Earlier this month, Facebook announced that they would be rolling out a new look for Facebook Pages. As with many of the updates Facebook has announced, this has people up in arms about how it will impact their business and brand Pages on Facebook. The truth is, that even though this new layout is designed to make Pages more streamlined, accessible and effective (it’s actually very similarly laid out to a Facebook Profile), it is still change, and change is scary. Fortunately for you, we have a break down of how this new layout will look and how it will impact your page. Get to reading because the new layout will roll out before you know it.
Overview
Below is what the new Facebook layout looks like for Pages. You may notice that it’s far more similar to the way your personal Profile is laid out than the way Pages were previously laid out. The first thing I noticed is the disappearance of the Admin dashboard – something that took up an incredible amount of space on the screen. But, don’t worry, the information hasn’t disappeared. More on that in a moment.
Image from Facebook for Business
Posting
As you can see, the new layout has all posts and posting options located on the right-hand column. According to the Facebook for Business blog, “The right-side column of your timeline now displays all your Page’s posts. This one-column display means that all of your posts will appear consistently on your Page and in News Feed.” This, in theory, should make it easier for your fans to see all of your content in one place.
Image from Facebook for Business
Information
Prior to this new layout, to find a business’ information you had to click “About” — which was kind of one step too many for a lazy person (i.e., everyone on the internet). The new layout allows for people to access all of your information, including telephone number, website and map (if applicable) right there on the right hand side. As you can see in the image below, all of the details any of your fans may need are above the fold and easily accessible.
Admin Access
I told you we’d talk more about this. In the previous version of Pages, the admin dashboard took up the majority of the screen anytime you went to a page you were an admin on. This was fine, albeit cumbersome and slightly chaotic. This new layout has streamlined all of your administrative access while cleaning up the look of the page. As you’ll notice, everything you would want as a Pages manager is easy to access from the top left and top right of your page without taking up so much room. It’s here, in these sections, that you can find your activity and review insights, change your settings, build your audience through promotion or invitations and review your ads, notifications and messages.
Image from Facebook for Business
Tabs, Photos and Videos
This was (and probably still is) the greatest concern for those who have come to rely on using various Facebook Apps to customize their page, run promotions and provide additional information. Fear not, fellow Facebook junkies, your apps aren’t going anywhere. In addition to being able to access all of your apps under the “More” section just beneath the cover photo, all apps will be accessible through the left-hand column.
In addition to the apps — so any tab you have through Facebook or a third party platform like ShortStack or Viral Heat — your photos and videos will all appear in the left-hand column of your Facebook page. This is actually, in a lot of ways, an opportunity for brands to beef up their visual presence and video game on Facebook. If you haven’t explored the video and photo sharing options on Facebook, now is the time.
Image from Facebook for Business
Lagniappe
There are a few more features included in this Facebook update that I like to call “lagniappe” — things we weren’t expecting, but we’re glad to see. One thing about the new Page layout, which is a bit of a throwback to an earlier version of the Facebook Page, is the inclusion of Likes (both the other Pages you as a Page have liked, as well as the Pages your Fans also like — make sense?) in the layout. These options didn’t go away with the last Page update, but they were not as visible. In this new version they take a step forward, if you will, and are more easily accessible. This allows people on your page to a) see Pages that are similar to yours and what your Fans also Like, as well as b) the Pages you as a brand are affiliated with. You can choose which Pages show up in the “Likes” section. For example, if you’re Mashable, you’d want the “Likes” section to feature the other Mashable pages (i.e., Mashable Tech).
Another little bit of lagniappe, that I am so glad to see, is the Explore option between the two Likes features. This is basically Facebook’s Graph Search at your fingertips and it is so freaking cool. Through the Explore option you can see a variety of things that relate to your company. For example, on the New Orleans Audi Facebook Page, the Explore options include Automotive Consultants Liked by my Friends and Automotive Consultants Liked by New Orleans Residents but the Explore options on the Tales of the Cocktail Facebook Page are Events Liked by my Friends.
The explore option should, in theory, encourage people to find new things similar to their current interests, and should be an interesting addition to the Facebook Page layout.
Image from Facebook for Business
It will be interesting to see how the new layout, especially the Explore option, impacts Facebook Pages, if at all. The idea behind the change in the layout is to make it easier, more user friendly and make information more accessible — and I think the change achieves those goals. Let us know what you think!
Still have questions? The Facebook for Businesses Blog has posted a few answers to the frequently asked questions about the new Facebook Page layout. And, of course, you can always contact FSC Interactive for additional information or consulting