In mid-July of 2016, Facebook began a selective rollout of yet another new layout for Facebook Pages, with no apparent pattern behind the deployment of who got the new layout first. Some users noticed the difference immediately and began comparing the new configuration to previous versions. At this point, the vast majority of Pages Admins have the new layout.
Why a New Facebook Page Layout?
Good question! It has not been clearly explained why the modified layout has been deployed and what purposes they hoped to accomplish. In some ways it’s a throwback to older versions with the apps being visible in the left navigation once again.
Overview of layout changes
Here are some of the changes which users have seen on their Facebook Pages layout:
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Call To Action Button
One of the more obvious and interesting changes is the Call To Action buttons. They have been enlarged for increased visibility and have been relocated on the page. They are now situated directly under the tab links, and the new buttons are labeled “Send Email”, “Request Appointment”, “Watch Video”, “Call Now”, “Shop Now”, as well as a few others.
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Shift of Page App Tabs
The Page App Tabs have moved to beneath the logo, so every single tab created can be seen. What a boon for TabSite users!!
Now that all page tabs are visible, some users may want to remove a few to avoid clutter, and shift those of importance to the top.
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Crisper Cover Photo
Facebook has cleaned up the cover image by removing the logo from overlaying on the cover photo. This has the effect of highlighting the photo and drawing more attention to the larger image, which now extends across the entire column. Facebook displays cover images at 828×315.
See: https://www.facebook.com/help/125379114252045. For cover images with logos or text (or shades of red), use a PNG file format for a more crisp display. For a hack to display your full cover image content on both desktop and mobile, use these dimensions: 828×465.
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Relocated Logo Image
The logo image is a bit bigger than it was and has of course shifted to the top left.
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Relocated Like, Message, and Share Buttons
Similar to the page tab links, the buttons for “Like”, “Message”, and “Share” have been moved below the cover image, and slightly to the left.
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Repositioned Page Insights
Page Insights for Page Admins now appears underneath the cover photo, instead of the prior position at the right of the image.
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Repositioned Admin Menu
The menu for Page Administrators is now situated on the left-hand side, rather than beneath the cover photo.
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Page Info is Relocated
Info relevant to the page has been lowered and relocated to the right-hand side. The “About” and “Promotions” have also been relocated to this new spot.
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Increased Search Bar Functionality
The search bar now lets fans search for specific posts from the page!
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More Spacious Feel
The overall effect is that the page seems less cluttered. This is because much of the material crammed in at the page top has been evenly distributed across the page.
Cumulative effect of changes
One of the biggest and most obvious impacts of the changes come from the fact that the logo image has been accentuated, perhaps in response to user request. For businesses, this image represents branding and company identity, so the greater emphasis and more prominent positioning of this image will be enthusiastically welcomed.
The strategy behind the re-positioning of some page elements could mean that Facebook intends to emphasize those areas, perhaps in response to user feedback. Whatever the reasoning, these changes are noticeable, particularly for App Tabs.
So that’s a wrap on the most recent Facebook Page layout changes. Be sure to spend some time on your Page and others to get a feel for the new layout and make any necessary adjustments to optimize your Page.