When people visit your Facebook page, the first thing that catches their attention is your cover photo. Since it’s one of the most noticeable parts of your page, it’s important to follow Facebook cover photo best practices, regardless of whether you’re using Facebook to close your next sale, generate leads, or create a community for your customers.
Here are five tips for creating an effective, optimized cover photo that will help you create the right first impression:
Follow Cover Photo Guidelines
You can read the full list here, but the main guidelines to keep in mind when creating a cover photo are:
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- All covers are public; anyone who visits your Facebook page will be able to see your cover.
- Use unique images that represent your page; cover photos cannot be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone’s copyright.
- You may not ask other people to upload your cover photo on their personal timelines.
Use a Simple Cover Photo with High Resolution
If your cover photo is “busy”, or has a lot going on, there’s no focal point to draw attention. Think about what you want your audience to get from this cover photo, what you main objective is, and make it the focal point. Using filler graphics and text to add interest is fine, just be sure it doesn’t distract from your main point. Just as important is a high resolution photo. Low resolution photos don’t look professional, and can have visitors clicking off your page. For more information on cover photo dimensions, click here.
Keep the Focus Visual
Even though Facebook removed the 20% rule on text back in 2013 that stated your cover photo could have no more than 20% text, it’s still better to have a more image than text. Visual images communicate more than text, and let’s face it, most people don’t take the time to read text, they’ll just look at the image. When you do add text, try to use as few words as possible to make it a quick read.
Integrate Your Cover Photo With The Rest of Your Facebook Page
Integrating your cover photo with the rest of your Facebook page gives continuity, and helps your marketing efforts stand out. There are a number of ways to do this, such as combining your profile photo and cover photo, using the same color palette across your page, or bringing attention to call-to-action buttons.
Remember Those Using Mobile Devices
According to a report by Facebook in 2016, more than half of its users access it exclusively from mobile devices. This is important to keep in mind when creating a cover photo, because your profile picture will block different areas of your cover photo depending on whether your page is being viewed from a desktop or mobile device.
To ensure your cover photo isn’t being compromised, avoid putting important text or the focus of your image on the far right of your cover photo, as this area is usually blocked when viewed on a mobile device.
Following these tips can help you create effective cover photos, and in turn improve your Facebook marketing efforts.
