What is a Facebook verified page?

If you see a verified badge  on a Page or profile, it means that Facebook confirmed that this is the authentic Page or profile for this public figure, media company or brand. 

There used to be a gray check button for businesses or companies but Facebook removed it in 2019. Now, there’s only the blue check button.

Verification of a page is a confirmation by Facebook that you are who you say you are. Fans, users, employees, and alumni often set up their own pages to build community. You want your page verified so it can be the official page, distinguished from fan pages or user pages.  

Why is verification vital?

Verification is vital because you want to protect your business and brand.

This is the era of fake news. It’s all out on social media, on websites, and even, on traditional media. 

No one is being held accountable. There are firms and individuals that specialize in spreading misinformation. The digitization of information makes it easy for those with bad intentions to avoid accountability for what they put out on the Internet. 

A Facebook page is so easy to set up. 

There are about 2.7 billion active Facebook users in the world. There are over 10 million Facebook groups. 

Not surprisingly, there will be similarities in FB profiles (personal pages), and FB pages (business pages). Similarities are not only by coincidence but intentionally such as unofficial sites. 

There are FB pages put up by fans, users, followers, and alumni of celebrities, brands, companies, and institutions that abound on the FB platform.

If any of those pages put up offensive or controversial content, you want people to clearly see that the offending party has nothing to do with you. There are clear benefits to getting your page verified.

What does verifying your Facebook page do?

1. Adds to your credibility

Being verified on Facebook tells people you are legit. You are a business with all the necessary papers. People are assured that you are willing to be held accountable for your content. 

You are also saying that you play by the rules. With all the scams in social media, people are expectedly worried. The blue verification button helps remove people’s apprehension.

2. You get more people to trust your page

This is an effect of being credible. People are likely to trust your page. Pages with high trust ratings get more followers. Your page will also be able to attract fans and traffic from related sites such as groups or user pages.

3. Get high engagement

Pages that people trust usually get high engagements. That is because a verified page attracts people who are genuinely interested in your brand. 

These are real fans, not the casual onlookers. You can learn a lot from engagements. 

Take note of what types of posts get the most comments, shares, and likes. You can even count and classify the emoticons that fans use to react to your content. 

4. You rank higher on searches

Being verified means being credible. Facebook rewards this by pushing your page to the top of related searches. Because Facebook wants their searches to bring back quality results. 

That means more organic traffic to your page, which also means more fans. Instead of going to unofficial pages, these people will go to your official page.

5. Protect your brand

There’s a bunch of unofficial pages, fans pages, users’ pages, and other groups whose names are similar but can be unrelated to your company page. 

You don’t want any bad content to be mistaken as yours. 

In fact, whether a post is good or not, it should be properly associated and attributed to its creator.  You don’t want to take credit or miscredit for something that you did not post. You protect and build your brand that way.

6. More likes from fan pages and unofficial pages

Did I mention this before? It’s worth mentioning again. 

Fan pages and other unofficial pages are good and should be encouraged if it’s for legitimate reasons such as building community. 

What could make them great is if you can attract traffic from them. Unofficial pages drive traffic to the official pages. 

Think about it. You are a fan and enjoying a great community in a fan club. Wouldn’t it be better to directly engage with the official page of whatever it is you are a fan of and their people? 

The next logical thing to do is to search and like the official page. That’s why leading brands encourage unofficial pages. They get free marketing while enjoying plausible deniability.

How to know if you are qualified to get verified

The verification badge is not given to everyone. Facebook looks at certain criteria before they decide to get your page verified:

1. Be authentic: Don’t be someone or something that you are not. Your page must represent a real person, registered business or entity.
2. Unique name: Only one account per person or business may be verified, with exceptions for language-specific accounts. Better not have multiple accounts. Facebook will never verify pages like Cutie Cats.   
3. Complete about section: Make sure your about section is complete. You should have all the necessary information. This includes photos, address, contact details, etc. In case Facebook send an OTP, the phone number you gave should receive it.
4. Famous or notable: Your page must represent a public figure, known brand or entity.  Being featured in multiple organic news sources would help a lot in getting you verified. Before you apply to get verified, try to get some earned or organic news clips a few months in advance.  

How to get your Facebook page verified

1. Fill out the a contact form. It looks like this

2. In the contact form, indicate if you are verifying a page or profile.

3.     Select your industry category. Ex. media, sports, government, etc.

4. Select your country

5. You will need to upload any of the following:

1. For profiles: a government-issued photo ID that shows your name and date of birth (i.e. driver’s license or passport)
2. For business pages: provide a document with an official seal/watermark of your organization:
   1. – Your organization’s phone or utility bill
   2. – A certificate of formation
   3. – Articles of incorporation
   4. – Tax or tax exemption documents belonging to your organization
3. State the reason why your profile page should be verified. Bragging rights does not count. This part is important so make your reasons clear and to the point.

1. You are a known personality but there are several fan pages. You just want to be recognized as the official page to avoid any confusion.  
2. You are a legally operating company with several branches or dealers in different locations. These dealers or franchises have their own Facebook pages so you want to be recognized as the main business site.
3. You are a widely used product or popular brand. There are several pages maintained by users. You want people to know your page as the official source of information for your brand.
4. List your other social media accounts. The folks at Facebook may want to follow you. But really, they will take a look if you are indeed a known brand or personality with engaged followers or fans.

8. Add comments like how you want to protect your brand. Maybe there are other pages with almost the same names. List unofficial or fan pages as a gauge of your popularity. This also shows the need for an official page. You can list down links to news coverages about you or your brand.
9. Hit send and wait for an email or phone call from Facebook.

Conclusion

Like I said before, the blue check button is not given to everyone by Facebook. Almost always, this is given to pages of known brands or personalities. There is a public interest concern. To avoid fake news and misinformation, people should only go to the official of the person or brand that they follow.    

If you don’t get verified. It’s not the end of the world. 

A lot of companies and personalities continue on their Facebook journey without being verified.  They seem to be doing alright. 

As long as you give useful, truthful and engaging content; whether verified or not; you will find success on Facebook. Attracting traffic is where inbound marketing can help you.  

Besides, you can always try again after a few months.