Custom Facebook Pages & FBML

Is HTML a dying language? Many bloggers and website developers nowadays have little knowledge of HTML coding. Facebook has brought it back.  But even then, there are many companies offering tools to create custom Facebook pages without the need to know HTML.

So depending on your coding skill there’s a Facebook option for you to create a totally awesome landing page.  If you’re a skillful coder and know HTML, FBML is a breeze.  It’s basically an open dialog box that accepts script.  Upload your images to a server, write in your script, save it, test it and you’ve got a custom Facebook Page, great for anything from contests, landing pages, e-newsletter sign-up and more.

Not a coder? There are intuitive and simple to use programs and add-ons (see the link above) that will make unique and interesting landing pages that can dramatically improve your “liking” ability.  For the best pages and add-ons however, it will cost you.

So really it’s a question of knowledge vs. cost.  Using FBML is free, and talented designers can use it to make some cool pages.  But, for some real knock-out pages, you may want to consider paying a little extra, especially if you’re sending a whole bunch of traffic to your page from a large Facebook ad campaign.

So, what’s it going to be?