Facebook fan pages are a great marketing tool. With a fan page, you meet your customers where they are–on Facebook–and you engage with them in hopes of making them a lifetime customer. Sometimes, it isn’t always that easy.

Just as any other marketing campaign, you need to make sure that your Facebook fan page is aligned with your priorities and strategy. Are you setting out to honor your fans by giving them great Facebook-exclusive deals? Make sure your fan page reflects that purpose. Are you trying to build an army of advocates that will help your business grow? Organize your fan page to accomplish your goal.

There are two parts to a fan page, the design and the content. To make things a little easier, I’m going to provide you with two awesome posts about this topic, one post for each part.

Let’s cover the design aspect today and we’ll hit the content portion at the beginning of next week.

The design of your Facebook fan page speaks volumes about your commitment to your online marketing campaign, so make sure it’s what you want to portray.

Here are four design tactics you need to consider when constructing (and reconstructing) your fan page:

Profile Picture – Your “default” profile picture is uber-important when designing your page. It is one of the most critical aspects of your page because it is what draws users to you and your business, no matter your purpose.

If I am searching “Bob’s Plumbing” or “Chicago’s Best Pizza,” the only way I will know that I have found the correct company is by looking at the images in the search result. If your logo or face isn’t prominent and easily recognizable, I’m not going to find you. It’s like finding Nemo in the ocean; it can be done (obviously) but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.

Do you want to put your potential fans, customers, or clients through that tough search?

Text Box Blurb - Facebook gives you a small section of retail space below your profile picture to put something about yourself or your business. Most people underestimate the great value of this space. In essence, this is your 30-second elevator pitch to anyone visiting your page for the first time.

Make your words count and allow them to authentically tell what you’re all about. If you’re about gaining more customers, talk about your wonderful food, catering, or roofing work. If you take pride in supplying your customers with sweet deals on your stuff, say so in this box.

Use this box to amplify your business and to alert customers of your purpose for the fan page.

Tabs and Applications – Facebook and developers have provided a boat load of content that can be added to your fan page to boost your image and the page’s functionality. The applications you have enabled will tell users exactly what your intent is on Facebook.

By default, you are given the option to include various applications, such as media sharing and customer reviews. Depending on your choice of add-ins, viewers can tell the main purpose of the fan page. If you are including the Reviews application, you want to give customers or clients a place to brag or diss your company or product. In the customer’s mind, you’re focused on customer service. No matter your enabled applications, your viewers will be able to tell your goals and focuses.

It’s also important to note that if you want to give off the image that you’re more than just a once-a-week-fan-page-administrator, include applications that ARE NOT automatically enabled when you sign up for your fan page. This shows initiative and customers love it.

FBML (Facebook Markup Language) - FBML is a great way to take the next step in managing and improving your fan page.

FBML is a programming language that Facebook uses to create its pages. With certain bits of code, you can customize your fan page to really have an impact on your visitors. With FBML, you can do some interesting things, such as include an email opt-in form on your page, track your fan page using Google Analytics, and post additional media, such as Flash videos. If you’re looking to take the next step and WOW your visitors, upgrade your page using FBML. It speaks volumes when you take initiative and show that you are dying to interact and engage with your audience.

Here are some pages with free resources regarding FBML:

7 FBML Examples To Rock Your Facebook Fan Page
How To Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML

Your fan page is a critical marketing tool to manage. If you don’t advertise and present it appropriately, you and your reputation will suffer. In today’s world, it’s critical to ensure that your online presence is saying the right things about you.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by stucklo6an

I can remember the first time I met Chris Brogan. I thought the guy was a whackjob. He was speaking at Bootcamp Pittburgh (a Podcamp offshoot) in 2007. I was there also to speak and make more connections with others interested in online media.

Chris was sporting a “free hugs” T-shirt and showing us YouTube videos of people embracing. At the time I can remember thinking, “what a bunch of mumbo jumbo hippie crap.” But he seemed to be a leader in the new media/podcasting space, so I interviewed him for an early episode of our Folk Media podcast. Little did I know then that meeting Chris Brogan would change how I thought about new media and the internet, and ultimately my career. He had insights into the internet culture that made no sense to me then – but were downright prophetic when I look back on them.

Chris is at heart a community guy. He looks to bring people together from all walks of life and has been a mentor and cheerleader for me and countless others in social media and online content creation. When he shared with me that he would be starting a new membership community for online entrepreneurs I was very excited. I joined as one of the founding members of the Third Tribe community.

The Third Tribe is run by Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse and Sonia Simone. If you are unfamiliar with some of these names – all four of them are full-time bloggers and internet entrepreneurs that have greatly influenced how businesses and individuals market online using social media and blogs.

A great way to drive traffic to your website or blog is to create a few secondary places on the web to place your content. These can then point back to your main website or blog. Here are three services I recommend.

1) Squidoo

Squidoo let’s you set up a free page online centered around a topic or person. Because of the specific nature of a Squidoo page – you can send traffic back to your blog or website. You can also import your blog RSS feed into onto the page. For more information on setting up a Squidoo page visit their getting started page.

2) Flickr

Flickr is an online photo site. I think they have the best service for uploading and sharing photos across the web. Open an account with them and begin uploading some photos.

Most people don’t use Flickr to its full potential.  The service gives you the ability to write long descriptions under each photo. This is great because as people find your pictures they can then be directed to your website or blog. Plus an added feature is the ability to host your photographs on Flickr and cross post them to your blog or site.

3) YouTube

As you already know, YouTube is the worlds largest depository of online video. There are millions of people watching video on this site every day. YouTube is a free place to host your videos and exposes them to an audience of millions. With a simple camera you can begin recording short videos and posting them online. This can give your business a face and another place for customers and clients to find and connect with you.

Driving Traffic

The goal in this post is to show you how to gain extra traffic online for your business. Don’t forget, there are other ways to use secondary sites to gain customer feedback or communicate with your volunteers or staff.

Let’s put these three tools into use. First, begin by uploading content to both YouTube and Flickr. This could be some training videos, product information, product photos, etc. In the area provided under each photo or video be sure to write detailed and compelling description. In the tag section, place a few keywords that you think are both appropriate for your content and will be searched for by your prospects, customers, and clients.

Next, build a simple page about your particular industry or company in Squidoo. Link to various websites, resources, and blogs that your potential customers will find helpful. Be sure to link to your products and services as well.

Finally, link YouTube, Squidoo and Flickr together. Be sure to have outbound links from your website and blog to these secondary sites. But more importantly have incoming links from these secondary sites back to your blog and website.

We are continuing to release more tips and advice on how to drive traffic to your blog or website. Let us know what particular topics would help you grow your business in the comments section.

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Joel Mark Witt is a producer, speaker, and new media leader who writes about social media and its impact in the business world. He is also the Founding Director of Folk Media. Send him an email: joelmarkwitt (at) folkmedia.org or follow him on Twitter.