Are Unclaimed Facebook Pages Killing Your Business?

Unclaimed Facebook pages - a problem that every business faces. It seems like they appear out of thin air and gain recognition by anyone searching for your business. But where do they come from? And how can you eliminate them? 

Where Do They Come From?

These unclaimed Facebook pages can appear for multiple reasons. One reason might be that this page was automatically created for your business when someone checked in or tagged one of your locations that didn't have an individual location page already created for the location. Their smartphone calculates where they are and creates a business listing on Facebook. Sometimes these pages are created due to different spellings. If your company goes by multiple names, or has a nickname, then pages tend to get created for every variation of that name. 

What's the Big Deal? 

Sometimes unofficial/unclaimed business Facebook pages are not a problem and could exist for months or years without you knowing; however, that could be part of the problem. When an unofficial page is created it can cause confusion for people that are searching for your business on Facebook. If you have a well put together Facebook page that you’re consistently posting on you might think that would be the obvious real business page, right? People and computers can still be confused.

Often times you’ll find reviews left by customers on unofficial pages that go unanswered. Unknown negative reviews could be lingering out in the Facebook black hole. You now have this unofficial Facebook page that may or may not have your correct information on it that has a negative review for the world to see, without a response from you. It can leave a very bad first impression on potential customers. If they see that negative post before they see your real Facebook page then they may not even look any further and you have now lost a customer.

What Should You Do Next?

It is highly recommended that you set up a monthly recurring task to search for your business on Facebook to sift through any potential unclaimed pages. If you identify one, Facebook allows you to merge or delete that page once you claim it! 

Completing this check is one step in the right direction to know how you are perceived online. If this is overwhelming then TracPoint can help! We see these things all the time and help businesses cleanup their online presence. The first step is being aware of what is out there.