CDG Interactive Blog

If you’ve been on Facebook recently, you know that the design and layout for individual profiles changed dramatically to what Facebook calls Timeline: wall posts, photos and other data is displayed to visitors in a reverse chronological order.

With the rollout to profiles complete, Facebook is now doing the same for business Pages. And it’s not optional.

You can implement your business Timeline anytime from now going forward. However, if you don’t do anything your Page layout will get updated automatically on March 30. That means you have about 2 weeks to take control of your Page’s Timeline layout and update before Facebook does it for you. Here are 3 big things you need to know before March 30:

• No more landing tabs. If your Facebook Page employed a custom landing tab for visitors, that option will no longer exist. In fact, there are no tabs on Timeline at all. So what do you do? There is an “About” section of text that is permanently displayed at the top of the page; you could put a link to a custom landing page for Facebook fans there. Keep in mind that it will take them out of Facebook.
• Thumbnails are replaced by a cover photo. Instead of 5 small photo thumbnails at the top of the page, there is now a large 960x530 pixel “cover photo.” That’s a pretty big image, so choose wisely or, better yet, have your designer create a custom image for this space.
• You can add dates to your Timeline. Activity that has already taken place on your Page while it’s been in existence will automatically appear on your Timeline in its proper chronological order. But you can now add events from any time in the past, even before Facebook itself was born. Think about dates that are meaningful to your business—when it was founded, major milestones, product releases—and add them. Also, "Insights," Facebook’s metrics for Pages, will also change. Instead of being a link on the right of the page, it will be housed in an expandable panel at the top of your Timeline view.

The clock is ticking, so take some time to plan out your business’ timeline, and build in enough time to get supporting material—screenshots, photos, external links, etc.—all lined up before it launches. And of course, be sure to get buy-in and approval from your company’s leadership before the timeline goes live.(We're in the process of doing that at CDG right now—look for our timeline soon!)

Want to know more about Timeline for Facebook Business Pages? Here’s some additional reading:

• Launching a Brand’s Facebook Timeline -  We Are Social 
• Introducing New Facebook Pages - Facebook Help
• Timeline for Facebook Pages: A Complete Overview of New Features - Inside Facebook
• Timeline for Facebook Pages Takes Getting Used To - Information Week’s The Brainyard blog 
• 28 Things You Need to Know About the New Facebook Pages - KISSmetrics blog 
• Meet the Coolest Facebook Brand Timelines from Coke to ESPN to Ford - AdAge Digital 

Need help updating your business’s Facebook Page for the new Timeline layout, or with your larger social media strategy? Contact Us today.