Facebook cover ideas for small business Pages

For a small business Page, the cover is the biggest image a visitor sees, and it's often their first look at you. It doesn't need to sell. It needs to answer one question quickly: is this the place I was looking for?

Here are ideas that work for real small businesses, sorted by the job the cover does, and a few things to avoid.

Start with what a visitor needs

Someone landing on a local business Page usually wants to know three things: what you do, whether you're the right one, and how to reach you. Facebook already shows your category, hours, address and contact buttons in fixed places. The cover's job is the first one, plus a feeling for what you're like.

That means the strongest covers usually show the work itself.

Show the work

Photos of the actual product or service beat anything else for most small businesses. Some examples:

• A bakery: the counter first thing in the morning, or a tray of the bestseller.
• A hair or nail salon: the shop interior, bright and tidy, or a close-up of finished work (with the client's permission).
• A landscaper or builder: a before-and-after pair, or one finished project.
• A cafe: the room with people in it, shot from the door.
• A florist: a bench full of the week's flowers.

Take the photo in landscape orientation and keep the main subject in the middle third, since phones trim the sides. Natural light by a window does more than any filter.

When you don't have a good photo

Plenty of businesses have nothing photogenic to show: accountants, consultants, online shops, tutors and many trades. A clean designed cover is better than a weak stock photo that a dozen competitors also use.

Ideas that work:

• Your brand colors as a calm pattern or gradient, with the business name and a short line about what you do. Our abstract presets are a starting point.
• A plain line that states your offer: "Bookkeeping for local restaurants" or "Piano lessons for adults."
• Your service area: "Serving the north side since 2009."

Keep it to one message. A cover that lists five services ends up communicating none of them.

Seasonal and event covers

Changing the cover for a season gives regular customers something new to notice. It works best when the change is tied to something real:

• Holiday hours or closures.
• A seasonal menu or product.
• A sale with a clear date.
• An anniversary: "10 years on Main Street."
• A local event you're part of, such as a farmers market weekend or a charity run.

Put the date in the cover so it's obvious when it's over, and set yourself a reminder to switch back. An old "Summer sale" cover still up in November looks careless. The holidays and celebrations preset is quick for this.

Keep the brand consistent

Your cover should look like the rest of your business: the sign, the shop, the website, the menu. Use your real brand colors (you can type exact hex codes into the maker's color pickers) and the same kind of typeface you use elsewhere.

If you have a logo, it usually belongs in the profile photo, not the cover. The profile photo is what appears next to every post and comment, so that's where recognition builds. The cover can then focus on the work.

What to leave off

Some things look tempting but work against you:

• Contact details and hours. They're already on the Page and they change. A cover with an old phone number is worse than none.
• Small print. Terms, disclaimers and long lists are unreadable on phones.
• Other companies' logos. Supplier and brand logos (the coffee you serve, the paint you use) belong to those companies. Unless you have permission, say it in words in a post instead.
• Stock photos with a watermark, or images found on a search engine. Both are copyright problems. Our copyright guide explains why.
• Pictures of customers or staff without asking. Get a clear yes first, especially for children.

Ideas by business type

Using text on a business cover

If you add text, keep it short and useful: the name, or the name plus a five-word description. Center it, since the profile photo sits at the lower left on both phones and computers. Check that it reads at phone size.

For more on fonts, contrast and placement, see using quotes and text on covers.

A quick plan

1. Decide the one thing a new visitor should take away.
2. Use your best real photo of the work, or make a clean brand-color cover with one line of text.
3. Keep the important part in the center slice the phone shows.
4. Check it on your own phone before and after uploading.
5. Plan two or three seasonal covers a year, each with a clear end date.

A small business cover doesn't have to be clever. If a visitor can tell in two seconds what you do and that you're the right place, it's done its job.

Questions