Have you Heard…Timeline is coming to Facebook Business Pages
Do you have a Facebook Page for your business or organization? Have you heard about the changes that are up and coming? Everyone is buzzing about the changes and what it means for the current pages out there on Facebook. Like with the last change Timeline is being rolled out this time for all Business Pages. The change will take effect on March 30th. You have from now until then to test out and design your layout in the new format. You can choose to publish your page right away or just preview it before the changes take effect on 3/30/12.
There are a few things to keep in mind with this change and we thought we would share them with all of you!
Landing pages are a thing of the past! If you used custom landing tabs you should know that these will no longer work like they have in the past with the new format. Instead the 
company recommends that owners pin a post in the timeline that links to a particular tab.
Your Cover Photo is where you want to convey your brands message now. Beware though Facebook has some rules when it comes to what can and cannot be displayed in the Cover Photo:
1. Image size is 851×351 pixels must be at least 399 pixels wide
2. No Calls to Action “Like this” or “Tell your friends” or arrows pointing to the Like Buttons
3. No Price or Purchase information “60% off” or “Download it at our Website”
4. No Contact information. This info should be used in the About section so no Web Address, Email Address, Mailing Address, etc. can be displayed on the Cover Photo.
With the changes comes limitations but new functions as well. Check it out! Facebook Pages
Need a new Cover Photo created for your Timeline? Contact Topaz Web Designs and Consulting today!
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!
Designing a website is like designing a room in your house. The functionality has to work and it has to be visually appealing. Websites are no different. I find that when I am meeting with new clients the most common phrase I have to say is “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Yes I can make a Flash Intro page for your website, but tell me why you need it. The thing is you want to have a great looking site that works for you and your company. Flash on a website can look great but doesn’t always fit the need or purpose. You can throw all the bells and whistles you want on a website, doesn’t mean you should. The growing trend is moving away from the flashy and content heavy site and moving to cleaner simpler looking sites. Now I am not saying let’s create a website with a white background and one image. Not at all but you need to decide what you must have and what isn’t necessarily required. Social Media Marketing has made it possible for you as a business to connect and talk to your clients/followers before they ever see your website. This gives you a chance to create that personal brand and connect at that personal level before they go to some webpage on the internet. In the past most visitors on a website were looking for information as to who you are, what you do, why they should consider you and how to contact you. Today with the help of social media your visitors already know who you are and what you do. They are coming to your site because they have an interest in doing business with you. Connect with us! Sign up for a Newsletter! Give the visitors to your site something to do. No reason to bog them down with a lot of reading here either. You can skip the heavy content. You don’t need the bells and whistles on a simple site but if there is no way around it you need to keep in mind, that smart phones, iphones, and ipads are heavily used this day and age. More and more people are using these devices to connect to websites than in previous years. Will your bells work on these devices? Will your whistle display on an iphone? Will your web page even load? It’s easy enough to create a website that is personalized for you and your brand. It can be visually appealing, original and still be simple without having to have a bunch of flashy add-ons that your visitors will probably ignore anyway due to add-on overload. Plan your site out and remember just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! Until Next Time!
Tina
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