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Still Loving and Learning Facebook — Cover Image Do’s and Don’ts

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We hit 18,000 85,000 (almost two years later) likes on Facebook a minute ago. Whoo hoo! What’s crazy is that we risked losing them all in one fell swoop by making a mistake on our new cover photo.

Here’s the “you get to keep your 18,000 likes” version of the new cover photo:

Image

and here’s the “rebel without a clue…risk losing your page” version:

fbdangerzone

See the difference?

You must. One is a major offense!

You cannot include your website address!

Thanks to our friends for noticing!

As soon as we posted the new cover photo, some of our friends online noticed our mistake and let us know. Cathy was the first to mention it and her voice was seconded by Kelly, and Diana. All within just a few minutes, so we figured we must have goofed.

And here we are supposed to be the experts and all! Oops. 🙂

It seems like Facebook would be a little more clear about the URL, which is one of the things you would instinctively want to include. The first guidance you see says the following:

Note: This space is not meant for promotions, coupons, or advertisements. Your cover photo should not be primarily text-based or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. Learn More about choosing a cover photo.

To me when a page is for a website, including the website address is essentially the same as a company including a company name. It’s not really a “promotion, coupon, or advertisement.”

But after getting those warnings, we dug a little deeper and found this further information:

Covers may not include:

i. price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”;

ii. contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section;

iii. references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features; or

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

Whatever you say FB. You make the rules. No wave-making here.

Creative Mistakes Often Yield Better Results

The funny thing is that I like the new one better anyway. And it’s not very hard for anyone on our Facebook page to find a link to our site if they want one.

It’s so common for things that look like problems or road blocks to turn into opportunity and for creative mistakes to turn into something even better than it would have otherwise been.

Doesn’t that happen to you all the time? It does me. Maybe I just mess up more than most people!

Speaking of Creativity

Etsy found a pretty nifty way to get by the “no url” rule. With 3/4 of a million likes, I kind of doubt Facebook is about to send them packing over this. Maybe the idea is worth a try… if you have a short enough URL. I don’t think EverythingEtsy.com would work out…

Image

If you’re not already one of the 730K people who like Etsy on Facebook, here you go: Facebook.com/Etsy

We Love Facebook Nonetheless!

Slightly annoying rules aside, we love facebook and invite you to join us.

Here on the blog, we can have all the call to action we want. Watch…

Like Everything Etsy on Facebook!

Please, like our Facebook Page!

Get Everything Etsy updates in your timeline!

Don’t you want to be cool? Like Everything Etsy today!

Everything Etsy wants you!

Ha! That was really fun. You should try it on your blog. It will bring a smile to your day no doubt.

Any Cover Photo thoughts?

What do you think about the Facebook Cover image? How do you use yours? Put a link to your Facebook page in the comments and we’ll come visit!

Update: February 2014 — I’m thinking it’s about time we change ours out!  I should add to the tips — “Keep it Fresh!”

~Kim

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Comments

  2. Diana says

    Don’t feel too bad, I did the EXACT same thing, and I’m grateful one of my page’s “likers” caught it and sent me the link to Facebook’s rules 🙂
    I’m happy to “return the favor” as it were.
    I too gave a shrug/whatever and changed my cover photo…. I agree it’s kinda silly, but when I know there is a rule, I can’t break it either lol…. here’s my page http://www.facebook.com/PrettyCoolShops

    Reply

  4. Erin says

    Wow, I know a lot of people who have links/promos in the cover photo. I think that was one of the biggest trends of the old layout – having a landing Welcome Page that would be clever and have an arrow pointing to the Like button.

    Clever, Facebook, cleverrrr.

    Thanks for bringing this to attention! My cover photo is just a photo of my work, no words at all, but I was considering a possible revamp. Now I know how to properly proceed – thank you!

    Oh, and my FB Page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Little-Bird/201533876589109

    Reply

  10. Shelley says

    I just changed my cover to match my blog and etsy. Also decided to change my profile picture to a personal picture of myself. (Had to force this one because I hate pictures of myself). Congrats on all of your likes! I have been working really hard the last few weeks on getting likes on FB and have went from 8 to 40. Still wishing for more but seem to have hit a roadblock on it this week. Have also been working on blog followers and have doubled numbers on that as well. Started a twitter and trying to get followers on that one. Twitter is going to be harder because none of my friends are on twitter. Feel free to offer up any suggestions, always looking to grow and improve. My facebook page is
    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1502492022&sk=photos#!/pages/Shells-Vintage-Charm/222745554445822

    Reply

  12. Caren Smith says

    Seriously, I JUST made a new cover for my boutique “Sew Darn Fabulous” FB page about an hour ago. Literally, within a minute of going live, a good friend pointed out I added “From My Boutique: http://www.SewDarnFabulous.com” and that it was a no-no. She learned it from your website and sent me over here (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this site – great, more hours being spent on the computer vs in my studio creating) 🙂 Anyway, I made the edits (bummer) so if you’d like to check it out, here it is:
    http://www.facebook.com/SewDarnFabulous?ref=tn_tnmn

    Reply

  14. Missie says

    Wow – I’m glad you made this post! We’re using the Cover Art for one of my etsy teams to feature the team members – I would’ve for sure put down their etsy addresses on there! Now I’ll just put down shop names. Thanks for the heads up!! I’ll finish up the design of ours tonight 🙂

    http://www.facebook.com/EtsyMom

    Reply

  18. Korey says

    I love the way the cover photo looks, but I was surprised to learn of the rules. I know of several bloggers who were caught of guard. Phew! Glad you got it fixed!

    Reply

  20. Kristina says

    I read this somewhere else a bit ago and have been “afraid” to move anything around on my page….but for now I am not unhappy with the way it looks. Where CAN you put your URL?

    Reply

  22. Amber says

    I have come to really love the new design of facebook pages, but I am struggling with the cover photos for my page.
    I can’t seem to get the photo is fit properly, even after I used your suggested measurements.
    Plus I have zero knowledge of photoshop.
    I would love suggestions and any helpful tips!
    thanks!

    http://www.facebook.com/thejewelryjar

    Reply
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