If you have a Facebook Page for your business, you may have recently received an email saying a new layout of your Page is coming on the 24^th of August. There are 80 million pages on Facebook owned by small businesses, and these are the ones targeted to be redesigned.

Facebook is redesigning Pages: what does this mean?

The biggest new features will include making it easier for interaction. For example, consumers will be able to “get an appointment” through salons or “make a reservation” in restaurants. The redesign will be different for each business category of Pages.

Also to improve the quality of reviews left on Facebook, they are adding a limit of just 25 characters. It’s making its recommendations feature more prominent by adding crowdsourced recommendations directly to pages as a substitute to traditional reviews – as you can see pictured below on the third phone screen.

A feature that could be unsettling to some is the addition of other related Pages suggested. But Facebook argues that there is currently no easy way to discover new business and this will help to do so.

To provide promotion on more than the feed, Pages will be able to post Stories. There will also be a job application tab for small businesses to recruit staff.

The last big development is the Local section which will be added to the Facebook app and website. Users will be able to see which places are recommended the most, and where their friends are attending. It’s a way of encouraging people to explore events and businesses in their area.

The redesign of Pages will start with local services, restaurants and TV shows. But Facebook plans to roll out these custom designs to other types of Pages in the near future.

Like my Facebook Fan Page for more social media news and ways to take advantage of these new Page layouts as and when Facebook roll out new features.

(MORE: 9 secrets that will boost your Facebook reach organically)