So you finally decided to take the plunge and join the masses of Mark Zuckerberg groupies on Facebook. Did you make the right decision? You can let the hundreds of millions of users answer that question. But for now, it’s time to get started…
First things first…for basic instructions on how to setup your Facebook Page from scratch, see this tutorial: Facebook Business
Once you craft the bare bones of your page, it’s time to spruce it up with some professional graphics. A welcome page is not a necessity, but it is a great idea if you want to appear more professional. A great welcome page can compel your visitors to “like” your page or perform any other action like sign up for your email list, watch a video, or fill out a contact form.
Below are two great examples of Facebook Welcome Pages from social media experts:
Mari Smith
Social Media Examiner
You can either hire a designer to create your welcome page graphics or use some of the free and low cost applications below:
Wix – Offers free and paid templates. The free version comes with many options and the paid version includes design upgrades with intermediate and advanced features.
Tabsite – Free and paid versions. I like the easy-to-use “DragNBuild” interface.
Pagemodo – Free and paid versions. I like Pagemodo because it stays fresh with new and improved templates that offer many customization options.
Tabpress – If you want to create an iFrame page tab of your website directly on your welcome page or any other tab, Tabpress will enable you to do it. Tabpress supports HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
For welcome pages or any other graphics like your profile image, you can try these resources:
Fiverr – This site is full of freelancers who are willing to do just about anything for $5. Now, don’t expect superior graphics that you would pay $5000 for. However, you can get some creative, professional graphics for a great price. Make sure to sort providers by reviews and only work with those who scored high marks.
Social Identities – For less than $250, you can get a fully functioning, graphics heavy, Facebook page. This service provider has enjoyed rave reviews from customers.
You will also want to explore the many customizable applications available to see which ones will enhance your page. With applications you can offer your fans everything from location based services and contests to shopping functionalities. For a look at some of the most popular applications, this article on the top 75 Facebook applications should do the trick.
Once your graphics and applications are set, you need to acquire some fans. Here are some ways to do it:
- Send out mailings or emails to your existing customer base to notify them of your new page. An incentive to “like” your page should give your customers the impetus they need to take action.
- If you already have a Facebook personal profile, you can recommend your business page to your friends. Just use the “Invite Friends” link on your fan page.
- Add a Facebook widget or Like Box on your website so visitors can “like” your page right from your site. You can find these applications on Facebook. If you have a WordPress site, take a look at these 10 WordPress social media plugins for inspiration.
- Network with Facebook groups or on LinkedIn to connect with your audience, whether B2C or B2B. Refrain from directly asking people to “like” your page if you do not know them. Self-promotion on social sites is frowned upon.
As you grow, remember to engage your fans and offer valuable content they will want to share. Run contests and polls and get them involved in the conversation. For some more tips, see this helpful article: Become a Facebook Social Media Marketing Expert
Jenna Scaglione is a content writer, internet marketer, and a lover of family, friends and life. Jenna enjoys learning, growing and discovering the newest and latest trends on the internet. Known as "Lady Content", she lives in sunny Socal where she helps her clients around the world increase brand awareness on the internet through content writing and social media.
I really like these templates for Facebook fan pages. I am familiar with a few ways to customize my fan page. In fact, I used an older script that enabled me to turn my home page link into an introductory page which prompts all new visitors to LIKE my page before being able to see the rest of the content. Once they click LIKE, they are redirected to another page which gives them a reward for clicking their LIKE buton.
If You are using WordPress for Your main website, we actually Recommend using the WPFacePages plugin. With it you can do everything listed above, plus you can do anything in Facebook that you can do in WordPress. It also has Twitter Integration and Google +1 Integrations, Google Maps, a Facebook Slider (for showing slides of pictures, videos, content) in Facebook, and more.
http://www.wpfacepages.com
Mike
Thank you very much for that recommendation! I have been wanting to find an extension like the WPFacePages plugin for my Word Press blog and I was beginning to wonder why nobody has developed something which can integrate many of the most popular functions. It just didn’t make sense to me why such a thing would not already exist. I guess I was wrong. I just needed to find it. So thank you again for this cool informative article.
No problem Sharon.
Thanks.
Mike
This is the most informative blog I have seen yet with information about Facebook fan page design and plug in information. I want to redesign my Facebook fan page and configure it so it plays an intro video for new visitors. What I would like to know is if you can use Tabpress configuration and have this type of feature where new visitors must view the video in order to proceed to other sections of your Facebook page.
Hi Ellen,
There aren’t any features that prohibit users from viewing other parts of your Facebook page until they watch a video. The only features offered are “Like gates” where potential fans must “like” your page to view the content you are hiding. So essentially you would design two pages and once a fan liked your page they would be taken to the second page. Several of the websites mentioned in the article offer the Like gate functionality. Let me know if you need further clarification.
Thanks,
Jenna
I have ran across a few of these pages that have the “like gate on them and I have to say they are somewhat annoying so I just close out of them and go on to the next page. I don’t know how many people out there are like me but that could be something to take note of if you start losing business.
i love it & probably buy it very soon cause it is important for my fb
I created a Facebook fan page last year and used some custom scripting to require new visitors to LIKE my page before they can proceed further into the fan page. When you take that approach I think it is important to offer visitors something in return, even if it is just information or a free subscription. I think there should be a benefit to their Liking your page. Otherwise, it is just annoying and some might even click away from your page.