How to make a Facebook landing page

By default new visitors (just like everyone else) to your Facebook fan or business page will land on the Wall. This is not necessarily a bad thing. However, if you’re out to impress do consider creating a special landing page just for them. So rather than letting them land on a just-another-generic-Facebook wall, you take them to a more personalized, more welcoming page.

You create this by adding a static FBML application. Put it in a tab, then turn the tab into a landing page. You can put almost anything on that page, but the most important one would be to ask them to Like your page. It would be a loss if they leave your welcome page without Liking your page, wouldn’t it?

This welcome page will become a landing page only for non-fan visitors. Once they Liked your page, subsequent visits will take them direct to your fan page’s Wall. (This page will in no way annoy your existing fans, because it doesn’t affect them.)

Here we go,

 

1) Add a static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) application

1. Sign in to Facebook.
2. Go to Static FBML application (this link opens in a new tab/window) page.
3. Click the Add to my Page link on the left.
   
4. Click Add to Page button next to your page name.
   

 

2) Add content to the FBML app

You want to tailor-made the content to appeal new visitors. Do include one or two call-to-action phrases or buttons. Encourage them to at least click the Like button before leaving the landing page. Here we go:

1. Click Edit Page link under your profile image to the left.
2. Then click Applications link on the left of the next page.
3. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and look for FBML application.
   
4. Click the Go to Application link. This will open a text editor.
5. Begin with entering the title of your FBML application. The application will be named after this title, so choose something appropriate.
   
6. Next is to add the content in FBML field.  HTML is acceptable. Javascript and iframe are not allowed. 
   -The simplest and most popular method is to just embed an image.
   1. Create your landing page image using Gimp or Photoshop.
   2. Set the width of the image to be the same as the effective width of the tab canvas, which is 520px.
   3. Paste this HTML code in the text editor:
      

      <img title="" src="DIRECT LINK TO THE YOUR WEB HOSTED IMAGE" alt=""/>

   -To add buttons or other hyperlinked images, use this HTML:
   

   <a title="" href="DESTINATION URL"img src="DIRECT LINK TO YOUR WEB HOSTED IMAGE" alt=""></a>

7. Click Save Changes button when done.

 

3) Make the tab your default landing page

Now it’s time you make the tab you added into the default welcome page. Do remember this tab will become default only to non-fan visitors.

1. Go back to your the wall of your page.
2. Click the Options link under the status update box’s Share button. The link will the change to Settings. Click on it to view your page settings.
   
3. Under View Settings, select your new tab from the dropdown menu next to Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else.
    
4. Finished!

4) Check out my landing page (don’t laugh)

If you haven’t Like Blogger Sentral’s fan page yet, clicking the link will take you to a Welcome page, as expected. (And while you’re at it, why don’t click the Like button, come back here, and then click the link one more time. See if it still takes you to the Welcome page.)

For Blogger Sentral’s fan (thank you), the link will take you to the page’s Wall. Click the Welcome tab to view the landing page.

 

Enjoy!