Just a quick blog post from me this week but one that I hope you will find useful.
Facebook launched their Timeline for Business Pages at the end of last week – we were well prepared for this and the clients we look after all had great cover images in place in good time for the switch over.
All business pages now have the new layout and if you have yet to implement a cover image then please let me know and I’ll be happy to advise.
Unfortunately I’ve also seen some businesses this week (including other Social Media agencies!) who have installed some great-looking cover images, but which fail to adhere to Facebook‘s guidelines on what these images should contain.
Here are five simple steps to make sure you get your Facebook Timeline cover image right first-time:
1) Try and choose an image that best represents your page – don’t be afraid to be creative and why not ask your fans what they think of the image to gauge opinion..?
2) Avoid using any calls-to-action of the image such as ‘tell your friends’ or ‘click on the link below’
3) Similarly – Facebook doesn’t want you to encourage the use of any of its sharing features through the cover image – so don’t use a ‘like’ button image, or ask people to ‘like’ or ‘share’
4) Again on much the same lines, anything that you would normally put in the ‘about’ section of your Facebook page needs to stay right there – so don’t include a phone number, email address or even website address on your cover image.
5) Finally – don’t use the image as an advertisement or promotion – so offering discounts or promoting specific items is a no-no.
As with most aspects of Facebook, play by the rules and there won’t be any issues at all – but when any new aspects are introduced on Facebook, it’s always worth checking the rules and the small-print first – I’ve seen businesses burnt by mis-using Facebook in the past and if you’ve spent time building up a big fanbase then it can be a long way back.
For more advice on setting up your Facebook Page correctly please contact myself and my team: matt@mattdavismedia.co.uk and we’ll be very pleased to help.
Have a great Easter weekend!