Aug 09

Facebook Page Changes: Removing Boxes & Adjusting Tab Width

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

Beginning on August 23rd, Facebook will be removing application boxes and reducing the width of application tabs. These changes were announced back in October of last year, and after months of delays, it looks like Facebook is ready to roll out these new changes.

According to Facebook’s Developer Blog, below are the details of the changes:

  • Boxes. We will notify users via messaging in profile boxes and in the Help Center that the “Boxes” tab, boxes on profiles and Pages, and application info sections will be going away.
  • Application Tabs. Next week, we will give Page admins the ability to preview their custom tabs in the new 520 pixel width so they can modify their layouts as needed. All profile and Page tabs will be resized automatically beginning the week of August 23.

This news is important to developers and admins that manage Facebook Pages. It’s important to be ready for these adjustments and avoid elements of your Facebook Page being broken.

Tagged with: •
Aug 04

New Insights Integrate Into Facebook Pages

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

At the f8 developer conference earlier this year, Facebook announced that they would be improving the analytics reporting for Fan Pages. The new Insights product was made available at facebook.com/insights – but as of this week it has finally been integrated into Fan Pages and should be visible to all Page admins.

The new version of the Insights dashboard has several new features that weren’t available previously, including analytics on your Page’s tabs, referral sources, and the ability to track Facebook sharing and Likes on your own blog or website.

There have been several updates to Facebook Pages recently, including the update that will reduce the size of custom tabs. It makes sense for Facebook to give Pages more attention, especially as more and more brands are utilizing Pages to market to their fans.

Tagged with: • •
Aug 03

Facebook tabs about to get smaller for pages

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

If you’re developing custom tabs for Facebook Pages, you’ll want to be sure to design them at a width of 520 pixels, as the change from 760 pixels to 520 pixels is about to go into effect. According to Inside Facebook, the change is expected to happen during the second week in August, or so.

Back in October, Facebook made the announcement on their Platform Roadmap that the dimensions of custom tabs would be changing from 760 to 520 in early 2010. However, that date has been pushed back several times, probably due to the fact that Facebook is still trying to get the word out about the size change.

Why is Facebook shrinking custom tabs on Facebook Pages? Facebook has yet to provide an explanation for the change, but I think it’s so that Facebook Pages will be easily seen on a mobile device. Most Pages have already converted their custom tabs to 520 pixels. Below is an example of a custom tab at 520 pixels from the Starbucks Facebook Page.

Tagged with: • •
Jul 26

When is the best time to post content on Facebook?

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

This is a common question and one I’m always trying to get a good answer to as I post content for myself and on behalf of clients. According to a report from Dan Zarrella (who has a great website covering social stats/trends), the best time to get content shared on Facebook is during the weekend. This finding is not a total surprise as most companies block Facebook and Twitter from their employees.

From my experience, I’ve had some success posting content during the week, particularly later in the day between 7 PM EST and 10 PM EST. This allows those users who couldn’t access Facebook during the day and those on the west coast the opportunity to see the content. I’ve noticed several brands posting content very early in the morning, which almost guarantees none of the fans on the west coast will have a chance to view or even share the content.

What’s your experience with posting content on Facebook? Do you see more activity during the week or on the weekend?

Tagged with: • •
Jul 07

What you see on Facebook [STUDY]

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

A recent study (published by Mulley Communications) revealed some interesting results regarding the eye patterns of Facebook users. Using eye-tracking technology, the eye movements of participants were tracked as they looked at their Facebook news feed, profiles, and fan Pages. Results of the report revealed that advertising on Facebook works, especially with proper targeting. Here’s a video on how Facebook ads work.

From the study, a total of 71% of the users looked at advertisements on their Profile pages while 31% of the users looked at advertisements on their news feed (i.e., on the Facebook homepage). However, when it comes to Page updates versus advertisements, users pay more attention (53% vs. 31%) to page updates in their news feed rather than ads on the side of the wall.

What do you think of these results from the study? Do you pay attention to ads on Facebook? Are you more likely to pay attention to a wall post that appears in your newsfeed versus an ad on the right side of the page?

Tagged with: • • •
Jul 06

Facebook Pages getting more exposure

By Josh Martin Facebook, Social Media View Comments

Did you know, that Facebook hosts over 1.6 million active Facebook Pages (also known as Fan Pages). These Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans (and growing). Facebook has taken notice to the tremendous popularity of Pages and have given them increased exposure. One of the ways has been through the Suggestions box located in the right column of the home page. As more and more of your friends like brands, celebrities, etc., you may see them suggested to you in the Suggestions box.

Facebook has recently released a new feature that automatically suggests Facebook Pages for new users to “Like” when they are creating their profile. This step called “Choose your interests” is the second step when a new user completes their profile.

As an admin of a several Pages, I’ve noticed a significant increase in fans over the past few days (more so than usual). I speculate that these suggestions/recommendations that Facebook is providing is the cause of the jump in fans.

On one hand, as a marketer, I think these changes are great for brands. More exposure = more fans = more impressions (i.e., more fans see your content). However, as a user, my news feed is filled with as almost as much brand content as it is content from my friends. Maybe it’s just because I’ve become a fan of more Pages than the average user, but I can see where this could become an issue. What do you think of the increased exposure for Pages? A good thing?

Tagged with: •
preload preload preload