The New Facebook Pages

We’ve been hearing about the changes coming to Facebook and now they’re here! Those of us having both a personal profile and a Business Page had a double whammy trying to figure out what happened and where things went.

This post will focus on what’s new with Facebook Pages. I’ll first go through the various new  features and explain what they are and how to find and use them. Then, I have some great links further down from the Duct Tape Marketer and Mashable as well as a link to a Business Pages guide Facebook has published you can download.

Key New Features

• Enhanced Wall – this is a huge change and makes Facebook more ‘twitter-like’, according to many bloggers. This is the place you can post pithy & pertinent updates about what’s happening with your business. Big take-away: These messages are then streamed to your fan’s newsfeeds which means your messages and updates will be viewed by your fans without them having to visit your page. You can direct someone to click on a particular tab at your site to read about an upcoming event or special promotion you have.
• Tabs have been added – similar to the personal side of Facebook. Use them to organize and customize your site It’s rather like a mini-website. Have a video, picture, notes, events tab and keep content fresh. I believe sometime in the future, you will have the ability to name your tabs.
• Boxes – think of this as your very own customizable module. You can activate ‘Facebook Static FBML app, or use your own html skills here. You can add up to 10 boxes and use them for designing your own forms, etc. The boxes section also contains a Discussion area and Reviews – where your fans can post comments about a product, your site, or whatever. Your Favorites (pages you are a fan of), are also in this section.
• Stats for your review – Facebook gives you a page of stats relating to number of visits, people who have come and gone as a fan from your site.
• Facebook Pages are searchable and are indexed by search engines. Pages are also viewable without having to be logged into Facebook, but to interact with a page, you do need to be logged in. This isn’t a new feature, but worth noting.

Where Are the Pages?

You’re logged into Facebook and you want to find someone’s page (or even your own page)—but how do you get to them? I’ve seen several ask this question – both before and after the update. Here’s how:

Click on Public Profiles

1. Type the name of the page you’re looking for in the search box
2. If you are a fan of a page already, you will see the Public Profiles flag under your news feed from your home page. Click on that to be taken to the pages you are a fan of.
3. If You have a page either published or in the editing process, look down at the lower left hand corner when you’re logged into Facebook and click on the little facebook icon to be taken to your page for editing/updating, etc.
   

   click the little icon

Conclusion

I keep hearing stats—175 million on Facebook. When someone’s logged in, they spend an average of 20 minutes on the site. Why not build a page for your business and let your friends know about it?

If you decide to build or enhance your current page, you will be challenged. Things to think about include:

• how to keep your page fresh. It’s rather disappointing to visit a page that hasn’t been updated for months
• how to update your wall (and feed your friends and fan newsfeeds), without becoming annoying
• how to adjust page settings to allow for just the right amount of fan interaction

Resources

While researching this article, I came across two great articles and a guide by Facebook that you’ll want to read for yourself.

Duct Tape Marketing – Informative Blog article on Facebook pages

Mashable – great summary of what’s new with the Facebook pages

Facebook – I was excited to find this 10-page guide published by Facebook in pdf format. Feel free to download or share

Please post any tips or insights you’ve found while using Facebook pages!

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• February 27, 2009 -- Changes Coming to Facebook Business pages?