Facebook Inc. has begun making its tools available to local businesses. A few months earlier, the social networking giant has started testing Pages as a possible platform for e-commerce, and subsequently, new features have been added to it so business owners may be able to effectively use the platform to interact with their customers and better promote the businesses.

Before, only the pages of celebrities and large-scale businesses get verified Pages on the social networking site. Now, Facebook Inc. is offering verified Pages to local businesses in several countries. A report from bizEDGE New Zealand says that Facebook will begin offering verified Pages for businesses in the United States, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Businesses with physical addresses can avail the offer. The verification badge is grey and will be visible on the page. Pages of celebrities, athletes and other prominent criteria have a blue badge that indicates verification.  The offer is a chance for local businesses to show that the Pages are legitimate and authentic. Having a verified Page indicates that the business is officially represented by the specific Page on Facebook and that it is not a poser Page.

Facebook is said to be extending the verified Pages offer to other countries soon. To verify a Page, click on Settings. Click on General and find Page Verification. From there, Facebook will ask for some important information such as contact details and the like. Then, it will provide the user with a verification code. Check out Facebook's Help Center for more details regarding the process. 

"We are expanding our Verified Pages programme to include local businesses for the first time," Facebook Pages product marketing manager Kirsten Bury said. He also added that by having a badge, users will be able to rest assured that they are interacting with the business' "official Facebook presence".