How to Audit Your Facebook Page in 5 Steps

Need to clean up your Facebook business page? Looking for a better way to manage your content?

In this article, you’ll discover how to review and update your Facebook business presence.

#1: Save a Full Record of Your Facebook Page Content

Before you begin reviewing content and engagement on your business page, create a complete record of your organization’s presence on Facebook. Exporting page content and activity is important when:

• Your organization needs an original record for legal or risk mitigation purposes
• Your team wants to review complete page activity for reporting purposes

Facebook gives you two options for downloading page content. If you need a visual record of your page, you can export an HTML file. But if you plan to import the data into another platform for analysis, you can export a JSON file.

Either way, it’s a good idea to download your page’s content and other activity regularly. You can export select weeks or months at a time, or you can download a complete record of all Facebook business page activity.

How to Export Facebook Page Content

If your organization’s Facebook page still uses the classic pages experience, the workflow is simple. Navigate to Your Page, open Settings, and go to the General tab in the left-hand sidebar. Click Download Page.

If your organization’s Facebook page has already switched to the new pages experience, you can export content if you have Facebook access. Open Facebook in a desktop browser and switch to your page.

Click your profile photo in the upper-right corner and select Settings & Privacy. Then select Settings from the menu. On the left-hand sidebar, click Privacy. From the Privacy menu, select Facebook Page Information.

To export a copy of your page, click the View link next to the Download Profile Information option.

Then choose the settings for the page export. By default, Facebook exports page data in HTML format but you can easily switch to JSON.

Facebook automatically exports high-quality files from your page. Keep in mind that high-quality media can cause the file size to be overly large. That means the download can take longer and the export can be more challenging to store.

If you’re only planning to export a few weeks or months, a high-quality export is probably a good choice. But if you plan to export your page’s entire history—including thousands of posts—consider choosing medium- or low-quality to streamline the process. Next, choose a timeframe and decide what to download.

By default, Facebook downloads everything related to your page—ranging from content and events to saved items and group engagement. It also exports your page’s Messenger history and collaborative posts.

Take a few minutes to review all of the options and uncheck anything you don’t want to export; that way, you’ll get only the data you need.

Then click the Request a Download button and wait for a notification that indicates the export is ready.

#2: Archive Outdated and Irrelevant Facebook Page Content

On Instagram, archiving content is already a relatively common practice. If you want to get your grid just right or if your brand is serious about creating the ideal aesthetic, you may have opted to archive some of your Instagram content. The Instagram app makes it easy to review and retrieve archived content.

But on Facebook, archiving is much less common, and the option isn’t as easy to find. Since Facebook pages don’t have the same aesthetic concerns or capabilities as Instagram accounts, archiving Facebook content may not even seem necessary.

So why should you archive Facebook content? Here are a few reasons to consider it:

• Some of the content on your page is outdated or irrelevant. To keep your page uncluttered and easy to navigate, you can archive content that no longer applies.
• Select posts and reels aren’t relevant now but you may need them again—such as when you relaunch a promotion. You can archive content that you plan to restore.
• Your organization is a government agency or another public institution that needs a record of social media content. Rather than deleting content, you can archive it.

It’s important to note that once you archive content from your Facebook business page, you can no longer access insights. Plan to export insights before archiving, or in a pinch, restore the content temporarily to view the original analytics.

How to Archive Facebook Page Content on Mobile

Archiving Facebook content can be tricky since the workflow currently appears only in the Facebook mobile app. To get started, open the app and switch to your organization’s Facebook page. Then navigate to your business page.

Go to the Posts tab and select a post you want to remove from the feed. Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner and select Move to Trash. You’ll see a notification confirming that the post will go from your page’s feed into the trash for 30 days.

To access the content you’ve removed from your Facebook page, go back to the page and tap the three dots to open the page menu. Then tap Archive. Here, you’ll see tabs for your page’s trash and archived stories.

Tap Trash to review the content you’ve removed. From here, you can tap to select one or more posts or reels. Then tap the Archive button in the lower-left corner. This action moves content from the trash—which is automatically deleted after 30 days—to an archive that preserves content.

When you archive rather than delete page content, you essentially keep a permanent record of it. That means you can still see the content exactly as it appeared in your feed, including the engagement it generated.

Archiving isn’t your only option. You can also select items to restore from the trash back to your Facebook page. Alternatively, you can tap the three dots in the lower-right corner to access the Delete button, which permanently removes the content from your account.

How to Archive Facebook Page Content on Desktop

Prefer to manage content on desktop? Open Facebook in a desktop browser and switch to your page. Navigate to your page and click the three dots to open your page menu. Select Story archive. Then use the left-hand sidebar menu to review items in the trash.

From this desktop interface, you can archive, trash, or restore removed items. But it’s important to note that you can’t currently remove items on desktop. When you open the menu for a post, the only relevant option you’ll see is Delete, which permanently removes the content from your account immediately.

#3: Hide Facebook Page Posts

It’s relatively easy to archive content that your team has posted on your Facebook business page. But what about posts that customers and followers have published to your page?

Ideally, customers and followers use Facebook’s visitor post feature to publish user-generated content or share what they’ve created or accomplished with your products and services. But if you find that Facebook users are sharing harmful or spammy content to your page, you can hide select visitor posts.

How to Hide Facebook Page Content

If your page has already switched to the new pages experience, you probably won’t see any visitor posts on your page, even if your page has received some in the past. The Community tab doesn’t currently display for new pages, making visitor posts inaccessible.

If your page still uses the classic pages experience, you can use the More drop-down menu to access the Community tab. Here, you can review visitor posts and hide content as necessary.

How to Prevent Visitor Posts on Your Facebook Business Page

By default, Facebook pages typically allow visitor posts. But if users repeatedly share harmful or spammy content to your page, you can switch off the option to allow visitor posts.

For new pages, open settings and go to the Page and Tagging tab. Click the button next to Who Can Post on Your Page? and change it from Everyone to Only Me. You can also turn off the review option from this tab.

For classic pages, open page settings and go to the General tab. Click the Edit button next to Visitor Posts and choose whether you want to allow or disable visitor posts. Note that you can allow visitor posts without allowing photo or video posts.

If you need to disable reviews for your page to prevent unwanted visitor content, go to the Templates and Tabs tab. Then switch off the Reviews tab.

#4: Hide Harmful or Abusive Facebook Page Comments

Ideally, the comments on your Facebook page content focus primarily on positive engagement, genuine questions, and constructive criticism. In most cases, it’s best to leave these comments as-is and respond to them as quickly as possible.

But what about off-topic engagement, abusive comments, or replies that could harm your brand reputation? Work with your team to develop a policy for responding to this type of engagement, and then use it consistently.

In many cases, it’s a good idea to hide abusive or harmful comments to prevent others from reacting. Although you also have the option to delete comments, hiding them is often a better choice. When you hide comments, the original poster won’t know that you did and you’ll have a record of their engagement.

How to Hide Facebook Page Comments

To hide a comment on Facebook, click the Hide link under the comment.

In Business Suite, click the three dots next to the comment and select Hide comment. They’ll still be visible to your team and the original poster but no one else will see them. In addition, you can unhide them at any time.

How to Moderate Facebook Page Comments

If your Facebook business page regularly receives abusive or harmful comments, you can save time by moderating them automatically. For new pages, go to the professional dashboard and select Moderation Assist.

Then select criteria for hiding comments. For example, you can hide comments from users with new accounts or no profile picture. You can also hide comments that include links, images, videos, or profanity.

#5: Merge Multiple Facebook Business Pages

Managing an organization’s Facebook presence isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. Business interests, marketing goals, and management priorities can change over time, which can result in a disjointed Facebook strategy.

For example, your organization may have opted to create multiple Facebook pages to represent subsidiaries, flagship products, or other purposes. Or various departments may have established unique Facebook pages without developing a long-term marketing plan.

Over time, your organization may have decided that keeping these pages separate creates more work and compromises results. You may have also found that having multiple pages creates confusion among your customer base. If having multiple business pages creates problems for your team and customer base, it’s a good idea to merge the two.

But before you can merge two Facebook business pages, you have to make it clear that the two are essentially identical. In fact, both Facebook pages must have the same name and the same purpose. Here are a few other guidelines to keep in mind:

• Both pages must be either classic pages or use the new pages experience.
• Neither page can be a global page.
• You can’t merge a verified page into an unverified page.
• You can’t merge from the primary page in a Business Manager account.

How to Change the Name of Your Facebook Page

If the two pages you plan to merge don’t yet have identical names, you’ll need to update one or both of them first. Note that this process can take several days so plan to start it well in advance of when you need to merge the pages.

For a classic page, open the page’s settings and go to Page Info. Then enter the new page name. You’ll see a pop-up that asks you to confirm the name change. Click the Request Change button.

For a page using the new pages experience, switch to your page and go to page settings. Next, go to your page name, click the Edit button and update the name. Click Review Change to process the name update.

How to Merge Facebook Business Pages

Once your pages have identical names and purposes, you can start the process of merging them. It’s a good idea to publish a series of posts to inform followers about the change. That way, you can minimize confusion and combine the audiences successfully.

When Facebook merges two pages, it essentially keeps one intact and deletes the other. The audience from the deleted page is automatically shifted over to the intact page. Before merging, it’s a good idea to create a complete archive of the page you plan to delete. That way, you can save a copy of the content, engagement, and insights.

Then use the Facebook Business Manager merge request form to combine the two pages.

Pay close attention when designating the source and destination pages. The source page and its content are automatically deleted after the merge, but the audience gets shifted over to the destination page.

If one or more of the pages isn’t in Business Manager, you can request to merge the two via page settings. For classic pages, you can find the option on the General tab. For new pages, you can find the option on the New Pages Experience tab. Note that you’ll need to submit a request, which may take a few days to process.

Conclusion

It’s easy to let your Facebook business page evolve organically. But by taking key steps like removing irrelevant content and combining pages, you can improve your organization’s online presence, maintain a strong brand reputation, and successfully guide customers toward current promotions.

---

Stay Up-to-Date: Get New Marketing Articles Delivered to You!

Don't miss out on upcoming social media marketing insights and strategies! Sign up to receive notifications when we publish new articles on Social Media Examiner. Our expertly crafted content will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your business. Click the link below to sign up now and receive our annual report!