In March of 2009, Facebook made a few changes to the structure of their site impacting the differences between Fan Pages and Group Pages. The core change was how people can suggest or promote their pages. I hope this post helps to define when to use a Fan Page versus a Group Page.

FAN Pages:

Indexed by Google - Fan Pages are indexed by Google providing SEO benefits for any business looking to grow their digital footprint.

Adding Applications – Fan Pages allow the use of adding Applications or widgets that can enhance the user interaction with Fans and a Business. A complete list of applications can be found in the Facebook Application Directory.

Strategic Updates – Fan Page updates can be sent by age, gender and location by text with hyperlinks included.

Homepage Streaming Messages – Fan Page updates will show as notifications on a fan’s homepage, but also will display as a status update in the friend stream on the homepage.

Facebook Insights – Internal Facebook system providing metrics for number of fans, unique visitors, number of reviews and total interactions.

Suggest to Friends – this new feature allows Fans to send a message to friend to suggest becoming a Fan. This was a key feature change in March making Fan pages more viral.

Group Pages:

Group participation – Group pages can be Open, Closed, or Secret offering various levels of participation.

Bulk Invitations – Group pages can send bulk emails to friends inviting to become a member.

Threaded Conversations – Group pages offer conversations in a threaded format providing for a more organized process of publishing information about certain topic or issue.

Officers – Groups pages allow the addition of offices which can be a measure of goodwill or just for community building fun.

Not indexed by search engines.

No Applications can be used to enhance page.

Summary

Facebook Pages are primarily used to promote businesses, non-profits, celebrities and artists to Facebook users. Facebook states that “only the official representative of an artist, business, or brand may create a Facebook Page.” In other words, Pages are intended to be an “official” web page for your organization on Facebook.

Facebook Groups can be created by anyone interested in promoting and organizing people around a specific interests or cause. All members of a group have the ability to contribute content that appears on the Group’s wall - photos, videos, discussion threads.

If you have already created a Group page and want to create a Fan page, it’s not too late. In fact you can send a bulk message to your Group to let them know and urge them to become a Fan! Before you make your Fan page, here is an article on The Five Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page.