Facebook Pages – The Web Authority

March 5, 2012March 3, 2012

Facebook Business Page Timeline Tips

I have migrated my two Facebook business pages early to the timeline this past weekend and wanted to share some of my tips that I have figured out while I was using the new look. Remember as you read this blog post, all business pages will all be forced into the new timeline layout as of the end of March 2012.

Here’s what I have learned:

Don’t try to create a complex graphic or use a screen shot of our website banner. Use one large high definition image that tries to convey visually who and what you are. In my case we are located near Washington DC and so I am using a image I took recently of the Capital building. I did try my website banner and I did try a composite image, both looked too busy.
Clicking the star at the top right of an update will stretch either the image or text update across your whole page. Facebook will leave the bigger post up for 7 days. You can do this in several places on your page to break up your layout. Actually what I did was to design my layout look by using images and text to give a pleasing break to the typical two columns. This means that the new timeline is a much more visual statement than the old wall. Make sure to only load high definition images as when Facebook expands the image if you highlight it, low resolution images will look bad.
When you are logged in as a business page entity you cannot post to anyone fan or otherwise walls as a business entity. In fact when you are logged in as a business, you cannot even see a fans wall, you will only be able to see the timeline. That means that all interaction is back on your own timeline. Business pages in fact don’t have a wall anymore, just the timeline.

As a result, our services for Facebook have been changed. We may add additional services later, but for now we have streamlined our offerings to cover what we feel will work for business during this change. My personal feeling is that the action for Facebook for businesses will now be in the advertising arena. For many business owners the cost to keep a Facebook business page updated with photos, video, favorite posts, and other apps will simply be too costly and time consuming.

February 15, 2012February 11, 2012

Brands – Don’t Give Up On Facebook Yet

Facebook made some very big changes in the fourth quarter of 2011 that impacted how businesses can use Facebook and how they interact with fans. As a quick review, here’s what Facebook did:

Got rid of the ability to send a note out from your Business Page to all fans. The best feature!
Removed tabs and the ability to do FBML markup pages. You now have to do iframes.
Killed off the notes and discussion sections.
Removed the ability to auto feed your blog to your Facebook Page.
Removed the ability to see who your Business page fans are once they have joined.
Allowed anyone to comment on a Business page, not just fans.
Destroyed the value of a like. No one needs to like your page any more to see or interact with you.
Changed the News Feed for users. People must subscribe to your data to see it in their News Feed.
Changed the personal News Feed so a Business’ News Feed updates are typically lost in the noise.

Actually, these are some very serious changes and have really strangled a businesses ability to connect with users on Facebook and for that matter have caused fan growth for pages under 100 fans to come to a near halt. So, you would think that I would recommend to our business clients to get out of Facebook, but I’m not.

Strategies change and what Facebook has done to kill off brand and business interaction on their platform will certainly change as the blow-back impacts their business. For now, I personally feel that these changes drove businesses into Facebook pay per click initially. As advertising is where Google makes huge returns, Facebook has struggled with trying to get their fair share of advertising revenue from their platform and thus has made changes to force businesses to pay to play.

I still feel that businesses should be on Facebook and keep a presence there, but maybe not in the same fashion as we recommended in early 2011. I recommend at least doing updates once or twice a day and taking a wait and see approach to what Facebook will additionally change in 2012. These changes may open doors again for businesses and brands. Positioning yourself to be back in the Facebook game quickly is a very good strategy.

January 30, 2012January 28, 2012

Facebook and EdgeRank Explained

Just as PageRank is to Google.com placement, EdgeRank is to Facebook placement in a reader’s News Feed. In other words, your EdgeRank on Facebook will determine if a fan sees your updates in their News Feeds and where.

First, here’s a graphical image from TechCrunch and LiveStream that explains the concept of EdgeRank.

The bottom-line is that when you have more comments, likes, and tags on a Facebook Business Page wall post, your EdgeRank will be higher. Additionally new news is preferred over old news. If your EdgeRank meets a certain threshold, your post will be show in a subscriber or fan’s News Feed. There appear to be not only EdgeRank numbers for posts but for whole Facebook accounts.

Here’s one free tool that I have found that allows you to check your own Business page’s EdgeRank. Most of the pages we work with that have under 100 fans but more than 80 fans will have an EdgeRank that is about 12 to 15 or average. The free interface is quirky and you may have to refresh the page several times to see your numbers, but this tool will give you a general idea.

Can you ever really know your “real” EdgeRank. Most likely not. It seems this number is like Google’s PageRank (not to be confused with Google Toolbar PageRank) and is secret and a part of the special algorithm that racks and stacks sites.

So what can you do to improve your Facebook EdgeRank?

Post regularly on Facebook.
Post four to five times a day on Facebook.
Post shareable items that are current events or trending topics.
Move away from an all about me focus.
Actively work to engage readers.
Start a log sheet of all fans when added as Facebook will hide their names once added.
Use your list of fans to interact with @messages.

If you have additional suggestions or thoughts on Facebook EdgeRank, make sure to click comments and let me know!

December 14, 2011December 10, 2011

Facebook Business Page Interaction – What is the Best Level?

I have been doing quite a bit of testing this past month on Facebook interaction levels and what is the best number of updates for a business page now that Facebook has completed its most recent changes.

First, it is important to know that for over a year we have recommended two status updates a day so that you would not spam your audience and fans. However, with the changes that Facebook made in September everything is now different. With people being able to subscribe to your page without being a fan; fans being able to block, filter, or subscribe to the type of updates you provide; and now your inability to react directly with fans and not even know who is a fan by name, interaction levels need to be different.

This is what I have found out so far in my testing:

For Facebook Business Pages with about 100 to 500 fans updates about five times a day seems to work to get you exposed.
Actively responding to comments or posting is key to fan interaction growth.
Doing only two updates a day seems now to simply get lost in the Facebook noise.

For Facebook Pages that have 500+ fans the thirst for interaction is stronger. In many cases up to 12 updates a day PLUS interaction with the posting of comments, doing polls, and sharing video appear to not hurt a page but rather grow a page. You can review an interesting analysis done before the new Facebook changes in this interesting article for more background. Remember however that their findings are pre-Facebook changes and so may not be valid today but are good for review.

I am continuing our testing through the end of the month. Find out how you can join in and help and get our white paper recommendations at the end of our testing period sharing our findings.