Facebook announce new business pages
Facebook announce new business page format
As a Facebook business page user you might have received yesterday, notification of changes to the the way that you will be able to interact with your business page:-
Facebook pages are getting an updated layout and several new features to help you engage with your fans. Here’s some of what you’ll be getting:
Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts A place to showcase photos along the top of your page A news feed for your page The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page
The new look can be trialled by clicking on the Preview button in the notification, if you’ve received it, and you’ll be given the option to upgrade early. However, all pages will automatically be upgraded on March 10 so it is advisable to check it out now and make sure everything is fully functional and in place beforehand.
New Facebook Pages Layout
New Facebook Pages Layout
New look/layout
The new page looks more like your personal profile which was recently updated.
With the new design, businesses can feature photos at the top of their pages beneath page name so make sure they are ones that promote your business to the best effect and also now highlight other business pages they connect with.
One of the most striking changes is the row of missing tabs used for navigation between various sections of the page.
The new format, however, maintains your custom tabs so welcome/landing pages are not effected. The only difference is that the navigation for them is now in left hand column, the rationale being that that is where most users would expect navigation to be.
What might cause some consternation for users who have setup custom landing pages eg a Welcome Page, for visitors not yet fans, is the width has been reduced and is now limited to 492px (the current width is 520px).
It doesn’t break the tabs but cuts it off to the narrower width on the right-hand side so adjustment to your FBML code to match.
Update: Facebook has, since writing, admitted that the width change is a bug and has already or will be fixed soon!
New Functionality
Some of the most interesting changes are in the way you can now interact with the page and with the rest of FB.
An criticism of the existing format was the limitations and ability to communicate interactively as a business in a similar way that an individual could.
The new format allows you to choose whether you interact as yourself or as your business entity by switching between the two, offering many of the same features eg liking other pages, commenting and posting and receiving notifications of fans activity on page.
Switching Profiles
Choosing and switching between profiles is easily done from your account drop-down in top right hand corner of interface.
These new features opens up far more marketing opportunities for business users to fully interact with potential customers.
But, with its growing userbase, socio-, geo- and demographic targeting, does it signify a change in the business model of Facebook itself in becoming more business friendly and moving away from its original friends and family focus?
