3 To-Do's Before the New Facebook Arrives

Have you checked out the new Facebook layout yet?  Many of us have tried it and quickly switched back to our more familiar Facebook feed but come September, there will be no more switching. 

Facebook has announced they're rolling out the new look, dubbed FB5, across the board sometime in September.

While change is always a little challenging, we'll all get used to the new, minimalistic style and will find the new homes for familiar features and functions but there are a couple of things that all business page managers should know before FB5 is rolled out.

SAVE YOUR STORY

From everything we can tell so far, the new Facebook layout for Pages has eliminated the "Our Story" feature.  Our Story is your opportunity as a Page owner to tell a bit more about your business.  It can include images, text, links, and provides a nice way to give a deeper inside look at your business.

It's unclear why this helpful feature has been given the ax and only time will tell whether it's brought back in some form. For now, we recommend that you save a copy of your Our Story text and images so you'll have it if the functionality returns or if you want to use it for some other marketing purpose.

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR COVER IMAGE

Your Facebook Page cover image is the first thing visitors see when they check out your profile, and it's critical that it looks great. 

If you use a video as your Facebook Page cover, chances are you'll need to reformat it to fit the new size restrictions on the updated Facebook layout.  So far, cover images for pages seem to be ok, but centering and text placement may be affected. 

Either way, you'll want to make sure you have a copy of that image or video ready for any updates you may need to make. 

STOCK UP ON PATIENCE

As creatures of habit, we find it hard when familiar platforms change, and this is a pretty big change for Facebook's layout.  It's important to be patient as nearly all of the usual features and functions are still available, even if you have to look around for them the first few times. 

You'll probably even find some benefits with FB5.  If you're a fan of dark mode, you'll have access to that on your desktop.  It's faster and easier to access features like Creator Studio in the new layout and if you like white space and a cleaner look, then this new platform will definitely suit you. 

Moms will keep using Facebook no matter what layout they've got so it's important to jump in to the new look and stay social online.