Are you ready for the new Timeline Facebook Pages?

Many of us woke up to this message today:

Coming Soon: New Facebook Pages
On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will get a new design. Preview your page now to see what it looks like and try out the new features.

While the new design gives us some more options it also gives us a few challenges. Be sure you are ready for the changes before you switch over.

New Features:

• Cover Image: As with the personal timeline we now get a large space at the top for an image. Your image should be 851 x 315 pixels. Be sure to remember the bottom left will have your profile image. Also please note according to the rules you are not suppose to have any contact information in your image, including your email or web sites. In addition to that you are not suppose to have a reference to “liking” the page. For more info on this go to facebook.com/about/pages
• Tabs: The good news for tabs is that they will now use the entire width of the page. The bad news is that you can no longer make a tab your landing page.  It looks like you can still drive traffic to that tab page, but they are no longer forced to this page when going to your page. You can have up to 12 and only the first 4 show without having to click on the arrow button. You can rearrange them so be sure to place the 4 most important ones first. Also new is that you can make a custom image for your tabs. Be sure to take advantage to style your page. The size for the tab image is 112 x 75 pixels.
• Private messages: Now people can contact you privately using messages. Notifications about new messages will appear right in your admin panel.
• Changing your name: A new plus is that option to request for a fan page name change.
• Pinning Posts: You can now pin a post and it will stay at the top of your page for a week.

You have 4 weeks to get ready, or if you like you can activate Timeline now.

 

Links to other views and tips on the new timeline:

Everything You Need To Know (And More) About Facebook Timelines For Brands

Timeline on Fan Pages: 6 Things you Need to Know

Facebook launches Timeline for Pages

Facebook Timeline for Fan Pages – Frequently Asked Questions