The Time(line) Has Come: How To Prepare Your Facebook Page
posted in: Features • Music News
On Friday, Facebook will be forcing all Pages to switch over to the new Timeline-style layout. This means that many artists, businesses and fan pages will be struggling to keep their profiles organized, clean and easy to navigate for the next few days. Fear not, friends”we’ve put together some pointers to help you make the switch a cinch.
Britney's Timeline is clean, simple and eye-catching.
Cover Photos Are Huge (Literally): The cover photo will be the first thing that potential and current fans see when they visit your page, so it should give off the best impression possible. If you choose to use a picture of yourself/your band for the cover photo, it’s important that it be high-quality to avoid stretching/graininess. You can also get creative with the cover photo and opt instead for album artwork, í la Nicki Minaj, or even a crowd shot, as seen on the Foo Fighters’ page. If you don’t have any great photos to use, it may be worth it to hire a graphic designer to make a cool promotional image using your logo, like Green Day.
Keep Tabs On Your Tabs: Right now, you know exactly how to get to your page’s content ”by clicking the links under your profile photo that say “Wall,” “Info,” “Music,” “YouTube,” etc. You can also pick a “landing tab,” or a default tab that will display whenever someone visits your page. With the Timeline layout, your tabs are moved to the other side of the page and placed in little square boxes beneath the cover photo, and you will not be able to set a landing tab anymore. It’s important to note that you will only be able to select three apps to display, as “Photos” cannot be moved from your Timeline. We recommend a music player, list of tour dates and video. The rest of your apps will only be found if the visitor clicks on the tiny drop-down arrow on the right hand side of the tabs.
Want to talk to Bronze Radio Return? Now you can!
Connect With Your Fans: Timeline will finally allow direct artist-to-fan interaction by adding personal messaging capability between fans and Pages. Inviting your fans to reach out to you will make them feel much more connected to you, but you can also feel safe by not needing to give out personal information.
Fixed Features: Timeline will pick and choose what it wants to feature on your page without asking. If you want something you’ve posted to remain at the top of your page, you will have the ability to keep it “pinned” to the top of your Timeline. Just released a new single? Pin your status about it at the top of your Timeline so it will be the first thing everyone sees when they scroll down to your posts.
Finally, try to get as much of your Timeline set up before you publish it”unfinished pages will just look messy. Also, keep an eye on your page in the future to make sure that only your best posts are being shown (and the good ones aren’t getting lost).