Best Practices for Facebook Cover Photos & Videos

| Updated on March 26, 2024

Facebook has transformed itself drastically throughout the years. Earlier used as a platform to connect with friends and groups, it has now turned into an essential marketing tool. Now, people are using Facebook to promote, advertise, and represent their company or business. 

There’s a very famous quote which says, we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that’s not the case with Facebook cover photos. We judge someone’s profile or Facebook page by its cover photo.     

Fb cover photo- a big, bold banner size image taking up almost a quarter of the screen, is your profile’s headline that introduces your brand to potential Facebook users.

A Facebook cover photo is important mainly because when someone visits your Facebook page, the first thing they see is your cover photo. A good cover photo has the power to engage and gather more and more users to your Facebook page which thereafter, can result in increased engagement, more likes and boost traffic to your website. 

And to achieve this with the help of your cover photo, you’ll have to learn some best practices for Facebook cover photos. Among the best practices for Facebook cover photos & videos, the first and foremost thing which you need to take into consideration is- 

  • The demographics of your customers and subscribers. 
  • Try to come up with something that relates to your customers.
  • Your cover image should represent your customers and subscribers group.
  • And your cover should use powerful emotion as a tool to interact and engage with your subscribers.

Facebook Demographic Information

But, do you know what’s the demographic of your current Facebook following? If not then here’s how you find out step by step-

  • Step 1: Select ‘Insights’ at the top of your homepage.
  • Step 2: On the left side of the screen you’ll see ‘Overview’ and in that search for the term ‘People’ and click on that.
  • Step 3: Then select ‘Your Fans’

This is an important tool for you to utilize. From ‘your Fans’, you can see who likes your page. It will show you the exact percentages of your subscribers by their Age, Gender, Country, City, and Language. This way you will gain valuable information about your subscribers, and use this information as a resource while creating the perfect Facebook cover photo for your page.  But it might get difficult to guess about the type of images that attracts your subscribers and customers.

Type & Components of Cover Photos

Don’t worry! Here we’ve presented four components that can be applied to your Facebook cover photo to mold people actions according to your choice when they come to your page and they are-

  • Text and Hashtags: Look for the right words that will lead your audience to interact
  • Relevance: Try to include something that fits with your audience’s interest
  • Emotion: Play with the emotion of your particular audience in the right manner because making people feel, leads them to take action
  • Typography: Choosing the right font will make your message clear among the audience.  

How to Create, Use, Change, and Add Facebook Cover Photos?

Facebook Cover photos or Facebook Banners are considered as a perfect example of how social media marketing is different than regular social media usage. But, do you know exactly how to create, use, change and add Facebook cover photos—and get the most out of them? If not, then don’t worry we’re here to help you with it. Let’s get started:

Facebook cover photo size guidelines- Make sure your image fits the Facebook page cover photo size guidelines. A Page’s cover photo must be high-quality and perfectly optimized for display. Sometimes referred to as Facebook banner size, the minimum dimensions required for a Facebook cover photo are 851 x 315 pixels with a file size of less than 100 kb and it should be in sRGB JPG file format only. As per the recommendations of Facebook for a high-quality photographic experience, you can also try and choose the PNG file option to display a high definition logo in your cover image to stand out. 

Facebook Cover Dimensions- Your cover photo displays at 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones and 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on computers. The cover image is displayed differently on both the devices i.e., mobile and desktop. On the computer, Facebook cover photos are more rectangular, resulting in larger displays and on mobile, the cover photo is more in a square shape, allowing it to fit on a portrait-oriented screen. 

Therefore, you need to be very careful while designing your Facebook cover photo dimensions.

For a Facebook cover photo that looks good on any screen, Facebook recommends an image size that is 820 pixels x 462 pixels. This is also relevant to the platform’s new cover format i.e., ‘Facebook cover videos’. 

Facebook cover video sizes- FB cover videos are another way to grab a Facebook user’s attention on your page. On the desktop, cover videos surely look more engaging than static photos, and can really bring the Facebook page to life. With a video, you can tell a longer story and share more about your business. 

However, as compared to desktop, cover videos are less effective on mobile, because they don’t autoplay, and instead load as a thumbnail. 

For the ideal settings of cover video size and duration, Facebook recommends:

  • 820 x 462 pixels (820 x 312 minimum)-dimensions.
  • 20 to 90 seconds (no more, no less!)-duration.

How to Use the Facebook Cover Photo Templates?

If you have some designing skills, then using a professionally designed template makes it easier for you to create your own Facebook cover photo. All you will need is Adobe Photoshop to get started. To make it a little more easier, try and follow these steps:

  • Download the templates but after that, you’ll notice that the fonts and image files are separate.
  • Therefore, double click on the font file of your selected theme to upload the font to your computer. Click ’Install font’. 
  • Double click the image file to open it in Adobe Photoshop.
  • Select the Facebook cover photo template that you like to choose at first place
  • If you want to edit the template you can do it by double-clicking the text. Also, in the menu option on the left-hand side, you can change fonts & colors.
  • Then, resize your cover image as necessary and for that, you just need to double click the photo you would like to edit. 
  • After that, to save the cover photo template, select the one you would like to use and go to Save>Export As>Artboard to Files. 
  • To save the template use .jpg or .png.
  • Lastly, upload your Facebook cover photo by following these 5 simple steps:
  • Navigate to your Facebook page by logging into your account.
  • Click Add a Cover in the top left corner
  • Select Size- Choose Single Banner, or Banner Set according to your preference
  • Upload click photo/video you’d like to upload
  • Adjust and Preview- Adapt your cover image to make it fit your needs. Preview and adjust until you’ve reached the desired result.
  • Click Publish.

How to Add Or Change Cover Photo/Video on Facebook?

  • Go to your Facebook Page.
  • In the top left of your cover photo or video, click ‘Add a Cover or Change Cover’. 
  • Select ‘Upload’ to upload a photo/video from your computer, or select ‘Choose from Photos/ Videos’ which you’ve already uploaded to your Page i.e., from your existing photos/videos.
  • After the video/photo has been uploaded, reposition the video/photo by clicking it and dragging it up or down, then click ‘Next’.
  • And, lastly, click ‘Publish’.

How to Create A Cover Slideshow For Your Page?

Facebook cover photo slideshow has multiple photos and displays above your page’s timeline. To create one for your Page, all you need to do is:

  • Go to your Page.
  • Click ‘Change Cover’ in the top left. 
  • Select ‘Create Slideshow’.
  • To get you started, Facebook may select some photos that your Page has already posted. 
  • To remove a photo that’s been added, click in the top right of the photo thumbnail and select ‘Remove’.
  • Or to turn this feature off, click next to ‘Let Facebook Choose Photos’.
  •  If you want to add more photos, click on this sign ‘+’
  • Select ‘Choose from Photos’, or ‘Upload Photo’ from your computer. For your slideshow, you can add at least 5 photos. 
  • After that click the photo and then drag to reposition. Once you’ve finished editing, click ‘Save’.
  • And to Remove the Slideshow completely, 
  • Go to your Facebook page again.
  • Hover over the slideshow and click ‘Change Cover’, 
  • Then select ‘Remove’.
  • Click ‘Confirm’.

Common Cover Images Mistakes

Try to avoid the below listed common cover photo mistakes:

  • Keeping the same cover for months: don’t stick to the same cover photo for a very long time and try to keep it relevant to your page’s content.
  • Changing the cover photo too often: don’t confuse your audience with a different cover image every day.
  • Choosing any image: searching a proper image could be a daunting task, but don’t give up on something generic because these images won’t help you communicate with your audience. 
  • Adding too many elements: sometimes we add a headline, sticker, and logo together with the cover photo. This simply won’t work because if there’s too much clutter, a user won’t be able to understand your message.
  • Small Text or Visual Elements: Try and make sure that any text or visual details you include are large enough to be viewed easily.
  • In addition to this, try to-
  • Use an Image with a Strong Focal Point. To grab people’s attention and elicit curiosity 
  • Place the Emphasis on the Right of the Image. As you must be aware that, Sidebar and the Facebook profile picture are on the left-hand side of the page, therefore cover photos tend to look best when the focus is on the right-hand side of the image.

Facebook Guidelines

Along with that you also need to follow a few Facebook Guidelines, which are as follows- 

  • Your cover photos cannot infringe on someone else’s copyright.
  • Your cover photo should not be deceptive or misleading.
  • You cannot encourage or force other people to upload your cover photo to their timelines.

Facebook can suspend or terminate your account if your cover photo violates any of these terms. Therefore, make sure your cover photo adheres to these Facebook guidelines so that your cover image will attract more and more genuine users.

Review:

In Conclusion, all I can say is try to compare your posts without photos, you’ll see there is surely a significant difference. Facebook photos are an important part of your brand’s image.

In various research also it is concluded that photos generate 53% more likes and comments than posts without photos. And, among them, your cover photo is the most significant because it is the first photo that everyone sees on your Facebook profile page. Therefore, make sure your cover photo is simple and its size has been optimized properly. Also, remember to refer to Facebook guidelines to make sure your photo isn’t violating any of their terms.

That’s it! If you follow the above-mentioned tips and steps, you can easily create a highly effective Facebook cover photo for your Facebook business page.


Muskan Saini

Social Media and Tech Expert


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