Facebook redesigned its news feed last week, and the social network giant isn't going to stop there now. The next thing on its list is a makeover for Facebook Pages.
Facebook announced a new look for Pages on Monday, 10 May 2014, changing the appearance of its desktop version, which is equivalent of profiles for public entities such as brands, businesses, and celebrities.
"This week, we'll begin rolling out a streamlined look for pages on desktop that will make it easier for people to find the information they want and help page admins find the tools they use most," said Facebook in a Newsroom post.
The biggest change in the design is a one-column approach to Page posts. Facebook says that the one-column look will ensure that posts show up regularly and consistently across the feed, which was a problem for the old look. The Timeline for brands and businesses that was first introduced in 2012 is now simplified for a less clutter experience.
The new look for Pages is designed after the simplified Timeline design for member profiles that was released last year. It organizes Page information and posts into their own columns for a more clutter-free experience. The left-hand column displays business information such as maps, location, website address, phone number, hours, as well as photos and videos, while the right-hand column serves as a feed of Page posts.
In the previous design, both columns served as the Timeline; posts were staggered between the left and right columns as users scrolled down.
The tweaked desktop design is meant to make it simpler for people to locate essential business information, just as was the case with last year's adjustments to the look of mobile Pages.
In the new design, the "Invite Your Friends" section has moved from the right side of the screen to the left, and the text box for posting switched from the left to the right side.
In addition to the new look, Facebook has added a new feature: Pages to Watch. Admins can use Pages to Watch to monitor the data and performance of some similar pages — giving context to page performance and showing businesses how they stack up against competition.
For Page admins, a new metrics section on the far right-hand side of the Page includes data about ads, Likes and post reach. Facebook is also rolling out "Pages to Watch" for all admins, meaning users can create a list of similar or competitor pages to compare metrics like engagement and Page Likes.
The more organized version of Pages also comes with additional features for Page administrators, who can now view an overview of how their ads are performing, new likes, as well unread notifications and messages no matter where they are in the admin tool.
Facebook also adds new navigation options to the top of the page, making it easier to access activities, insights, and settings. The Build Audience menu at the top of the page offers direct access to Ads Manager account.
The new design follows an effort from Facebook to clean up its design site-wide. Facebook said that the update to Pages is a necessary because the old design has been phased out from pretty much on every other corner of the platform. It also seems more thorough than the News Feed redesign, and coherent with the goals of Pages.
The redesign that comes less than a week after Facebook updated the look for news feed, is relatively minor.
