ShortStack began as a small creative services agency focused on graphic design in the ever-changing world of online advertising, marketing, and website promotion. With the rise of social media as an effective way to create brand identity and enhance visibility, ShortStack was able to adapt, and focused on developing Facebook applications. ShortStack went public in November 2010 and now offers numerous tools that enable businesses, agencies, and brands to create effective and engaging custom Facebook tabs.Creating a high converting Facebook page for a businessIn just a few short years, Facebook has gone from being a college-only social network to a social media juggernaut used by corporations and small businesses alike. ShortStack treats the process of creating a company Facebook page akin to designing a website: design, layout, and content are the key indicators of its final impact. With custom iFrame tabs and powerful design tools, Facebook applications from ShortStack help businesses design better pages that stand out. The user-friendly and intuitive Rich Text Widget supports WYSIWYG content creation, and the best part is that these widgets and applications are free until a Page has 2,000 fans/likes.

Creating a Facebook Page for a business with a custom Facebook Page design

Facebook possesses incredible user engagement potential, but designing attractive, compelling, and persuasive Pages for businesses can be difficult. It’s a task that requires plenty of creativity, oodles of patience, and knowledge of PHP, HTML, FBML (Facebook Mark-Up Language) and CSS. Because these programming languages are so nuanced and intricate, it’s often best left to professional designers and programmers who can be consulted to create these custom Facebook Pages. But small businesses and startup firms that run on fixed budgets may not be able to afford a professional designer.

This is where ShortStack steps in and steals the show with user-friendly Facebook Page design. The ever-expanding range of customizable options includes sweepstakes, contests, slideshows, videos, and much more, and it’s all designed with the novice user in mind. Other features include a custom publish option that personalizes tabs and label icons to match the brand and the Product Widget that adds a list of products along with the title, description, URL, and photo. Running a promotion? Spice it up with ShortStack by displaying a countdown timer.

Designing a professional, innovative Facebook business page

ShortStack users can add and rearrange unlimited widgets, and all it takes to add a new one is a single click. Users get to control the content visibility through these widgets that can be made visible to fans, non-fans, or both. ShortStack’s fan-only content is not visible in the page source code, so there is no scope for cheating the fan gates that remains a possibility when designers use static FBML. Flash-based iFrame tabs can be created quickly using ShortStack’s built-in Media Manager and Flash Widget. Advanced features and options include a built-in editor that validates CSS with a single click, saves tabs as reusable themes, and supports real-time updating while the CSS is edited.

How to start a Facebook business page that promotes user engagement

Social networking thrives on the elements of user interaction, engagement, and involvement. Videos, blog posts, newsletters, shared links, status updates, photos, and replies to user comments all draw the attention of Facebook users and transforms them into loyal customers and permanent clients. Creating this content is easy to do with ShortStack. Making a Facebook fan page with video and audio integration is a breeze using YouTube playlists that showcase your products and services. Fans can access mp3s, podcasts, original songs, and other recorded files through SoundCloud audio integration. Want your fans to sign up to receive your newsletters? Use the Mailchimp widget. The Flickr widget to pulls in your photos to create a gallery that allows fans to view all your images without leaving Facebook. ShortStack’s Image widget adds and shares select images and Photoshop designs. Add pop-up triggers and link to other tabs by creating clickable hotspots that lead to external URLs. Remember to keep your content fresh to attract new fans and retain your long-standing ones. ShortStack’s RSS Widget fuels the Facebook page with a feed that constantly updates.