Chances are you’ve seen emails and notifications over the last couple weeks, letting you know that your Facebook business page layout is going to change. If you’re like me, you’ve ignored these – especially if you run multiple business pages and keep getting email after email.

But… the reality is that this change is happening. And you’re better off setting up your page formatting NOW, before Facebook does it for you. Which they will do automatically on August 24, 2018. And to be honest, it’s really not that scary, different, or even all that much work. But done well, it can make a much bigger impact on your page.

So, some quick background for you: Facebook business pages all had one style – the “standard” layout. Now, to make pages more relative to the industry or customer they serve, you can choose from different options. Most businesses will fall into the Business or Services layouts. But there are also layouts designed for Venues, Movies, Nonprofits, Politicians, Restaurants & Cafes, Shopping, and Videos. Each of these has a slightly different layout and showcases different tabs to make it easier for your visitors and customers to find the most relevant information for your business.

To get started, log into your Facebook page and go to the Settings button. Select “Edit Page” from the left sidebar menu. Then, under the “Templates” section, choose “Edit” to select the format style of your choice. You can tap on “View Details” for each option to see the layout and which tabs will be visible.

For my Jenn’s Trends page, I chose the Services layout, since that’s what I do. I was a little nervous because it said the Instagram tab and Groups tab would now be hidden. Uh oh!! But, I realized very few people click through to my Instagram anyways. And I have the “Visit Group” button as my CTA button on my profile, so hiding the Groups tab shouldn’t have a significant impact on my group visits.

If you run multiple groups, you might want to choose the Business layout. But, this layout hides your Events and Services tabs.

If you fall into one of the other more targeted categories, try that one! The Restaurant layout has a Get Directions button as the main CTA and offers a simpler layout with plenty of tab options.

For the Services option, which many of you likely fall into, you can actually list services that you offer. I actually really like this as I can list my basic services and prices (which are listed on my website too) in an easy-to-access location. This helps clarify to my audience that they can actually work with me and what it’ll cost to do so.

Adding a service listing is super easy! Select the Services tab from the left sidebar menu and click on “Add a Service”. You can name the service, include a price, define the length of the service (minutes and hours), and include a description. You can even upload an image to make it more appealing.

For those of us that don’t have physical products and therefore can’t set up a Facebook shop, this is a great alternative to still be able to convert customers.

Additionally, if you run certain services at different times or during promotional periods, you can publish and unpublish your services for easy toggling on and off.

So, you can see, this literally takes just a few minutes to change over your layout. And, yes, you could wait for Facebook to do it for you, but then a lot of the information (like my services) would not be listed. It is so worth it for you to take a few extra minutes this week and set up your new layout properly.

While you’re at it, if you haven’t customized your “Story” section (misleading because it’s not Stories but your actual business history), you should totally do that too! The Story is the image and “Our Story” section in the right sidebar area on your Facebook business page. Facebook will pull a photo from your archives and throw up your basic info you previously put into your page details.

But I highly recommend you use this place to actually tell the story of your brand. Be personable and relatable. Change the photo and the title. Welcome your audience and introduce your business to them as though they have no idea who you are.

These few small changes won’t take you long but they optimize your Facebook page to draw in new followers and convert followers into customers. That’s not something you really wanna pass up, right?