Facebook profile pages are still growing with more and more people of all age groups joining the social networking giant.

If you are someone who would like to protect some of their information, you should be no stranger to the privacy settings of Facebook, which helps hide, restrict and limit the viewing capabilities of the different networks you may be a part of.

If you are trying to hide your Facebook profile or make it private, there are settings to explore that can help make you invisible to anyone except for friends so you can save yourself some embarrassing moments.

The first step is to log into your Facebook profile using the login on the main page in the top right unless you are already signed in.

Next, locate the Account button in the top right hand corner and choose the Privacy Settings link.

In the middle of the page towards the top, look for the option to View Settings.? Click on that to start customizing your privacy control settings.

On this page, I like to choose to set this to “Friends Only” as it only lets people that you approve and know to view your profile, send you friend requests, see your basic information, see who else you are friends with…etc.? It helps minimize and completely stop unwanted friend requests or the ability for people to search and find out who you are even if they are outside of your network or have not been approved as a Friend by you.

After, navigate back to the Privacy Settings page and click down to find the Customized Settings link.

Once in the customized settings option, be sure to go over each field and set them to “Friends Only” so that, once again, you are only allowing approved members that you designate.

There are more settings below, so continue to scroll and reach the end of the page before you finish.? Make sure you do not check to do everything as “Only Me” because then you will remove the ability for friends to post on your wall or for friends to even see certain information.

After that is done, go back to the Privacy Settings page one last time and look towards the bottom for Apps and Websites.? This is for all those 3rd party apps you may have installed or let on your Facebook page, which is another security leak and needs to be closed off.

On the Apps and Websites page, the last two links are the most important.? Be sure to click these links and verify that they are turned off!? The first will block the ability for websites to access your interest and market towards them with the use of advertisements and the second will block your profile from being displayed and indexed by search engines that pop up when someone searches your name (companies, friends, family members…anyone who wants to check out your internet footprint!).

Once those settings are completely changed, you should feel a bit more relaxed as your profile and internet information are much more private now and more protected with the new Facebook Privacy Settings.