The 7 deadly sins of Facebook page design

Lisa Wehr
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Social Media Posted on October 24, 2011

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Sin 1

Is your Facebook page lacking aesthetics? Or worse, is it lacking functionality? With more than 800 million active users, Facebook is the leading social network, and it's one you shouldn't gamble with when it comes to developing and designing.

Let's dive into the seven biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to designing your brand's Facebook page.

Don't have a landing page
Do you currently send your Facebook visitors directly to your Facebook wall? That's a no-no in the world of design. By greeting your Facebook visitors with a landing page, you're able to deliver a message -- your brand's message.

Although Ben & Jerry's latest flavor, Schweddy Balls (promoted on its Facebook welcome tab above, see reference 1) has caused controversy, the brand isn't sinning with its Facebook design. It knows exactly how to greet its Facebook fans (those who haven't un-fanned due to their humorous new ice cream name). Rather than direct visitors to its wall, Ben & Jerry's offers an interaction (reference 2) allowing their fans to choose their favorite clip from the Saturday Night Live Schweddy Balls sketch, but its fans must click the "like" button first (bonus points for this maneuver of creating a fan-gated tab).

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Tina Strange November 2, 2011 at 12:22 AM

Thanks Lisa, this article is a keeper. I can't wait until I get home so I can start playing around with my Facebook page. Although I use my Fb page for my own personal use, it's time for me to rethink how I manage my time and I how I use my page. Again, thanks for sharing these tips.

evary toad October 26, 2011 at 6:03 PM

I would also nlove some instructions on how to do this landing page - especially to insert large graphics instead of a video. Can you refer me to anything (please)?

thanks,
evary

Emma PERRY October 26, 2011 at 6:02 AM

This is a great article ... now I just need instructions on how to complete some of those! ;-)

Nicole Gläser Eriksson October 25, 2011 at 7:39 AM

Hi Lisa, agreed! If companies use fan-gating or reveal tabs, then companies should really offers something back for the folks which become fans. Like a video, a whitepaper, entrance to a contest, a discount code - whatever.
In terms of offering content on different page tabs: If you have customized tabs and you want people to find it, it is super important to promote them with direct links from the landing page, ads, wall posts or other places. Nobody is just "surfing" to them as people do on a website.

Jo Oskoui October 25, 2011 at 12:22 AM

Great article, Lisa! I wonder, however, if you did not leave out another sin, viz, Don't Share All Content.

There are so many Facebook pages that have great content but don't allow users to share the content itself easily. As a user I should be able to share specific content such as recipes, pictures, video, etc. conveniently with my friends. I don't necessarily want to share a Facebook page but rather the specific content (e.g., recipe, picture, or video, etc.).

In your Meijer video example, when a user shares a clip with a friend, the friend is redirected to the YouTube channel instead of the Facebook page. I think this is a missed opportunity as users are more likely to engage on the Facebook page rather than on the YouTube channel. As you pointed out, you don't want to send the user to external pages unless required. In the Meijer example, the shared links could have been redirecting the users to the Facebook page, then automatically pull the selected video clip in the video player. As you said, it's about the overall user experience.