NOTE: Since the writing of this blog post, Facebook has discontinued Static FBML. Adding a Twitter app to your Facebook page is now easier than ever before using free tools such as Woobox.com. Here’s how:
- When logged into Facebook as your personal profile.
- Open another window on your browser and log into your Twitter account.
- In a third window, go to http://Woobox.com.
- Log into Woobox using your Facebook account.
- On the top of the page, you’ll be able to choose which Facebook page you’d like to use to install this app. Choose your business page from the menu.
- Now look at the top of the page, choose “static tabs.”
- Then choose “Twitter,” and follow the directions on this page.
Woobox will install a Twitter app on the left hand side of your business page and pull your Twitter feed into the app for your visitors to see. The app view will also include a button for people to “follow” you on Twitter, directly from that Facebook app.
Brand awareness is directly connected to increased visibility. Making it easy for people to find you, wherever you are, is just plain good business. Twitter, the micro-blogging social media platform is tracked by Google. Every tweet you make is a unique URL and increases your visibility online, making it easier for people to discover you in a search.
Adding a Twitter Button on the wall of your Facebook Business Page–not your personal profile–allows people to easily find and follow you on Twitter. You want people to be able to interact with you on any social platform they frequent, so adding a convenient way to connect with you on Twitter is a key visibility strategy. I’ve blogged about this in the past, but since Facebook has changed it’s face so many times in the last year, I thought people might need these updated step-by-step instructions. Please feel free to post a comment here if anything is fuzzy and I’ll clarify or illuminate any issues you are having.
Step One: Install the Static FBML (Facebook Mark-up Language) Application to your page. To find this application, enter the words “Static FBML” in the search window on the blue bar at the top of your page.
Step Two: When you get to the Application page, click “Add to My Page” which you’ll find directly underneath the Avatar image on the upper left hand side of the page.
Step Three: An overlay screen will pop up and list the names of any pages associated with your profile that do not already have Static FBML installed. You’ll click the “Add to Page” button next to the page on which you wish to install this application.
Step Four: Go back to your profile and click “Ads and Pages” on the left hand side of the page.
Step Five: Click Edit under the FBML application in your list of applications on your page.
Step Six: A box will appear that can be customized. You’ll title it “Follow Me On Twitter” or “Tweet with Me” or something that invites people to follow you there.
Step Seven: Enter your HTML coding into the FBML box for your custom designed Twitter button or you can use google to find a variety of sites that offer free Twitter images. I like Twitter Buttons where you can enter your Twitter name into the automatic code generator and they provide you with the HTML code you need to create a button.
Once you’ve entered your desired code, press “Save Changes.”
Step Eight: Go back to your page and click the + sign on your tabs bar. Locate your new “Follow Me On Twitter” FBML app and click on it.
You’ll see that the phrase “Follow Me on Twitter” has now become a custom tab on your screen.
Your image is now a live link, under this custom tab.
Make sure you post about your new tab to alert your followers.
Hi Daniella, Facebook just recently removed the “Boxes” application and so these instructions are no longer valid. In order to add a link to your Twitter Account now, you’ll need to house your Twitter button HTML under a custom tab. You’ll create the custom tab using Static FBML and then name the tab “Twitter” or whatever you like. This new Facebook change doesn’t allow any boxes to be displayed on the left hand side of your page anymore. So the only place for new custom content is under a tab. Hope that helps.
how do i make a tab using static FBML?
Daniella, Here’s a link to a post I created earlier that leads you through the steps to creating a custom tab. https://cindyratzlaff.com/blog/personal-branding/twitter/how-to-add-a-twitter-button-to-your-facebook-fan-page/
when i click add to my page it says “no results”
You should remove this article or at least put a disclaimer at the beginning saying it is no longer valid. I just wasted 20 min trying to get it to work :(
Kevin, I’m so sorry you had difficulty with this. The post is still valid for creating a custom tab but since Facebook removed all wall boxes in the last month, we can no longer have any images or boxes on the wall. I appreciate the heads up, hate that I wasted your time but not doing an update to to this older post and have done so now thanks to you. I appreciate the time you took to tell me and again wish I could refund those 20 minutes.
Hi Cindy,
Desperately want to add buttons to our Facebook page, but can’t figure out how. There seem to be loads of Static FBML pages and apps on Facebook.
Would love to know how to do this!
Regards,
Susan
Hi Susan, Facebook has changed the format they allow for adding pages in 2011. Static FBML is not longer allowed for any new additions to a fan page. Now we must build all new tabs as apps (those boxes below the cover photo). Every new app must be built on an iframe. Here’s a link to Facebook’s Developer page where they explain this process. In a nutshell, you could add a page all about your other social media sites, including your Twitter account. You could add a custom image for people to click on to go directly to your Twitter account. But you’ll need to know how to write the HTML code to do that. Social Buttons a fun site that has the HTML code you would pop into an iframe with some pre-designed “Follow me on Twitter” buttons. http://www.socialmediabuttons.com/ BUT, you’ll want to get some assistance sizing them for the new, larger apps format Facebook is now using.
Hi Susan, Facebook phased out support for FBML in 2011 so we now must use iFrames to create those rectangular boxes underneath our page cover photo. Those app boxes can contain very media rich, highly designed HTML pages. Take a look at this one from Queen of Your Own Life.