Comparing Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages

 

Facebook  Pages vs Facebook Groups

Should you have a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group?  What are the pros and cons, similarities and differences?

To determine this we need to know your objectives as a business or organization and how you plan to be using Facebook.

Compare Facebook Pages and Groups

Feature FB Page FB Group
Who can join Anyone can LIKE a Facebook Page You can request to JOIN a group.  The administrator must authorize it or you can be INVITED to join a group. A group can also be private.
Purpose Usually the page owner wants to promote and get as many LIKES as possible. A Group may be for communications within the group.  It is not necessarily the intention to broadcast to the general public.
Branding You can upload 2 images – a header and a profile image.  These can brand your page, There is no branding on your Facebook group.  The header image is photos of members of the group.
Files You can upload photos or video but not word documents or PDF files.  No WYSIWIG editing or create a file. You can upload files in different formats for your group and members can upload in a Post.  Also “Create a file” with editing functions.
Photos and Videos Can post photos and video Can post photos and video
Posts A post by the Administrator appears with the name of the page.  You do have the option as Admin to post, like and share under your own name as well.  Posts by people who “Like” the page show up on the right column.  Not as prominent. Security levels to allow administrator to review and authorize posts before they appear on the group.   Once a post is authorized it appears on the main news timeline for the group.   Posts are made under the name of the person (including administrators).
Members People who LIKE a page have limited access to other people who like the page. A group is MEMBER oriented.   Option to allow all members to invite new members.   People can request to join the group and must be authorized by an administrator. There are various levels available.  Members can view other members with photo and profile text.
Integration with Website You can integrate a Facebook PAGE into your website to display activity, posts and likes. A Facebook GROUP cannot be integrated into a website or blog. You can link to it.

Create a Facebook Page

  • To raise awareness about a cause, organization
  • To build an audience
  • To promote your business or organization
  • To create a fan base
  • To build a brand

Create a Facebook Group

  • To communicate with members of the group
  • To build a group of people with similar interests
  • To share files with members of the group

Sample Facebook Group Header

Facebook Group header area
Facebook Group header area

The Facebook Group can display an image, group name and type of group.  Members, Discussion, Events, Photos and Files are featured as the links below the header.

Sample Facebook PAGE header

Facebook Page Sample
Facebook Page Sample

Brand your Facebook page with a logo or other profile image (small square) and a Header image that reflects your business or organization. Below the header appears a brief ABOUT statement and your choice of Icons for photos, likes, notes or other apps.

Possibly you will want to create a Facebook Page AND a Facebook Group to achieve different objectives.  If you decide to do this, make your Facebook Group Members aware that you also have a Facebook Page and invite them to LIKE the page in order to see your posts.

It is not possible to migrate or move a Facebook Group and change it to a Facebook Page – so you may decide to have both or notify members of your Group that you now also have a Facebook Page and ask them to LIKE it.

More information

There are other similarities and differences. Do you have BOTH a Facebook Page and a Group? Or why did you choose one over the other? Are you satisfied with your choice?    Please feel free to leave your comments below.

 

WordPress Customized Comment Form

Hints about setting up and using the new customizable contact form on wordpress.

Word Press has added new functionality to the comment form builder.  Try this out to add functionality and 2 way communications to your blog.  NOTE – this posting is referring to your blog on WordPress.COM not on the self hosted WordPress.

  • You can add the form to get feedback, comments and suggestions by readers of your blog
  • You can set the email and subject heading that you want to use to receive the form output by email
  • You can also view the form results by clicking on the “Feedback” tab at any time in your Admin view of your WordPress dashboard.
  • To access the form builder – go to your POST or PAGE – and click on the “Add custom form” icon on the top right.

 

Wordpress contact form customization
Wordpress contact form customization
  • The standard fields are Name, email, website and comment.  You can delete, move or add additional fields.
  • You have the option to make fields required or not.
  • When adding a new field you can have check boxes, radio buttons, website, text area or drop down field.
Wordpress contact form new field
Wordpress contact form new field

Try it out and give your readers an easy way to communicate with you.

See the Customized form on this blog and use it to send me your comments and questions. –> Contact form

 

Denise Davies is an Internet and media consultant with Aleph Consulting.  She works with nonprofit organizations and small businesses to maximize their effective use of the Internet to build their organization and achieve their objectives.  If you have questions or would like to learn more contact by email at davies@alephinc.com

Building Website Traffic: Strategies for Your Success – eBook

This new eBook has answers to the
biggest concern of business owners and nonprofit managers. 
How do you get more people to your website.

Building Website Traffic: Strategies for Your Success” will guide you on steps you can take immediately with very little cost. One of the biggest concerns that people have about their website is that they want to build traffic and get more visitors.

The eBook “Building Website Traffic ” includes in depth instructions, examples and how-to for over 20 methods. These include Search Engine Optimization, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIN, Articles, Press Releases, eNewsletters, building links, Google tools, RSS feeds and more.

Building Website Traffic: Strategies for Your Internet Success
Building Website Traffic: Strategies for Your Internet Success

The “First Things First” section of this book is a review of your website setup, objectives and foundation. This section gives important points regarding your website to be sure that as you build traffic you will be able to be successful in converting your visitors and achieving your business or organization objectives.

Learn how to bring more targeted visitors to your website.

See and learn from examples of specific businesses and organizations that use a variety of these techniques and methods to effectively promote their brand and engage the visitors to their website.

The book includes links to the resources you will need to use all the techniques as you build your web presence.
Learn from specific examples of successful businesses and organizations.

This book has over 100 pages of explanations, examples and how-to on bringing more traffic to your website.
Increase your ROI of your website. You have already invested time, energy and money in building your website. Now capitalize on your investment

CLICK TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET YOUR BOOK NOW
See full Table of Contents and details
Building Website Traffic: Strategies for Your Success