So how do businesses begin to leverage their Facebook presence?  One element to consider is a Facebook landing page. Instead of the fan page wall, the landing page can be the first thing a visitor sees when they reach your page. This allows you to control your first impression and it can help turn a visitor into a fan. Custom landing pages have been around for a little while now, but with more businesses getting involved in Facebook every day, we wanted to take a look at the basics of designing and launching a Facebook landing page.

Designing Your Landing Page

The main thing you need to remember while designing your landing page is the layout cannot be wider than 520 pixels; the height is up to you. Two best practices to incorporate into your page – include design elements from your current website and brand and include a call-to-action button near the top or use an arrow to point to the page’s like button. In Lever’s case I put a “Click The Like Button” graphic under the logo as well as the “Like Lever Interactive” text in the final paragraph. Below is another example from one of our clients (we did not design this page).

Developing Your Landing Page
Developing your landing page can range from easy to difficult depending on which method you choose and your level of understanding HTML. One of the easiest ways to develop the page is to install apps.

• Wildfire’s iFrame for Pages App is among the easiest to use and includes custom HTML and image options and Fan Gate (Like Gate) options. An example for using this app would be a landing page with one image (either upload from the app or stored on your server) that links to a page on your site.Fan Gating or Like Gating requires a user to “Like” your page before they can receive the desired content, gain access to information or enter a contest or sweepstakes.
  Difficulty Level: Low – Moderate
• Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) is another free app that will add a box to your page in which you can render HTML or FBML for customization. An example for using this app would be a landing page that has three paragraphs with different keywords bolded and an image near the top. The page is coded in HTML and the image is stored on your server.
  Difficulty Level: Low – Moderate
• Facebook Developers Page  allows you to build with Open Graph and integrate your app with Facebook’s core experience. An example for using this app would be a landing page that includes a sign up form that connects directly to your company’s database.
  Difficulty Level: Moderate – High

Landing Page Options
After the landing page has been created you will need to edit some settings so this page is the first thing visitors see, instead of your wall. From your landing page click Edit Page in the upper right. Note: You will need to be logged in and an admin to edit the page.

If you’ve installed an app choose the Apps link and then the Edit Settings Link under your apps name. You can now change the title of the tab. By default Wildfire’s apps tab is labeled Welcome.

After you’ve made the change, click Manage Permissions and look for the Default Landing Tab option. Choose the name of your app and click Save Changes.

You landing page is now the first thing visitors will see if they are not already a fan. To test your new landing page, log out of your account and visit your fan page.

Studies have shown that Facebook landing pages convert better than just having the wall show first. Keep your landing page simple and show content that will intrigue your visitors. If you are running a contest or have an item you give away for free, Fan Gating is a great option to increase your Likes.  Here are some more examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Do you or your company have a Facebook landing page or did you create one after reading this post? Leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook landing page.

The online marketing world is constantly evolving (as you know) and 2011 was no different for new technologies, features and advancements in website management, PPC advertising and SEO.  Some of our teams have compiled their favorite new features to engines, technologies and online marketing management tools in 2011.

Google Analytics

Google’s free online analytics tool made numerous updates and additions in 2011, including the roll out of a paid package, Google Premium.  One 2011 update Lever’s team highlighted as especially useful was the real-time dashboard.

The Real-Time section displays top referrals, top keywords, top active pages and top locations all in real time.  For a more in-depth overview, check out Jen’s blog post from October.

“The top locations data is the reason why this made my list because it has been very helpful with one of my retail clients.  With the client’s continued international expansion, determining new countries to target is key to the success of our campaigns.  Also, our campaigns are very sale based and rely on critical time frames.  We can instantly see if during a sale the targeted countries are trending in traffic.” – Danyl H.

For more additions to Analytics in 2011 (including mobile and social reporting, multi-channel funnels and the new Google Analytics v5 roll-out) check out Jen Davis’ 2011 Google Analytics blog posts in our archives!

Google AdWords

For many Lever staff members, a large portion of their day is spent within Google AdWords managing PPC campaigns of all shapes and sizes. Any additions to the AdWords online or desktop tool that makes our job easier or campaigns run smoother, generates excitement in the office. One favorite in 2011 was the Google AdWords Dimensions tab.

“The dimensions tab provides an easy way to pull a variety of reports, including geographic, demographic, daily and hourly reports. It’s much quicker than having to run these reports separately in the old reporting interface.” – Jamie W.

What’s your favorite dimension to pivot your AdWords data by?  I most often use the Geographic and Hour of Day dimensions. For more info on dimensions, Jeremy Decker over at Search Engine Journal recently posted a thorough review of the dimension tab to increase conversion rate.

Some other AdWords 2011 additions receiving staff mentions- Social Extensions and Google Display Network targeting by interest categories (previously in beta).

Microsoft adCenter

In late 2011, Microsoft adCenter rolled out an upgraded look to their interface along with some new reporting features. It was a refreshing change that reduced some of the more cumbersome elements of the interface and brought it closer to the functionality you may be use to in Google AdWords. For more details on the upgrade, stop by Search Engine Watch and read John Rampton’s November article.

One of the fall updates to adCenter included a staff favorite - exact match negative keywords.

“It is important to have this level of detail when closely managing large client accounts. I was happy to see adCenter take this next step toward increasing functionality and campaign management options in their system. Hopefully it continues to expand in 2012.” – Brad B.

Google Webmaster Tools

Lever Interactive’s SEO team is good at adapting to changes with the continuous updates engines make to their algorithm, so 2011 was no different than years past. With Google’s decision to begin encrypting searches of users signed in through secure connections, various SEO reporting in Google Analytics became more limited.

One feature in the new Google Analytics interface to help overcome this limitation is through synching into Google Webmaster Tools. In the v5 version of Google Analytics, when you click through Traffic Sources > Search Engine Optimization > Queries, you will see this.

Click “Set Up Webmaster Tools data sharing” and follow the steps. In a minute you’ll have your Google Webmaster data in your Google Analytics account and you can report on impressions by landing page, search queries, clicks, click through rate and even average position.

“It takes some getting used to, but it’s accurate data without guessing, and it’s a step forward toward deep keyword analysis after the push backwards. This makes it very easy to analyze and plan your search engine optimization because you can visualize organic behavior from query to conversion (or exit). This makes it a bit easier to plan content creation by page or category based on which queries are dropping visitors off on your various landing pages.” – Mike H.

 Website Design & Development

We’re wrapping up our list of favorite 2011 online marketing management advancements with our web design team! Although not a new idea, with the rapid expansion of mobile and tablet websites in 2011, the expanded capabilities and use of responsive website layouts is an exciting area of growth in the industry Lever’s design team looks forward to using in 2012. Responsive layouts, formally called fluid layouts, adjust design and images based on the size of your browser window, to provide improved and more customized experiences for the visitor.

“These elements were great in 2011 for mobile websites because the flexible layout will reposition the content as necessary and the flexible images will resize on the fly without reducing the quality. These features help mobile sites look consistent across many mobile devices.” – Jonathan S.

An example of a responsive layout is http://css-tricks.com – open the page and play around with the size of your browser to see the changes in the site.

***

What are your favorite additions to online marketing tools last year?

Stay tuned for our blog post tomorrow for our staff’s resolutions and wish lists for online marketing advancements in 2012!

I recently signed up for a website to interact with fellow bloggers.  Upon sign up I was confused as to what to do next, and gave up as I had more pressing tasks to deal with.   But no worries, I got an email from the company admitting they have usability problems:

Hey jendavislever,

One of the most frequent complaints I hear is that our site is hard to figure… which is partly true because we have too many quite unique features. Today’s step will help you make sense of the service.

Interesting approach to a usability problem, but obviously not one that helps me use the website.  Granted, admitting the problem is the first step, but they have justified it by indicating they have “too many quite unique features.”

The next part of the email introduced their remedy to fix the problem:

We are doing our best to create a clear, easy-to-understand structure, therefore we have introduced “Categories” to somehow categorize and organize new offers.

But I’m not convinced categories are the right answer, even without looking at the site again because their own wording does not convince me: “to somehow categorize…” The word somehow does not show confidence in this fix.

The email continues by telling me how to use the categories in the different areas of the site.  But it adds to more confusion as in one area I am supposed to “look for ‘Category’ drop down” but in another area I am supposed to browse by category using the “icon navigation on top of it.”  In looking at the website, and sure enough, one area it is drop down, the other it is a set of icons, but the categories are the same. There is no apparent reason for the difference.

Next, there are four different search options on the website.  In some ways this may be good if using advanced options but in this instance there are literally four separate search pages which is not good.  Give the user one search, and provide advanced options to search the site vs. user forums for instance.

And this point I have pretty much abandoned even attempting using the site, as it isn’t worth my time to try and navigate it.  And even it I was still considering it, the next paragraph of the email completely turns me off:

Reporting users and threadsWe are a friendly community and we are willing to welcome everyone. However some people want to abuse our tools and we can protect ourselves by reporting those users:

When do I report users and forum?

What follows is more text about reporting others, more text than was used to explain their usability problems. If bad user behavior is such a problem that it has to be address in an email, this is not a community I want to part of.

This email is listed as the second of a five-step course. I’m already turned off at step two and have completely given up on this service.

Making a great user experience should be the number concern of running any website.  Using email to apologize for user experience is not a way to overcome any usability issues.

“Eyetracking visualizations show that users often read web pages in an F-shaped pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe. F for fast. That’s how users read your content. In a few seconds, their eyes move at amazing speeds across your website’s words in a pattern that’s very different from what you learned in school.” (Nielsen, par. 1-2)

How to Make Your Web Pages More “Scannable:”

• Highlight keywords
• Use meaningful sub-heads
• Use bulleted lists
• Keep paragraphs to one idea
• Write in an inverted pyramid style
• Keep your word count down, use about half the word count that you would use for print

Don’t Lose Your Audience
Users will most likely visit multiple web sites in one sitting. Don’t lose your user’s interest by burying information in content-heavy pages. Try to provide useful information in a quick and visual way rather than through long text explanations. If you don’t, the user will more than likely leave your site to view a competitor.

Be Concise
Web writing should be concise. Don’t worry about transitions. Web users don’t look for a smooth, essay-like structure.

If You Have Further Information
If the topic has a lot of content, offer the most useful information on the landing page, and link to additional content for users who want more information. This will help retain users who just want a taste of information, but still satisfy users who are looking for in-depth information.

Is My Web Site Content Heavy?
One of the easiest ways to determine if a particular page is too content heavy is to look at the bounce rate and/or conversions. A page that has multiple paragraphs of text with no visual cues (bullet lists, sub-heads, highlighted keywords, etc.) and a high bounce rate and/or low conversions may indicate it is too content heavy. Conduct a simple A/B test with your original version and a new version with the content reduced, and see if you get better results.

Need help?
Contact Lever Interactive for web site optimization services. We can help identify problem pages, make recommendations and conduct testing.

Nielsen, Jakob. Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design. F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content. Nielson Norman Group. 17 April 2006

Here are some tips to writing good product descriptions:

• Use Specifics
  Descriptive words like “large” and “roomy” mean different things to different people. While you don’t want to exclude them, provide measurements to back up the statement.
• Limit Superlatives
  Web users detest “marketese.” Unless you can back up the statement in some manner, try to limit the use of superlatives like “Best Product,” “Hottest Ever,” etc. Instead offer a list of features allowing the user to determine on their own if it is the “Best Product.” Remember, web users are busy; they want the straight facts. Also, credibility suffers when users clearly see the site exaggerates.
• Provide Tips or Usage Examples
  Give real-world examples and tips on using a product, particularly if it is new, or has multiple uses.
• Don’t be too Fancy
  If the item comes in pink, light green and blue, use those common color terms instead of bubble gum, seafoam and indigo. If the manufacturer has offered the products with unusual color names, be sure to give the common color terms alongside the manufacturer’s color name.
• Keep it Short
  You are competing with millions of other web sites, busy schedules, and the shorter attention span of most potential customers. Keep it simple. Keep it short. Use headlines and bullet lists to help the user scan the text, so they can find their most important reason for buying the product.

If your product descriptions need some work, concentrate on your top 10-20 products first. Make some changes, and test to see if they make a difference. Keep changing and testing until you find the right combination and apply those changes to your remaining inventory.

Need help? Contact Lever Interactive for web site optimization services.