Discover the perfect Facebook cover size for 2023
Having a social media presence is crucial for many if not all businesses. One important element in setting up a Facebook page for your business is the branding and digital graphic design that go along with this. With all the various sizes available to use on social media, it can become confusing over which size is the best and for which purpose.
All too often I see Facebook pages with cover images that are not optimised for mobile use. With the majority of users visiting Facebook from a mobile device, you want to make sure your branding is displaying correctly on all platforms. While designing your own graphics is an option for those on an option, hiring a professional freelance graphic designer is certainly advisable, as the return on investment is worth more than the initial cost.
Unfortunately unlike a responsive website, Facebook doesn’t allow for different size images to be used depending on the device or operating system. Instead, it is a one-size-fits-almost-all option with one image being resized or cropped to fit the screen size.
According to Facebook, your cover photo displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on computers and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones. While this is a good starting place it doesn’t always work because of how Facebook displays images differently on desktop and mobile devices.
Cover photos on Desktop vs Mobile
When designing your Facebook cover image for your business, you need to allow for the different ways Facebook will display your image in mind. Facebook doesn’t stretch or fit the image to size, but fortunately, it crops the image instead. This does mean any information on the edges of your cover image can be cropped off.
Therefore, I always recommend using the dimensions of 820 x 360px and by keeping all the text inside a safe area you can make sure everything is visible depending on what device your Facebook page will be viewed on.
Why this size works best
By using a safe zone area, you can make sure critical information is still easily visible on all devices. The top and bottom safe areas measure 24 pixels and the left and right safe areas measure 90 pixels. When designing social media graphics for a client this is something a good graphic designer should always allow for. Whilst you would be able to extend content to the full width of your image, the advantage of having a well-optimised Facebook cover image certainly outweighs the negatives.
Creating online graphics for the web and social media is a skill in itself and it is always advised to seek the help of a professional graphic designer. Alongside offering services for print design, digital graphics are a key part of my graphic design services that are available as a stand-alone project or as part of an ongoing brand guardian role.
Like to know more about my graphic design services? Check out my services page here.