How To Set Up a Facebook Page for Your School

 

*UPDATED MARCH 2023*

Many schools are hesitant about setting up a Facebook page, as they think they might get negative comments and feedback, and they are concerned about the privacy and security of their staff and students. So I am going to show you how to address these issues when setting up your Facebook page. You can either watch the YouTube video below, or follow the step by step instructions below the video.

 

 

Using a Personal Facebook Account

You will firstly need a personal Facebook account that is logged in to be able to do this, but don’t worry they aren’t connected in any way so nobody will be able to see that your personal account is linked to the page you will create.

I do not advise creating a personal account specifically to use for your school, as Facebook will consider this to be a fake account and may close your account, or prevent you from using Facebook paid adverts in future.

Creating The Page

Once you are on your personal Facebook homepage, go to See All on the left hand side menu, then Create Page.

  • Now you can name your Page with your school’s name.
  • Then select what category it falls under. You can write a short description of your school – remember to highlight your schools’ strengths and unique selling point here.
  • Then click “create page”.
  • You will then be prompted to add a profile picture and a cover photo to finish your page for now.
  • It’s best to use the school’s logo for this as it’s easy to recognise for the intended audience, especially if they have seen this on other social media platforms.

You can upload a cover photo directly to your Facebook page, but if the photo needs resizing or you would like to add text to it, you can use Canva to do this. Canva is a free and easy tool to use when creating images for pages like this.

Using Canva to Create a Cover Image

You will need to create an account in Canva or log in with your Facebook or Google account.

  • Simply type in “Facebook cover” in the search bar and click on the blank box.
  • You can now choose a stock photo from Canva, a template, or of course upload one of your own images.
  • Now you can alter your image to fit it to the template.
  • To add text just simply click the text icon on the left-hand tool bar. You can select change the font or colour of the text too.
  • When you have finished creating your image, you need to download the file as either a JPEG or a PNG for Facebook. To do this click the share button at the top right, then go down to Download.

Once downloaded go back into your unfinished Facebook page and upload it as your cover image, where you can reposition it to fit the box. You can preview what your page will look like on mobile and on desktop too.

Completing Your Page Info

Next, we are going to complete the page’s identity information section, to help people gain more details and answer questions about the page.

  • On the left-hand side tool bar is where you can find everything to do with the pages settings and security information.
  • Open the Settings tab, and you can create a username, something easy to find and that is relevant to your school. This will create a unique URL which is much easier for others to find.

Below this is the Privacy Tab, where you can set your messaging options.

The next menu is your Facebook page information, where you can delete your Page if you need to.

Security Settings on Facebook

  • On the Page and Tagging Tab you can choose who can post on your Page. If you are concerned about security, you can set this so that only you can post.
  • You can switch your Reviews on an off here, so if you have any negative reviews you could switch these off.
  • You can also switch on reviewing posts that you are tagged in before they are posted on your page.
  • Here you can switch on notifications when people follow, like or comment on your posts.
  • On the Blocking tab you can block individuals or pages if they are making negative comments on your page.

Page Roles

It is important to have several people who are able to access your Facebook Page in case of illness or long term absence. To add colleagues to your Facebook page, go to Settings, then New Pages Experience, then Page Access. Click Add New to add colleagues.

Connecting Other Social Media Platforms

You can connect other social media platforms to your Facebook page. This would enable you to post directly to Facebook from Instagram if you want.

You can also add a Whatsapp account if you want people to contact you via Whatsapp.

Insights into Your Facebook Page

From the Professional Dashboard you can see the Insights into how many people are viewing and engaging with your posts.

I run regular courses on social media marketing for schools so please check out my website or call or email me for further details.

If you would like to learn more about how to use Instagram to market your school, details of our Social Media Marketing for Schools training and workshops are here.