How to create a kick-ass Facebook Cover photo

Facebook launched the Timeline layout for profiles in December, with the promise that the Timeline format will eventually be mandatory for Profiles across the board.

Upon hearing this announcement, some people cried, some people screamed, but many individuals took advantage of the new Facebook “real estate” to get pretty darn creative.

Here are three of my favorite individual Profile Cover photos:

Sune Adler Miltersen

Lev Detrez

Kay Int Veen

Now Facebook is introducing Timeline for Pages – and on March 30, 2012, all Facebook pages will get the new design.

Explore your Page preview today to get familiar with the new features (there are many), and start thinking about a compelling and unique photo for your Page’s Timeline Cover.

Here are three of my favorite Facebook Page Cover photos created for nonprofits and businesses:

Kate Spade

The New York Times

Ocean Conservancy

A Cover photo is 852 pixels wide by 315 pixels high and can be used to convey a lot of information about a business or organization. Use it wisely and creatively and you will be pleased with the results.

Best practices for your Cover:

• Think of it as a billboard. Billboards by nature cannot have ton of text and detail because people only spend a second passing them by. Covers, like billboards, have to immediately grab your attention and make you compelled to learn more.
• Facebook Page Covers are a great way to get your business to translate your key messages into visuals. Visuals are everything, especially in this digital age.
• If you have the budget, invest in some unique graphics from a professional designer. These will help you stand out from the pack.
• Mix it up. It is very easy to change your Cover photo, and I suggest having a few on rotation so that your Page doesn’t get stale.
• Put a watermark and your website on every image. This is a good idea in general due to the ease of sharing images digitally.
• You should be thinking “How can I awe my customers with this image?” rather than “How can I use this photo to sell stuff to my customers?”

How to create your Cover:

• John Haydon has a great “how-to” article and template for creating a Facebook cover.
• There are third party applications like myFBcovers and CoverCreator that will use your images to create a snazzy Cover photo.
• If you have the skills, there’s always PhotoShop!

Have you created a Cover for your Facebook Page or Profile? Do you have others that you would like to add to my list? Please post in the Comments section or email Julia@jcsocialmarketing.com – Thanks for reading!