On March 30th, your Facebook fan page switched over to the new Timeline format, but have you taken the time to spruce up your page? To fully take advantage of all of the cool new features, we’ve put together this handy checklist for you.
1. Cover photo – Have you taken the time to add a cover photo? This is precious real estate! With the timeline feature, Facebook took away the default landing page option. That means 
that your cover photo is your new landing page. It needs to grab users’ attention and explain your business. That’s a lot of jobs for one photo. Sometimes just a photo of your business won’t cut it. You can create a new cover photo using Photoshop or design software (dimensions of 851 x 315 px) or you can have your new cover photo professionally designed by our staff. Whatever you do, don’t leave it blank!
2. Profile photo – Gone are the elongated profile photos. Your new profile photo or avatar is a square photo. Upload a photo that clearly represents your brand. Keep in mind that this is the photo that will be seen in your fans’ news feeds. (Dimensions of 180 x 180 px.)
3. Update your about section – Directly under your new cover photo is an ‘About’ section for your business. If your brand is a brick-and-mortar business with an address, the ‘About’ information will include your general information – address, phone number, and hours of operation. However, if you do not have a physical storefront, this area also becomes important real estate. Create a small description about who you are and include a link to your website. This automatically creates a hyperlink and reminds people of how to visit your business on the web.
4. App box photos – One of the coolest new features of the Timeline for Pages is the ability to customize your app boxes and their images. I recommend adding images that coordinate with your brand and messaging. Avoid cheesy “Click Here” images and arrows. Use these extra pages to describe your business. If you’re a restaurant, include an app for your menu. If you’re running a contest, include an app for your fans to enter. Keep it simple and compelling.
5. Turn on messaging – This feature has turned into a blessing for some of our clients that depend on private messages with their fans. You now have the ability to turn on messaging through your fan page. You no longer have the need for a “Contact Us” app on your fan page. You also no longer need to advertise your personal email address. This features makes it so simple for your fans to contact you privately – whether for it’s additional information, a sales lead, or private questions about your products and services. Note: you can also leave this feature turned off.
6. Go through your past posts and photos – Just like Timeline for our personal pages, Timeline for Fan Pages creates a timeline since your brand has been on Facebook. You can also add important milestones, such as when your business began, awards you have received, and more. It’s important to revisit your old posts, highlight posts by using the star button that are display-worthy, and delete some that were underperforming.
7. Pin a post – Do you have a contest you are running or a question that was particularly compelling? Pin it to the top of your fan page! Each time someone visits your fan page the first post they will see is your pinned post. The pin only lasts for one week, but by that time it’s time for a new key message anyway.
8. Keep track of your Insights – Have you been utilizing your Insights? It’s so important to visit these statistics, see what types of posts have been working and which ones haven’t. This is valuable information and so important to the longterm success of your fan page. We recommend visiting your Insights on a weekly basis.
9. Post regularly – We’ve been talking about this item for over two years. It’s SO important to post regular content on your fan page. How often are you posting? We recommend a minimum of three times per week with a maximum of three times per day. You don’t want to overdo it and spam your followers. However, you also don’t want to abandon your page. That’s not very social. When someone likes your business they expect to have frequent updates from you.
