As a growth-minded web developer, my number one goal is to provide solutions to my clients that really work. I've talked previously about Facebook Fan Pages and mentioned my hesitancy on immediately jumping on the bandwagon. Here's a quick synopsis:
- Facebook until recently was adjusting the limitations of the Fan Pages regularly.
- The Fan Page is only the initial landing page that a NEW fan will see. After that, he/she will see the Facebook Wall.
- Most Facebookers will only view business new stories via their News Feeds, and in the chance they visit the business' wall, the chance they decide to examine the landing page is even lower.
On one of my most recent excursions through the current opinions on social media and the business world I found this comment, and many hundreds more like it, from a real Facebook user. Not someone trying to sell something:
Landing pages are all fine and good for ONE visit to your Fan page, but without regular, engaging news feed posts, you're one and done. When I'm in line at the DMV, I'm scrolling down my news feed, not seeking out new fan pages. I'd say the ratio of time spent liking new pages versus reading news feed is 1:200. What are you doing for the other 199 units of time?
Naturally, this adds fuel to my original opinion. Sure, I'd love to sell a client a $500 to $1000 dollar Facebook Fan Page - more money for me, right? Here's the deal. Because Facebook can change their rules at the drop of a hat, it makes it impossible for me to "guarantee" my work to my clients. I can't do that morally. This means I choose to only develop pages that have the functionality that "most-likely" won't be changed. Once we have our Facebook Fan page, it should never be such an investment that it detracts from the Facebooker to proceed to either their Fan Page wall, or on to the business actual website. The power of Facebook is in its social media, not the interactive "game-like" features of its Fan Pages.
Go dynamic, but simple. Welcome the fan to your page, and let them know you want them to do proceed past your landing page. In web development and planning, it should the goal of every website home page to entice the viewer to move further into the website. It should be the same for a Facebook Fan Page. Get them excited, then send them where they want to go - or where you want them to go.
That's it for now. Micah over and out.
ZakGraphix - “Raising the Standard of Design, One Website at a Time.”
Micah Zak
St. Louis Web Design – ZakGraphix.com