Getting Your Business Found Without Grey Facebook Badges

Up until October 28, 2019, Facebook Business Pages displayed a grey check mark badge indicating that the Page was being managed by a genuine business. These are not to be confused with blue verification badges, which denote public figures and major brands and organizations. Grey Badges are focused on small and local businesses, and tell customers that there has been a verified person and business associated with the Facebook Business Page.  

What did Grey Facebook Verification Badges do for a business?

Facebook Business Pages with either a grey or blue verification badge would almost automatically be pushed to the top of Facebook search results for related terms, while also supporting Google Search rank, making it a no-brainer for a business to request its own verification badge. The criteria for acquiring a grey verification badge, however, was very basic: submit a piece of government-issued ID, a brief introduction about your business, and reasons why you feel it should be verified. 

After that, owners of verified Facebook Business Pages weren't held accountable to any criteria in order to maintain their Grey Badge, allowing business owners to essentially set and forget. This meant their Business Page could continue to take priority in search results even if they hadn't completed all of their business information, didn’t have a social media strategy in place, or provided no real value to users. 

How do businesses get found on Facebook without Grey Verification Badges?

Facebook notified Business Page owners that Grey Badges would be removed as of October 28, 2019, in an effort to improve user experience. A representative from Facebook stated that the goal was to “focus on other ways for businesses to show their authenticity on Facebook.” What this really means is that Facebook search results are aiming to prioritize Business Pages in search results according to their overall activity and contribution to the Facebook community vs whether they simply took a step to get verified. 

In order to be deemed useful enough to users to rank in Facebook search results, and compete with other similar Facebook Business Pages, Business Page owners now need to have completed all areas of their business profile, and employ a strategy to share consistent, engaging content - it’s almost like SEO for social media.

Competing in Facebook Search Results with Identity.Business

Having a complete Facebook Business Page and regular posting will help you get listed in Facebook search results, but how you execute these important items is what will help you compete with other Business Pages in your business category. That said, implementing a competitive Facebook Business strategy can be overwhelming and time-consuming - that’s where Xi Digital comes in.

Identity.Business - a new digital marketing service by Xi Digital - does the work of strategically building your Facebook Business Page around the search behaviours and preferences of your target demographic, while our Social Media Marketing Services execute monthly social media strategies based on best practices for your industry and optimal deployment times for maximum engagement. 

A fully optimized Facebook Business Page by Identity.Business leverages a carefully researched keyword and posting strategy to signal to Facebook the authenticity and activity of your business. Additionally, our properly optimized Facebook Business Pages can also rank in Google search results, giving you double exposure from one compelling business profile. 

Click to learn more about how Xi Digital’s Identity.Business Experts can maximize your brand’s exposure on Facebook, and Google, or contact us to get started on your custom Social Media Marketing Strategy.