Tips to Design a Great Facebook Cover Photo

Whether you own a small business, a large brand or have your personal Facebook page, the cover photo is the first visual piece of content before they continue to the posts or photos. Studies have shown that viewers will blow right past the whole top section of a page if it looks anything like promotional material.  The following tips can inspire you to redesign your own cover photo and make your business successful!

      1.  Abide by Facebook guidelines

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      1. Use the correct cover photo dimensions.

Cover photos uploaded to Facebook 850 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall.  Be sure to pay attention to where the page name, description and page buttons and where they overlay the cover photo. Below is a guide to design a cover photo in the correct dimensions.

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Chad Fullerton does a great job describing the changes made earlier this year to Facebook’s Fan Pages. You can also download a PSD template for the Facebook cover photo as of June 2014. https://www.chadfullerton.com/facebook-pages-changes-june-5-2014-template/ If you upload an image that’s smaller than these dimensions, it will get stretched to the larger size and it will not look professional. Any image on Facebook looks better when saved as .png file, because it conserves its quality better than any other format.

      1. Use your cover photo to your fullest advantage!

Do not hide content behind the profile picture. Include a call-to-action. You can draw attention to the special promotions or show off your services. By showing what you offer, your page’s visitors have less text to read. Also include clickable links in the description. The following are great examples of showing, instead of telling.

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This is also an opportunity to show your transparency and show your customers the faces behind the company. The KUHF Houston Public Radio took this a step further and showed their employees at work.

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      1. Get creative!

– Put your fans & customers center stage: Putting your fans up top creates excitement and makes you and your business much more personable. Applebees (https://www.facebook.com/applebees) does a great job of this, by encouraging their customers to share their pictures using a particular hashtag. By creating contests like this, companies can create a relationship with their customers and nourish it by showcasing submitted photos.

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You can also integrate the cover photo with other parts of your Facebook page. Sprite (https://www.facebook.com/Sprite) for example, designed their profile picture to match their cover photo. It expands their canvas and is aesthetically pleasing. It also aids in Sprite’s branding by having the profile picture able to stand alone, but it fits into the theme of the cover photo.

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      1. Update your cover photo seasonally.

Update your cover photo seasonally. It shows that your page is current and updated frequently. Starbucks (https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks) does this well by always incorporating a product in a season themed photo.

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      1. Use beautiful photography to show your brand’s personality.

A picture is worth a thousand words. But a photograph that displays a brand’s personality is worth a business’ reputation. The following examples are photographs that visually show a company’s campaign or reputation.

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When designing your next cover photo, keep in mind what you are trying to achieve. Based on the industry your company is in, different techniques are more appropriate and successful.