Customizing Facebook Fan page.

Is your Facebook page dull and uninviting? Maybe you’ve seen those really attractive Facebook pages and wondered, “How’d they do that?” Given Facebook’s powerhouse status for marketers, isn’t it time you upgraded your Facebook page?

I can’t really understand why Facebook doesn’t create an editor that lets users create a super fan page. I can only guess they don’t want to deal with it and prefer their uniform design, which may be boring but at least it is consistent and familiar. Instead, Facebook lets other people get creative and offer an array of Facebook related apps built on the API. In any case, you must know this by now: A personalized page can drive more attention and probably, more traffic to your brand.

How can you help your brand stand out from the competition and increase the relevancy of your Facebook page?

The answer: Static FBML. This article will share what you need to know to conduct a Facebook page makeover.

What Is Static FBML?

FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language, which is a subset of HTML.

Static FBML is a Facebook application that allows Facebook page administrators to create custom tabs on their Facebook pages. This application is only available for Facebook pages, not for personal profiles or Facebook groups.

Adding Static FBML to Your Facebook Page:

You can add Static FBML in four easy steps.

Make sure you are an administrator of the Facebook page so you have the ability to edit.

Go to the Static FBML application.

Click “Add to my Page.”

A window will appear that contains a list of the Facebook pages for which you are an administrator. Click “Add to Page” to add the application.

Static FBML is now added to your page.

Before you add content to your FBML tab, you should have an idea the image or video size you need so these components fit in the space provided.

Setting Up Static FBML as a Tab

To set up your FBML tab, click on “Edit Info” .

Adding Content to Your Static FBML Tab:

Now it’s time to edit and add content. Scroll down to the “Applications” section and locate the FBML app, but this time click “Edit.” The FBML tab will be empty.
This is the area where you can name the FBML tab and add HTML code. Please note that FBML does not work with all HTML code. For example, JavaScript does not work. You’ll need to experiment.

How to Add a Clickable Image in Static FBML

When adding an image in the FBML box, I’ve found that the best place to host images is Photobucket. Using Flickr or Facebook photos caused issues for me. If it works for you, stick with it. The maximum width for an image in the FBML tab is 520px.
There is no maximum height, but think of it as a landing page by keeping the scrolling to a minimum. Ask yourself: do you want users to scroll down to get the message or do you want to get the main point across once they’ve landed on your page?
Upload your image to your Photobucket account. Copy the direct URL to the image you intend to use in your FBML box. Next, you want to use this code:
<a href=”http://xxxxx” mce_href=”http://xxxxx” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://yyyyy” mce_src=”http://yyyyy” width=”##px” height=”##px” border=”0″ alt=” “></a>
Replace the xxxxx with the target URL. Replace the yyyyy with the direct link to your uploaded Photobucket image. Replace the ## with your width and height in pixels.

How to Embed a YouTube Video in Static FBML?

As with images, I would recommend a maximum width of 520px for a tab. After uploading your video, you want to use this code:
<fb:swf swfbgcolor=”000000” imgstyle=”border-width:##px; border-color:white;” swfsrc=”http://www.youtube.com/v/xxxxx” imgsrc=”http://img.youtube.com/vi/xxxxx/2.jpg” width=”520″ height=”400″ />
Replace the xxxxx with your YouTube’s video ID. In both examples below, “MqqKPWhY4es” is my YouTube ID.
Example 1: In this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqqKPWhY4es, all the characters after the “=” are the YouTube ID.
Example 2: If your YouTube link looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqqKPWhY4es&feature=player_embedded, all the characters after the “=” and before the “&feature” will be the YouTube ID.
You can change the values of “swfbgcolor” and “imgstyle” to your preferences. The “imgsrc” is a bit trickier because it is a preview image. When a user clicks on the preview image, it turns into the video. To see a real-life example, you can go to the Become Expert (see below screen shot). In order to change the preview image, you can replace the URL to a direct link to one of your Photobucket images (or any other source).
Make sure you open and close all tags and quotes.