In a couple of weeks, whether we like it or not, Facebook will be switching all Brand pages to the Timeline format. Having two Facebook pages (one for Charlene Chronicles and one for Metrowest Mamas, I decided to switch one over now and wait on the second one. That way, I can play around with my less popular Charlene Chronicles Brand page and learn the dos and don’ts before making the switch (albeit involuntarily) to Timeline for Metrowest Mamas.
There are many articles on the subject from Facebook experts that I definitely encourage anyone to Google and read. But here are three considerations I have gleamed from my research that I wanted to pass along.
What are the Sizes:
- For the Cover photo, the size should be 850px by 315px (wide by tall)
- For the navigation buttons, the size should be 110px by 74px (wide by tall)
- For your profile photo, the size should be 180px by 180px (wide by tall)
- Custom pages should be 810px wide. They used to be 520px.
What’s in the Cover:
There are some really clever covers out there (and businesses looking to ” help” you create the perfect cover), but creativity aside, there are things that you should NOT have in your cover (per Facebook rules).
- You should not have your website URL, email address, or other contact information that should be in your About section. (It is unclear at this point if it could also mean Twitter, Pinterest, Taglines, etc. so tread carefully here.)
- Any reference to any Facebook interface features – such as clever arrows or statements that the visitor should “Like” your page.
- Any statement about deals, discounts or other price-related information.
- Any “Call to Action” to follow you, post, etc.
What about Fangate Pages:
You can no longer set a custom page that non fans are taken to on your Facebook page to encourage them to like you or to get coupons and other freebies. However, according to Facebook, this may be an oversight (or a change of position due to the large industry outcry) and this feature may be re-instated in some way. Thus, if this is essential for you, wait on transitioning your page to Timeline until necessary.
In the interim, you haven’t lost your custom fan gate page, it is just in the navigation bar, after the Photo box, and it gives us an opportunity to be creative. You can change the photo that appears for the app and you can rename the app to give a call to action. You can re-order the other apps you may have, so your YouTube or your Welcome page is more prominent. By no means am I a model for how it is done, but you can see what I mean by looking at my CharleneChronicles Facebook Page. Plus, if you haven’t done so already, change the Facebook landing page URL on your website. So when people click on your “Follow me on Facebook” button (like I have on the left side of your screen…hint, hint) you can direct that person to the “Fan-gate” page after all.
If you pay for an app that was your default landing page, you may want to visit that company’s website or give them a call to determine how they are handling the changes – including adjustments to custom page sizes (see above) and whether you have to do anything on your end to adjust or if it will be automatic. Because even though it may not be the default page, you still want the app, when a user decides to click on it, to be visually appealing and may need to change around the look to fit the new Timeline profile.
All in all, expect an interesting and bumpy ride as we all learn how this works, doesn’t work, new roll outs and best practices as we move forward as companies, brands and bloggers.
