One of the best features of the Facebook Page upgrade to the timeline design, which happened on March 30, is the cover photo at the top of your Page. It’s really easy to brand your Page in your own unique style and create a memorable first visual impression! Here’s what you need to know …

You have loads more space to feature your products or services on the second most visited site on the web for free! (Alexa Top Global Sites) Once your visitor has “liked” your Page they mostly see your updates in their newsfeed and connect with you there, and seldom return to your Facebook Page. So grab the opportunity to make their visit to your Page memorable.

 What’s a Cover photo?

A cover is the big rectangle picture or visual at the top of the Facebook Page.

 What’s the best image size for my Cover?

For the best visual quality, create your Facebook Page image 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high as a .JPG file. Facebook recommends keeping your file size to 100 KB for the fastest load time for your Page. If your photo is any other size it’ll be distorted so create your image 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high.

What to showcase on my Cover photo?

If you have products to promote, think of your cover as your “shop window”. Feature products that will draw your visitors “in” to want to discover more. Change your cover photo often. Feature seasonal or topical items, creating your own themes like “Ways to Keep Cool this Summer” – range of gear for sun lovers – or “Magic for Mother’s Day” – bouquets of pastel pink flowers.

People love seeing real people too – this is Facebook! You could feature photos of your customers in the news – the happy winners of your in-store contest or clients using your product in an interesting way or having fun at your outreach event. You could upload a cover photo of members of your staff – on a team-building exercise, receiving certificates of achievement, being promoted or introduce new staff members. Showcase your company’s culture. Feature the human connection of your biz on this Social Business platform. Boring company logos on covers are out! Real people serving others are in! (Your profile picture is the place for your logo.)

If you have services to promote, you could have a photo of you doing your thing, whatever that may be work wise – speaking on stage, photographing children or leading a gym work-out. If you are an author you could feature your book or you at a book signing event with your readers.

Please add your ideas for covers or your cover successes in the comments section at the bottom of this post with a link to your Facebook Page. You may inspire your fellow entrepreneurs.

Check out what others are doing in your niche or find more ideas here by browsing Facebook Pages.

What NOT to include on your Cover?

Facebook warns you NOT to encourage your visitors to upload your cover to their personal timelines (as if the thought had crossed our minds) and NOT to include:

Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at ……com”.

Contact information, like your website address, email, mailing address, or information that Facebook wants you to add to your Page’s “About” section.

References to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share”.

Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”.

More CAN DO’s for your Cover

Facebook IS encouraging you to upload an attention-getting photo showcasing you biz and not a graphic full of sales-y text. AND to change your cover often. The big plus is each time you change your cover it goes into the newsfeed of your fans. The good news is all covers are public.

You can include your tagline –what you do – or a short description of how you can help your visitors.

Remember to allow space for your Page’s profile picture – check out the graphic below. That’s the square 160 x 160 pixels that shows in the newsfeed. You don’t want an important part of your image hidden behind your Page’s profile picture. On your Page’s cover photo the profile picture is positioned 23 pixels from the left side and 210 pixels from the top of your cover as you can see in this graphic.

Some designers have found very creative ways of integrating their profile picture with their cover photo. If you are super creative check out this tutorial by HyperArts.

To add a Cover photo to your Facebook Page

This is very easy – click “Add a Cover”

You can select whether you want to upload a new photo or pick a photo from one of your existing photo albums. Don’t recommend selecting a photo from one of your photo albums. Chances are the photo will be the wrong size. You want to invest some time creating your cover to be your showcase and convert your visitors to fans.

Once you have selected your photo, you can re-position it by clicking on the image and dragging it up or down. (You won’t need to do this if your photo is the recommended image size.)

Click “Save”.

There’s still time to enter my mentor, Mari Smith’s Facebook Timeline Cover Image Contest (ends May 31). You could win a Facebook Marketing Makeover worth $1,000!

What better incentive to take action and create your memorable cover photo!

Click here to download Facebook’s Guide to Pages.

Remember to add your cover photo success in the comments section with a link to your Facebook Page, if you like. I’d love to feature the most interesting and creative by adding screenshots to this post. (Comments with links are moderated so no spam please.) And please feel free to ask me your questions.