Not so long ago, I published a blog post containing a free template to help you design a really great-looking profile and cover photo for your desktop-viewed Facebook Page. The thing is, the way your Page design displays on desktops is not the same as on mobiles...

And as the latest figures show that of the 1.11 billion monthly active Facebook users, 751 million of them access the site via their mobile devices, that's a huge and ever-increasing group of people you should take into consideration. The key, then, is to optimise your cover photo design for viewing on desktop and mobile devices.

A Comparison of Facebook desktop and mobile cover photos

As you can see in the image above, there is a distinct difference between the desktop and mobile (iPhone app) view of the profile and cover photos of a Facebook Page. On the mobile app:

The profile photo takes centre stage, relegating the cover to the background
The profile photo spans almost the whole height of the cover photo, and over a quarter of its width from the left-hand edge.
The cover photo is obscured by the Page name and category, as well as a dark gradient overlay that begins from the left-hand edge.
To see the cover photo in full and read its description, a mobile viewer must tap on it.

How to optimise your Facebook profile and cover photos for desktop and mobile

With so many people accessing Facebook Pages on mobile, it is more important than ever to cater to their needs and encourage them to engage with your content - and an optimised cover and profile photo can go a long way to make that happen.

And now you know how the mobile view affects the appearance of the profile and cover photo, you can work within these parameters. In the example above, Panera Bread has not taken mobile users into account, so their "For a short time, it's strawberry time" slogan is lost on what is probably hundreds of thousands of customers.

My Facebook cover and profile photo template for desktop and mobile users

Here it is, my template to help you create a Facebook profile and cover photo that is optimised for both desktop and mobile views:

The orange box represents the space covered by the desktop profile photo.
The blue box represents the space covered b the mobile profile photo.
The dark green box represents the general area covered by your Page's name and category on the mobile view.
The gradient emerging from the left represents the same gradient seen on mobile devices
The light green area represents the space where your design will be unobstructed

Examples of Facebook profile and cover photos optimised for desktop and mobile

Taking both desktop and mobile views into consideration means that quite a lot of the cover photo's space is obstructed, but that does not mean you can't still have a great design, as long as you are creative. In the above example, Bed Bath & Beyond's cover and profile photo looks great on mobile, and its "Let's do brunch" slogan is unobstructed by any of the elements on the page.

And here's my new cover and profile photo for mobile viewers. Using the template, I have made sure that my free ebook call to action is visible, and that nothing crucially important is behind where the huge square profile photo sits.

I think one of the most important points to make is that even though much of your cover photo is covered up - fully or partially - that doesn't mean that it still can't be visually appealing.

Download the template

This Facebook cover photo template (and several others for all the biggest social networks - expertly measured, simple to use, and up-to-date) is available instantly as a downloadable zip file via the purchase link above. For more information on all my social media templates, click here.

Note: Payment is fast and secure via PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account to buy and download.

Simply work around the template layers to add your design, save it as a .png file and upload it via the desktop Facebook site. Check how it looks on mobile, then tweak and re-upload if necessary.

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Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

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The Facebook 20% Text Rule Fully Explained

The 20% text policy does NOT apply to pictures of products that include text on the actual product.

Photos of products in real situations or photos of products with a background ARE allowed.

Images that are zoomed in on logos or images with text overlay are NOT allowed.

Images that are clearly edited to include text on the product as a loophole to the 20% text rule are NOT allowed.

Note: The 20% text rule limit only applies to cover photos and ads and sponsored stories that appear in the News Feed. Unpromoted photos you post to your Page's Timeline can feature as much text as you like.

Let's look at some examples...

Conclusion

Chances are that Facebook will revise its cover photo (and promotional image) guidelines again in the future, but I hope this summary has given you a much clearer understanding about where you stand with the current rules, and help prevent any of your images being removed or rejected. How does your current cover photo fare? Let me know in the comments below!