Enhance your Facebook Fan Page – Add Static Image link!

Congratulations! You are now using a Fan Page to promote a cause, service, brand or business. Did you know you could customize your Facebook Fan Page to look and feel more like your own website? Today I’m going to share with you the steps to add a simple image that shares some information about your topic in a visually appealing way.

Before you start make sure the application is added to the Fan Page. Do this by:

1. Search for “Static FBML” in the Facebook Search.
2. Open the application page and click “Add to my page“.
3. Choose the page you want to “Add to page” in the window that pops-up.
4. Done, now you can add customizations.

There are various items you can add on your Fan Page:

1. Video
2. Images for ads and offers
3. Call to action forms (subscribe to us button).
4. Any kind of widget

In this first edition of articles “Enhance your Facebook Fan Page” I will add an event flier (so a static image item) to the Fan Page promoting a special event, this image will also link back to your main website.

First make sure your image is online and readily accessible. If you have your own website, make sure it is on the uploads folder or any other accessible folder. Get the direct link to the image.

In this example we are also going to change the tab visitors see when they open your Fan Page. That way you have some control over what your Fans and possible clients see and you can include conversion forms and click-throughs to your website and services.

The code we’re going to use is:

<a href=”YOUR WEBSITE LINK”><img src=”IMAGE LINK” width=”ENTER HERE IMAGE WIDTH” height=”ENTER HERE IMAGE HEIGHT” border=”0″ alt=”" />

Here are the steps to add the Static items, they are quite a few so take the time to try it:

1. Make sure you are logged in to Facebook and head on over to your Fan Page.
2. Under the profile picture of the Fan Page, look for the link “Edit Page”. Click it! (You can only edit a page when you are an admin).
3. Look for “Static fbml” in the list of applications and options. Click “edit” or “add fbml”.
4. On the next page you will see two fields; “Box Title” and “FBML”.
5. Enter the name of the box in the “Box Title”.
6. Paste the code above, with the correct URL links, desired width and height (do not forget these otherwise the image will not show correctly), into the “FBML” field.
7. Click Save. Go back to the Fan Page. You can probably still not see it as a tab. Click “Boxes”. If the URL’s are correct you should see the image.

If you see the image you are done adding the FBML to your page. Now let’s go ahead and make it a tab.

1. Go to the Fan Page, click on “Edit Page”.
2. Look for the FBML, it’s now recognizable by the name you entered as the box title.
3. Click “Application Settings”, you will find this link in light blue under the title of the FBML Application.
4. A box will pop up, in the first tab on the option “Boxes: Added” click “remove”.
5. For the second option “Tab: Available”, click “add”. This way you add the tab and empty the boxes tab making it invisible. The settings should look like the pictures below.
6. Click okay to close.

FBML Settings Pop-Up Box

Last thing we want to set up is where visitors land when they visit your page.

1. Go to the Fan Page, click on “Edit Page”.
2. Under “Wall Settings” click “edit”, change “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else:” option in the drop down menu. Select the tab you just activated, you will identify it by it’s title/name.
3. You are now done.

To test how visitors will see the page, log out and visit your Fan Page, if you did this right you will see the image first and land on the tab you created.

Check out some finished customizations here:

Aruba Learning Fan Page
Hesther’s Creations Fan Page

No time to do this yourself?
An IMVA can help you set up these things for you small business website. For an average of 5 hours a month for regular updates you can keep your Fan Page fresh and up-to-date! I offer this service on a subscription basis, with a minimum of 3 hours a month for small businesses with few offers and updates a month. The subscription starts at $45 a month.