Facebook has recently changed it’s terms and condition for the amount of text included in cover images, which may now not include more than 20% text, this also includes images for ads and offers. Text is referred to as overlay text, logo text – Product images are allowed with text not forming part of this 20 percent, as long as that text / logo forms part of a product and not zoomed in / cropped just for logo / text placement;
i.e. Real pictures of real products,
e.g. Pictures including people with branded t-shirts or cans / packaging with text logos on are allowed.
Cover images must not include:-
- More than 20% text **NEW**
- Price / Purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on fredmusic.com”
- Contact information, i.e. website address, email, mailing address, phone number, i.e. information that should go in your Page’s “About” section
- References to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features
- Calls to action “CTA”, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends
The percentage is measured by dividing the images into 25 equal blocks, acceptable images are those that have text within 5 or less blocks. It does not seem to be entirely clear cut, as text that encroaches into another block slightly is ignored from this test as can be seen below with my Facebook cover image below, where 5 blocks would be deemed to be filled with text, those highlighted in red. 5 blocks is the maximum 5 of 25 being the 20%. With time it will become clear whether it is an exact percentage of area coverage of text that is checked for by Facebook or if their automated system uses this simple block method to check for adherence to this new rule.
NOTE:
Facebook is reported to be developing an automatic detection tool to deactivate pages that do not follow this new rule. So it is strongly advised that you examine your page and air on the side of caution.
Below is a template image / grid that you can download to overlay on your image (851 x 315 pixels, .png, with transparency) help you check your percentage text coverage – To download:- Click on the image – on the pop-up, Right click – select Save Image As.
example: Facebook Cover image 20 percent text rule – that conforms to this new rule.
There are on-line website that allow you to enter in your Facebook URL to automatically overlay a grid over your cover image to check that it conforms to the new Facebook – Cover image 20 percent text rule.
E&OE
Related links:
Facebook PAGE terms page
Choosing a Facebook cover image
Ad Images in News Feeds
Veronica Pullen – Social Media Consultant – Related Post