I enjoyed a great conversation with Greg LaFollette of The Tech Gap today.

After introducing him to FlowTown, we had a discussion about mobile apps and the way they are changing the way people interact and use the web. Most striking was his observation that mobile apps are the way people will increasingly access the web. In his words, websites are dead.

He asked: instead of spending time putting up a pretty brochure, why wouldn’t you create an interactive app that would tell you who is at the restaurant with you, what they’re serving and what people recommend…in real time. Even more intriguing, I wondered: what if your mobile device or iPad automatically downloaded apps based on your geo-location, so when you walk into Queen City Bakery, you already have the Queen City Bakery app. Then when you leave or check in somewhere new, your old apps are erased. That way you can always access the information about where you are at the moment without having to think about it.

This new way of using the web is a change from the traditional homepage. Instead of landing on a page and starting to search, you go directly to the room you want to visit. If you want to eat, go straight to the kitchen. If you want to watch a movie, go straight to the basement. It makes me think, what if my parents’ house had multiple doors when I was a teenager? Dangerous.

Facebook is as powerful and wide-reaching as it is frustrating. With frequent changes to the user experience, many users and developers quickly become annoyed and lost on how to navigate and best use Facebook for businesses.

Well, prepare to be frustrated again.

Facebook is changing their page layout the week of August 23rd. One of the major changes is that custom tabs will be resized to 520 pixels. This means that those pretty landing pages like the ones we’ve made for the Great Outdoor Store or Jayne Erickson Photography have to be 520 pixels wide. (Fortunately we already made them to fit the changes!)

The second major change is that Facebook is eliminating the boxes tab. This means that the sidebar boxes on the left will no longer be visible. This information will have to be added to custom tab or the information tab. That’s right, those informational boxes running down the left column will soon be a thing of the past.

With these changes, power of the custom tab has increased dramatically. To provide important information about your organization or business, custom pages like the page for Hechler Orthodontics, are essential. You can create photo sliders, videos and information pages that your customers and members will see when they first land on the page. This can help increase email newsletter signups, likes on the Facebook page and sales in the store.

If you have any questions about the changes or are interested in creating your own Facebook page, let us know.