For small business owners, first impressions traditionally come from in-person visits. In today’s increasingly digital world, however, your online presence is often a new customer’s first interaction with you. That’s especially true when it comes to Facebook business pages.
If it helps, think about your Facebook page as a storefront. Therefore, your Facebook cover photo is your primary window display. Just like the window of your brick and mortar business, it should be relevant, eye-catching, and draw people inside — or in this case, encourage readers to scroll down!
Inspire interest
Since your cover photo will be the first thing your page visitors see, it’s important to leave a lasting impression. So, try to evoke emotional responses to pique their interest. For example, take Carrier Roasting Co., a small coffee roaster in Vermont with the manifesto, “fire and patience.”
By using a simple photo of a pour-over coffee maker in use, Carrier Roasting Co. inspires interest from people who connect coffee with slowing down and relaxation instead of a caffeine boost.
Size matters
Your cover photo displays differently on desktops (820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall) than it does on smartphones (640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall). Generally, uploading a photo with a 4:3 ratio will be your best bet, so long as its focal point is not too close to an edge.
56.5 percent of users access Facebook exclusively from mobile devices, according to VentureBeat. This makes it especially important to ensure that your Facebook cover photo looks great across all devices.
Limit your text
Limit the amount of text used in your cover photo. This is your opportunity to visually tell a story.
Daytrip Society uses their call-to-action button to invite customers to “Shop Now.” Their cover photo features a text-free shot of a popular product.
Eliminating the use of text requires less photo editing. Place interesting text further down the page instead. Integrating your Facebook presence with your WordPress.com website is a great way to easily do this.
Keep it updated
As a best practice, commit to changing your cover photo at least once per quarter. If you can change it once per month, even better. Just remember that there is such a thing as changing your cover photo too often. You don’t want to clog user timelines with frequent updates.
By following the Facebook cover photo best practices outlined here, visitors will leave your page with good impressions of your business — driving them to make return visits and to become loyal fans.
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