Social Networking has transformed into a hot spot in the modern times. The trend of social networking picked up in the late twentieth century and in the last decade, it has become one of the largest success stories that humankind has ever witnessed. So, what makes social networking so popular? Is it the fact that you can meet old friends or is it about always being in touch with your friends, family and acquaintances? Unfortunately, none of these is the real answer. Social Networking fulfills an individual’s innate desire of being heard. When people see your pictures or comments, like them or share them; you suddenly feel a sense of pride, something you did not feel before. Hence, social networking is a medium of being heard, and returning the favour.

However, the last few years of social networking have also been about businesses. Organizations, large and small, have realized that this is the ultimate platform through which they could connect with their prospective and existing customers. It is just the right way of ascending one’s recall, and at the same time also pushing the sales numbers. Among these social networking platforms, Facebook has made a significant mark in the industry. Its superiority reflects in its numbers. According to a research conducted by Browser Media (as appeared in Statisticbrain.com), some of the following intriguing figures about Facebook came out:

• There are over 1.2 billion Facebook users
• Every month, people tend to spend an average of 700 billion minutes on Facebook.
• A staggering 2.5 million websites have integrated Facebook with their site.

Now that the relevance of this social media site has been brought forward, let us talk about ways in which companies utilize the same to generate business. While there are various different ways of augmenting one’s business via Facebook, a Fan Page is considered the most worthwhile. It is more or less like an individual profile, with a major difference being that the former is meant for a company, and not an individual. Moreover, there are several other features which differentiate fan pages and individual profiles. Our focus isn’t on the differences, though. We are going to discuss certain things that can accentuate the looks and functionality of your fan page. Below mentioned are some Facebook fan page designing tips which can considerably raise your fan page’s value:

1. Flexibility: The first thing that we think is worth mentioning is the flexibility of the design. When you develop a design for your fan page, you should keep in mind that there could be last minute changes and alterations. If your design cannot accommodate such changes, it might not happen to be the ideal choice for the dynamic business environment. What is to be noted is that this applies to custom made designs as also pre-made layouts and backgrounds. While we prefer custom designs, that decision shall be left to your discretion.

2. Static FBML: This is one application which is the starting point for a lot of magic and interesting things that you can do with your fan page. It comes up with various functionalities that can be used to modify your fan page. Given that it supports pure HTML & CSS, it can be pretty easily handled by even those who only have basic functional knowledge about coding. You need to follow a very simple installation process to add this application to your page, and you can then experience its power.

3. Welcome Page: Once you have installed FBML, it is time you created that page which would expose your profile to the world. We are talking about the landing page (or welcome page). Unless this page is interesting, captivating and self-explanatory, it wouldn’t manage to compel people to hit the ‘Like’ button. So, design something really appealing using Photoshop or any other software tool that you like. All you should ensure is that the width of the design shouldn’t be more or less than 520 pixels. The height can be as much as you desire, but keeping it in conjunction with the width will make the design more appealing. Now, using FBML and a few codes, you can update your welcome page and make it the landing page for your profile on Facebook.

PS: Many expert designers suggest that using too many graphics in your welcome page spoils the mood. Therefore, the objective should be to keep it simple and catchy.

4. Opt-In & Next Step Page: Given that your Facebook fan-page is supposed to also fill your sales tunnel, it needs to adroitly perform a few other tasks too. You should first consider developing an Opt-In page. This is a page where your fans or page viewers provide their contact details to receive interesting news, deals or other information from you. The link for the opt-in page should be derived from the Welcome Page, and it should follow a basic format like header, message and the information boxes. Having too many slots for the users to fill in would reduce the number of people who fill the entire form. The Next Step Page, on the other hand, says something more about your brand. Once the people have consumed your brand’s appetizer, in the form of the landing page, this is that area where they can derive more information about the recent happenings and other pertinent information that might interest them.

5. Images: Pictures play an important role in making your fan-page complete. The first picture that people will notice on the fan page is the ‘Display Picture’. The width of the display picture should be 200 pixels, as required by Facebook. In case, it is less or more, Facebook might automatically adjust it to 200 pixels, which makes the picture look distorted. Therefore, you might as well post a picture with its width being 200 pixels. While the height can be anything, it will be suggested to keep it in proper proportions for the image to look proper, and the rest of the elements of the page to retain their designated space. If the display picture is too long, the other boxes might be pushed down which isn’t exactly a desirable action, is it?

FREEBIE POINT – Proper Naming: While this does not have to do with the designing of the fan page, it still is an extremely important point. The name of your fan page should be such that it attracts the interest of the FB users. It should entice people, and at the same time be search engine friendly too. Therefore, your fan page’s name should contain your most important keyword, service description and anything else that you deem fit.

Hence, these were some tips which we think can be helpful to you in enhancing the design of your fan page.