How to Claim a Facebook Business Page

If you aren’t living under a rock, then you probably know what a Facebook business page is and why you need a Facebook page for your business. Unfortunately, as easy as it sounds to create a Facebook business page and to promote yourself on Facebook, some small but annoying problems can sometimes slow you down. One of those problems is claiming an unwanted or unmanaged Facebook page that already exists. If you have an unclaimed or unmanaged Facebook page for your business, then this post is for you!

It’s a big myth that Facebook pages can’t be claimed or that it’s impossible to take control of a Facebook page that’s for your business but that you don’t have ownership of. The good news is that Facebook has put systems in place to make recovering or claiming a Facebook page possible. Here’s why you might need to take control of your Facebook business page and how to do it.

Why You Need to Claim a Facebook Business Page

When it comes to your business’s Facebook page, the owner or someone closely affiliated with the company should have access or ownership to the Facebook page at all times. However, sometimes something goes wrong, and the business no longer has control of their Facebook page or they’ve found a page representing their business that they don’t manage. This is where being able to claim a Facebook Business Page comes in handy. Some common causes of this scenario are:

• Someone who used to work at the business created the page but didn’t share ownership before they left
• People used Facebook to “check in” to your business location even without you having ever creating a Facebook page. This results in an unmanaged Facebook page being automatically created.
• The page was created on an old Facebook account that no one has access to anymore
• Multiple Facebook pages were created for the business some time ago

These situations are rare but do happen and can be annoying to resolve. If you don’t know about Facebook’s claim a page feature, it can seem impossible to claim your business page. In this post we’ll dive deeper and explain step by step how to claim a Facebook page you don’t already manage.

Related: Facebook Marketing for Small Business Owners

How To Claim a Facebook Business Page

Before getting started on attempting to claim your Facebook page, it’s important to first confirm that the page you’re looking at is actually an “unmanaged” page that you can claim. This can be seen on both a mobile device and a desktop/laptop as shown in the following examples. On a mobile device, the “Unofficial Page” text isn’t shown but the “Is this your business?” button is visible in the menu drop down after tapping the three dots on the right.

If you look below and to the right of the cover image, you should see a bit of text stating “unofficial page” and “Is this your business?” as shown in the example below:

Once you confirm that the page you’d like to claim is an unofficial and unmanaged page, take the following steps to claim your Facebook page.

Step 1: Click “Is this your business?”

Step 2: Merge or Claim the Facebook Page

Once you click “Is this your business?” a popup should appear with instructions on choosing whether you’d like to merge this unmanaged page with your official page or if you’d like to claim and verify this page as your own.

What you choose depends on if you already have a Facebook page. If you already have a Facebook page for the same business, select the merge option. If you don’t have a Facebook page for your business, choose claim and verify to take control of the page. After choosing an option, click continue.

Step 3: Follow the Instructions

Depending on which option you selected at this point, Facebook will automatically show you how to verify or merge your unmanaged Facebook page. Merging will automatically attempt to sync up with the duplicate or similar business page. Verifying will ask for your personal information to verify that you are indeed the appropriate owner for the business page.

Once you’ve successfully claimed or merged your unmanaged Facebook page, you’ll want to look into optimizing your Facebook page for success. Facebook is a powerful marketing tool when properly utilized. Small businesses should take the time to check to see that they have control of all of their Facebook pages and to make sure they are active on the platform with a well organized page.

For more information on improving your Facebook page and increasing your marketing success, check out our free guide on Facebook marketing for small business owners. Otherwise, we highly encourage you to comment below with any issues, concerns, or questions you might have in regards to getting the most out of or claiming your Facebook page.