Facebook Changes Coming for Business Pages
Facebook is making some widespread changes to their Pages, making business pages behave and appear more like personal pages. By and large, the changes are positive. Page admins can voluntarily opt-in early or wait until March 10 when Facebook will automatically upgrade each Page. Bear in mind, once you opt-in early, you cannot go back to the old style. Facebook has made a number of enhancements, including:
- Pages can now leave comments on other pages. This change has big implications – it really allows businesses to begin interacting on a personal level throughout Facebook. We expect many Pages will see their fan numbers increase. However, as of this time, Pages can’t post on user profiles.
- Page administrators have the option of posting either as their self or as their Page. We’ve been clamoring for the capability to do this. We like the option of being able to comment as a person or as a brand.
- Five thumbnail photos now appear across the top of the Page. Admins can choose which images they want to show. So, you can do things like have headshots of your staff, product images, and more. The photos randomly rotate amongst what you choose. So, unlike personal profiles, you cannot display photos in sequential order.
- Tabs have been removed and now appear as links on the left hand side of the Page, just like on personal profiles. What we like is the menu permits longer tab names, which means developers can use longer, more descriptive titles for their applications.
- There are also a number of minor changes including being able to spotlight favorite pages and page owners. The main profile picture has also been reduced slightly in size from 200 x 600 pixels to 180 x 540. Admins can choose to receive email alerts when a fan leaves a comment or posts on the wall. And admins can keep up with the other pages they like through a newsfeed just for their page.
On the whole, the changes are positive. We don’t like that the Information box is no longer next to the Wall. It’s been removed. We’d like to see it come back so that first-time visitors to the Page have some information about the business. If you want to see a new Page in action, check out ours. If you’ve begun using the new style, what do you think?