Facebook Pages Get a Facelift!

So if you have a business Page (not a profile) set up on Facebook, have you noticed the new look? Facebook has FINALLY done what it should have a long time ago: made Facebook Pages functional!

I've long had a love/hate relationship with Pages. They are great for businesses and offer a lot of cool functionality and interactivity, but they were a bear to promote! Facebook did not allow any actions taken by the Page administrator to show up in any newsfeeds, which is what makes Facebook work so well.

Finally, with the new look that matches the redesign of profiles last year, actions taken by the Page's admin should now show up in "fans" newsfeeds. It's not happening yet, but they promise it will soon. I bet everyone will soon see their fan numbers increase, as fans can now follow activity on your Page without having to go there to see it.

Now, what about the new look? I like it too. It helps better organize the information. A big complaint when they redesigned the profiles was that some of the key information like which Pages you're a fan of, information, photos, etc. got lost on the new tabs that they created. They did not sit on the home page, but instead you had to select a tab to see them.

To get around that complaint, Facebook has made it so you can change what tab new visitors to your Page see first. So you can choose the Info tab or the Wall tab or even the Boxes tab, where most of your applications reside. Each tab also has its own URL, so you can link directly to the tab from elsewhere as well.

THANK YOU FACEBOOK! I've been waiting for this for a LONG time!

Let me know what you think of the new Pages and if you have any quick questions I can answer. Shoot them to me on Twitter @webprgirl and if you want, check out the Charleston Facebook Page I run for an example of what you can do. Here's also a guide to the new pages from Facebook.

Tags: TMMoney&Business, facebook, tmfc

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Comment by Lyn Mettler on March 16, 2009 at 6:03pm: Here's my take on groups versus pages. I really like pages for businesses, especially now with the changes they've made. Groups just don't have much functionality - you can't link your blog or add all the cool applications which is what makes Facebook pages worth going to. Groups were good because their stuff showed up in newsfeeds and it's easier to invite people to join, but they are limited in functionality. I think of groups as mainly for people who share a similar interest and who want to dialogue back and forth about that.

As far as your blog, I would not set up a page just for it. I think that is going to be tough to draw traffic there and what's really the advantage of going there versus your blog. Use your profile instead to promote your blog, add a link to new posts, note a new post in your status update, share it with friends, etc.

Comment by Danielle from Kids Meal Crowd (uppervalleymom) on March 16, 2009 at 2:08pm: I'm a new fan of the Charleston page as well! I wonder if it is worth it to set up a page related to my blog or to just stick with the Networked Blogs thing. I also help to admin a Facebook Group page for the organization I work for. Does anyone have a good list of pros & cons of using a group vs. a page? I think we went with a group in order to send out messages to all members and host events...but are those both things that will happen with a page people can become a fan of? Any advice appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Comment by Pati Slay on March 16, 2009 at 6:15am: Lyn, thanks for all the updates. The guide will come in handy too.

Comment by Lea Curtes-Swenson on March 14, 2009 at 8:27am: I also just became a fan on your Charleston page. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us, Lyn!

Comment by Lyn Mettler on March 14, 2009 at 7:39am: Great. Thanks for fanning us! I will return the favor. :)

Comment by Pat Graham-Block on March 14, 2009 at 6:57am: I am really liking the new Facebook Pages! (I love Charleston and just became a Fan of yours!) :-)

Here is the page for my online baby boutique:
Simply Unique Baby Gifts

I am still in the process of setting up and appreciate all the ideas and tips I am gaining from you in this post, so thank you!

Pat

Comment by Lyn Mettler on March 12, 2009 at 8:30pm: Ok, looked into the link thing. They have hidden it. Go to your wall and click in the box like you're going to type something and up pops the link option!

ItsAngel, I think Facebook has automatically switched everyone's over by now. If not, you can manually do that.

Comment by DuckDuckMom on March 11, 2009 at 9:45pm: Hi Lyn! Great post and Facebook page. On our Facebook Page, we lost the ability to Post a Link. We also don't have the Links box in our Boxes tab. I noticed that you still have this feature. Did you have to do anything to maintain that? Thank you!

Comment by itsangel on March 11, 2009 at 7:14am: I understand that they will be updating the regular pages as well, I am looking forward to that. I haven't noticed a change on the Charleston info pages or the the Park Angel pages aren't changed yet, arej ust some of them changed?