Facebook starts rolling out new layout for Facebook Pages

Facebook's official Twitter account sent out the following message today: "The upgrade to Facebook Pages will be rolling out to all Pages today. Learn more at http://ow.ly/4bWhV." This means that the opt-in phase has ended and Facebook has begun rolling out the new Facebook Pages layout to everyone.

Facebook first announced the new layout a month ago, and it was clear from the get-go that the social network was interested in aligning the design of Facebook Pages and Facebook Profiles.

Here's a refresher as to what Facebook is touting as the three biggest improvements with the new layout:

• Better Communication: you can navigate and interact with other areas of the social network as your Facebook Page, meaning you can choose to receive notifications about fan activity, Like and comment on other Pages as your Page, as well as get your own News Feed where you can engage with the latest and most important news from other Pages you like.
• More Opportunities for Expression: Facebook Pages will benefit from many of the same enhancements in the new Facebook Profile design. You'll be able to feature photos of your Page's most recent experiences at the top of your Page and highlight other Pages you are connected with as well as the people who are managing your Page.
• Improved Relevancy: Facebook Pages should be more engaging since users will be able to filter by Top Posts, which shows the most interesting stories first, or by Most Recent, which show posts in chronological order.

The changes will be pushed out in a typical staggered launch; the whole process will take a few weeks. If you want to preview the changes before everyone else, head over to facebook.com/pages/status (where you can also view the status of your Facebook Pages) and hit the Preview button.