines rely on keywords. So when you fill out your profile descriptions, your about tabs, and even your business name, consider packing in as many relevant keywords as you can think of.
Whenever and wherever possible, connect your accounts to telephone numbers, websites, and other pages or profiles. This will help the social networks know that you are authentic and serious about your accounts.
Be active and authentic.
This may sound basic, but many people mistakenly believe that they can put up a page and start getting clicks. The less active you are, the less likely you are to appear in front of other users.
When you are active on the sites and interactive with other users, the social networks interpret this as real, human activity. They are therefore more likely to feature your content in feeds and search results.
Get involved in the Facebook Place Tips program.
Place Tips for business is a new program that’s still in testing, but it can certainly boost a brick-and-mortar business’s visibility on the social network. This feature allows businesses to feature user-generated content when people are close to a business’s location.
The feature is still experimental, but it is opening up to businesses. To get Place Tips for your business, you’ll need to order a Facebook Bluetooth beacon, which tells the network when customers are close by. The beacon is free, so if your page is full of content, you might be able to request one from Facebook.
Verify your Twitter profile.
Though not everyone can be verified on Twitter, it’s possible to become verified, even if you aren’t a celebrity or a global brand. That’s not to say that it’s easy – it often involves having connections with someone at Twitter or getting noticed by Twitter’s @Verified account.
Verify your Google+ Business Page.
Fortunately, this process is much more straightforward. Verifying a local business on Google+ will allow your business to appear on maps, and it will most likely improve your search rankings. The process usually only involves a postcard or a phone call.
Verify your YouTube account.
This simply involves giving YouTube your cell phone number and typing a code into YouTube. Benefits include the ability to upload longer videos, appeal copyright claims, and use custom thumbnails.
Verify your YouTube name.
YouTube name verification is slightly different from YouTube account verification. Like Twitter account verification or Facebook Page verification, this credential places a small icon next to your account name, proving that you are who you say you are.
To verify your YouTube name, connect your YouTube channel to your Google+ Page or Profile, which must be authorized by your brand, company, or product. As long as your Google+ page links to your company website and your YouTube channel has a large number of subscribers, you should be able to verify your YouTube name.
Verify your Pinterest account.
When you verify your website with Pinterest, it automatically adds your website to any picture or pin that is sourced from your site. The process for Pinterest verification is relatively straightforward: you can place a custom meta tag on your site or upload a custom HTML file.
Social networks continue to search for ways to demonstrate authenticity on the part of their users. Whether it’s Google’s now-defunct authorship status, Facebook’s Page verification status, or Twitter’s verification badge, these status symbols can help you stand out in search results and prove to customers that your business is real. When these types of verification aren’t an option, it’s always a good practice to demonstrate authenticity through other means, such as cell phone connection, website connections, and completed profiles.
