Facebook rolled out changes to its Business Page that has some page admins scrambling to find Tabs and figure out how to post RSS feeds to the Wall. One of the biggest changes in the March Business Page roll-out is that a company can now interact with other business Pages and businesses can now link to each other on Facebook.
The new layout also offers key design elements to better match Personal Pages. One improvement in design is that your Business Page no longer uses Tabs above the Wall (or your set Facebook landing page), but instead provides those links to the left of the page directly underneath your Profile picture. This means your Facebook fans can now navigate your business Page in the same way they do their own personal profile and their friend’s profile pages.
New Admin options also make it easier than ever to control spam on your wall and to digest your Daily Insights.
Some businesses still use the older Fan Page or Group Page to back their business on Facebook. By now, however, everyone should be rolling along with Facebook changes and switching to the Business Page layout.
3 Tips to Customize Your Facebook Business Page in the New LayoutThe most recent updates to the Facebook Business Page went live on March 1; options to preview and test functionality were announced in February.
In exploring the new layout of several Facebook Business Pages I've worked on, I narrowed down the list in this article to focus is on quick-and-easy changes that are important -- but not necessarily intuitive -- edits to make on your Facebook Business Page.
Where is my RSS, and why isn’t it on my wall?If you no longer see your own RSS feed displayed on your Facebook Wall, don’t panic! During the upgrade several RSS feed applications suffered a slight hiccup, so changes you made during the upgrade or shortly thereafter may not be visible right away.
Restoring (or adding) the RSS to the Facebook Business Page Wall is a quick and easy task. While most RSS apps offer similar features, the instructions below are for using the Social RSS application:
When you have your Business page opened in a browser click Edit Page. On the left-hand side choose Apps.NOTE: If you do not have Social RSS installed, click Browse more applications at the bottom of the app list. Search for Social RSS and add the application to your Business Page.Once you've added Social RSS, you can access three options:
- Go to App:lets you edit the app settings
- Edit Settings: customize the app and how it appears on your Business Page
- Link to this Tab: copy and paste the Facebook URL to your RSS feed In the Go to App settings you will provide the app with details about your RSS feed, including your site name, URL, feed URL, and options for how many items to show. One option you will see is Send to your Wall. Choose Yes if you want the RSS feed to automatically post to your Business page wall.
Note: If you encounter a problem or if you use an RSS app that does not support the option to post to Wall, have the RSS app post to Notes. Next, go find Notes in your app list and edit settings for Notes to Post to Wall. (e.g. send the RSS feed to Notes and publish Notes to your Wall).The last setting you should adjust is the Edit Settings for the Social RSS app. This allows you to rename the Tab for your feed -- a new feature for the app. The default Tab name is RSS/Blog. As you can see on the Small Business Computing Facebook Page, we have changed the RSS feed name to Small Business News. Another example is on the Webopedia Facebook Page where it shows as Term of the Day. Making this quick edit will help your Facebook fans better understand what you offer on your Business Page.Creating Relevant and Descriptive Facebook Tabs
As I mentioned earlier, one of the bigger changes to the Facebook Business Page layout was removing the Tab boxes from the top of the Wall (or landing page) and making those Tabs hyperlinks under your profile image. Now, Facebook users maneuver through Personal and Business Page profiles like a “mini-website” with the old Tabs being the new left-hand navigation for the Page.
Because easy navigation is so important, go into your Admin settings to edit and rename those Tabs so that they're more descriptive. Some Tabs will automatically default to show in this list, and you might also want to change the defaults so some apps are not clickable links under your profile picture. To edit this list you basically need to change the default settings for each application.
When you have your Business Page opened in a browser click Edit Page. On the left-hand side choose Apps.Each app in the list will have an Edit Settings link.From Edit Settings: this is where it can get a bit confusing. Not all apps display the same information in the Edit Settings tab. Some will show a box that indicates Profile: Tab (Add/Remove). The Add (or Added) selection indicates that this app is set to appear in your list of links. If it is already selected to appear, then you click (remove) if you don't want it in the list on your Facebook Business Page. Some apps allow you to change the Tab Name (as with Social RSS) from this Edit Settings tab. If the Tab Name edit option is not available from Edit Settings, you’ll need to go back to your main list of installed applications and choose Go to App instead. In the application settings you’ll find a box for specifying the Tab name (or title). Choose descriptive and interesting Tab titles to encourage fans to browse the different sections (options) on your Facebook Business Page. Using the Small Business Computing Facebook Page as an example, you can see the standard Tabs, like RSS/Blog and FBML have been renamed to Small Business News and Small Business Hot Topics. Add Images to Your Business PageAnother layout change to Business Pages has a row of images appearing above your Wall or landing page at the top of your Business Profile. This feature is also available on Personal Pages as the Photos of Me section. This area on your Business Page will highlight five images that are associated with your Business Page. If you don't have five images on your profile, then it’s time to find some eye-candy for your fans.
Making this edit is all about adding visual appeal and to give fans something to look at and click on. Certainly, nothing bad is going to happen if you don't upload at least five images -- but showing images that represent your business is better than the alternative: leaving empty gray boxes at the top of your Business Page.
Some examples of good images you can use include product shots, relevant stock photos, a logo or screenshot of your website -- anything goes. Photos that you have used as a profile picture, Wall Photos or any photo your Business Page has been tagged in will appear in this image area at the top of your Business Page.
These photos appear in the order of most recently tagged or added. Each image can be edited to include details and descriptions.
To hide a photo from displaying in this section you need to mouse-over the image and click the X that appears in the top-right corner. This only removes it from the main page view -- it will not delete the photo from your Album. To edit and add details to an image, click any image that appears in the Photos section at the top of your Business profile. It will open in a new image box. At the top of the image box, you'll see your photo on a black background with arrows to the right and left to scroll through the album. Near the bottom-right corner in this top-half black area you will also find icons to rotate the image. Below this image display section, on a white background you will see additional image options. Here you can tag people in the image. This pulls from your Personal Friend’s list -- not your Business fans. You can tag the image with your own Business Page name (but not other Business Pages). You can also edit the image description, add a caption or comment from this section in the image box. Using images on your Facebook Business Page can be a great way to open a conversation with your Page fans. For example if you show a new logo, be sure to ask fans what they think about the logo. This is also a great way to solicit feedback on products. You can also show the human side of your business by posting candid photos of staff, your offices, events you attend, and similar images. More Facebook Small Business Ecommerce TipsLooking to get a better handle on integrating Facebook into your small business ecommerce marketing plan? Try these Facebook tips and guides for small business ecommerce sites:
5 Facebook Apps for Small Business Ecommerce Sites3 Facebook Apps for eBay SellersHow to Add Facebook Like to Your Ecommerce Site How to Customize a Business Facebook Page with AppsVangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG
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