There was a flurry of updated Facebook pages yesterday as businesses added new timeline cover photos. Today is the deadline for updating your page, but I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of procrastinators out there. (Sort of like the people who file their taxes at 11:59 pm on April 15.)
So, if you’re one of them, don’t despair! Get busy working on a great new photo to use for your cover image. The image should be
- 851 x 315 pixels in size
- Not an ad – avoid using blatent sales or promotions
- Attention-getting and reinforces your brand.
- Not text-based
- Your own work – does not infringe on someone else’s copyright
Looking for inspiration? Check out some of the major brands on Facebook and the businesses you’ve liked on your own profile. I’ve seen some great images this week.
Next, pay attention to those little squares right below the big image. Those are your custom apps, formally known as tabs. You have up to 12 of those little apps to use for likes, video, pictures, events, and some custom apps. Especially think about the best ways to use the first four for your business. These are “above the fold” in prime location on your page.
Consider what would benefit your business the most. Do you need to:
- build your mailing list? Then add an app for your ezine provider, like Constant Contact, iContact, or Aweber.
- have special offers? Add content using an app like iFrame Tabs
- have video tips? Add the video app.
Last, revisit your current content and your Insights to see what’s been getting the most attention from your fans. Is it time to update content and refocus your message? Does your content meet your marketing objectives? Are your fans interacting with your page?
Facebook has also provided a handy guide for the page update: https://www.facebook.com/about/pages
Be sure to check out Facebook’s help page for dimensions on all of the new page elements.
Thanks for the info about the picture size – wasn’t exactly sure what dimensions to use