Just when you thought you were finished making changes to Facebook Pages in 2012, Facebook has gone and done it again – this time, they’re making their first change of 2013. This time, they’re changing the Facebook cover photo policy.
What changes in the Facebook cover photo policy?
Previously, Facebook allowed you to overlay text on your cover photos – this was a great way to let fans know what your Facebook Page was about – without having to read through the entire about section. Having the ability to add text to your Facebook cover photo also worked well for getting the attention of your Facebook Page fans if you didn’t have a lot of images to choose from for your Facebook cover photo image.
Here’s a rundown on changes being made to the Facebook cover photo policy
- Text cannot take up more than 20% of your Facebook cover photo
- Logos that contain text are counted in the 20% (yikes!)
- When is this happening: January 15, 2013
How is Facebook monitoring cover photo text?
According to Inside Facebook, to make sure Facebook cover photos don’t violate the new Facebook cover photo policy, Facebook is using a grid-based text overlay detection tool.
Confused about the Facebook cover photo policy?
While the new Facebook cover photo policy may sound confusing, one thing to keep in mind is that under the cover photo policy, you’re still allowed to post images that contain more than 20 percent text.
- If your Facebook cover photo contains more than 20 percent of text, you cannot promote your image in the Facebook news feed as a page post ad. You can create an a Facebook Ad that will appear in the sidebar though.
- If your Facebook cover photo contains less than 20 percent of text, you are allowed to promote your image in the Facebook news feed.
If you have additional questions about Facebook cover photos, be sure to read through section three of the Facebook Page terms.
Wrap-up on changes to the Facebook cover photo policy.
Yes, this is the first change you can expect to see on Facebook in 2013 (along with a lot more). Is it confusing – a little. The great thing is that Facebook is starting to take a stance on Facebook marketing – which should help refocus where the social network is headed and clean-up a lot your news feed.
[Source: Inside Facebook]