What’s The Difference Between an Official Facebook Page & Community Facebook Page?

Have you been wondering how to create a Facebook page and more importantly, what type of page you should create? Should it be a Community Facebook Page or an Official Facebook Page?

Understanding the difference is crucial for making the right decision for your brand or interest group. In this updated guide for 2024, we’ll break down the differences and help you determine which option best suits your needs.

What is a community Facebook page?

A community page on Facebook is an unofficial page designed for people to discuss an organization, topic or celebrity. Unlike official pages, these do not represent the entity or individual they focus on.

While similar to other Facebook pages, community pages have a few key distinctions:

• They are not managed by a single individual.
• Content from these pages won’t show up in your News Feed.
• A notable feature is that your profile automatically links to various pages based on your discussions and interests. For instance, if you mention your college in your profile, you might find yourself associated with that college’s community page.
• You'll notice a Community Page badge at the top of the page, which indicates that it is not an official representation of the subject matter.

What is an official Facebook page?

An official Facebook page is managed by the business or organization it represents. Official Facebook pages are meant to be for organizations; you will have to prove you work for the company you want to create a page about. These pages are designed to provide authentic information and updates directly from the entity they represent.

Key features of official Facebook pages include:

1. Official pages often have a blue checkmark (verified badge), indicating that Facebook has verified their authenticity.
2. They are managed by designated administrators who can post updates, respond to comments, and engage with followers.
3. Posts from official pages typically appear in followers' News Feeds, making it easier for fans and customers to stay updated.

How to make an official Facebook page

To get started making a Facebook official page, you’ll need to log in to your Facebook personal profile and click on the menu in the top right corner. It looks like this:

From there, you click ‘page’ under the create section. You can then fill out all the details about your business. Be careful to make a business page on Facebook for your business, not a community page!

So you want to create an official page for your business, not a community page. Whatever you do, don’t create a community page for your business. The reason for that is the whole idea behind community pages is that they can be taken over by the community and as a business, you definitely don’t want to lose control of your own Facebook page. So for your business, you definitely want an official page and just choose the closest most accurate category whether you’re a local business, a brand or a public figure. Choose whatever is most accurate. Your page name is important because you cannot change it. I would recommend that you use your name if you have a personal brand or your business name, either one works depending on what you want to promote. Don’t try to get clever here, just enter your business name and then if this of course is your business, you want to check this box. It says I’m the official representative and then you just hit create official page. You don’t want to create a group to promote your business, groups are better for people who share a professional interest or hobby. For marketing on Facebook, you want to create a page and again, you want to do an official page, not a community page.

How to get started creating a community Facebook page

So the community page, the idea behind that is that’s truly for fans. So if you’re a big fan of Snickers bars, you will create a community page for other people to discuss that official Snickers page. For this, you create your page in the same way as an official page, you just select the community page option when setting up the page.

You can call your Facebook community page whatever you want, include images and links and invite your Facebook friends to like it. Here is how:

• To create a new Page, navigate to the Menu in the sidebar of your News Feed.
• Click on “Pages,” then select “Create” to start setting up your new Page.
• After setting up your community page, you can link it to a group by:
  • Clicking on “Groups” in the menu.
  • Selecting “Link your Group” to choose which groups you want to connect.
  • Once linked, you can begin posting in your group using your Page’s identity.

After creating your community page, it all comes to customization! You can also include a cover photo, links and other relevant information to foster discussions.

What’s the difference between a Facebook page and a Facebook Group?

Just to add some confusion to the mix, there’s another type of community you can create on Facebook and that’s a group. Groups tend to be closed communities that need to request to join and answer some basic questions to get accepted. You create a Facebook group in the same way you create a page. The difference with groups is that anyone can post on the wall and contribute to the community. A Facebook page can only have content posted by the page owner which the page followers can then like and comment on. A page can also run advertisements, whereas a group can’t.

Groups also tend to have strict rules about what can be posted in them. This is to avoid shameless promotion and spammers from infiltrating the group.  

What type of Facebook page should I create?

The type of Facebook page you create depends on your purpose for creating the page! But here is a summary:

• Business or Brand: If you want to promote a business or brand, an official Facebook page is the best choice. It allows you to maintain control and run ads.
• Community or Fan Page: If your goal is to bring together fans or a community around a specific topic, a community Facebook page is ideal.
  It's more for fun; to collaborate with and find others who share an interest or want to discuss a topic.
• Private Discussion: For private, focused discussions among members with shared interests, a Facebook group is the way to go.
  Facebook group is great if you want a private space to discuss a shared interest, travel for women for example, and share useful tips, articles, and insights with one another.

If you're also curious about the difference between a Facebook Page and a Facebook Profile, check out our guide here. This article will help you understand the distinctions and make the right choice for your needs.

What type of Facebook page do you use?

Do you have a preferred way to interact with your Facebook community? Official page, community page or group? What works best for you?

Choosing the right type of Facebook page is crucial for achieving your social media goals. Whether it's an official page, a community page, or a group, each serves a unique purpose. Consider what you aim to achieve with your Facebook presence, and select the format that best aligns with those objectives.