Leverage Optimal Image Dimensions
This next bit of advice is basically common sense, but it needs to be stated: When posting to social media profiles, many people fail to observe optimal dimensions for the images they’re sharing.
Which is why so many posts wind up displaying improperly. If you’ve ever seen somebody’s face cropped in half or a gorgeous landscape photo marred by blurring, you know what we’re talking about.
This sort of error happens all too often on social media cover photos, where the mistake is amplified due to image’s prominence. Remember: in the digital world, your cover photo is your first chance to make a visual impression on your audience. Displaying a poorly-cropped or fuzzy image of yourself is roughly akin to walking into a live interview wearing a Halloween mask and with lumps of smelly roquefort cheese stuffed into your armpits.
A lot of people have mentioned (with apparent dissatisfaction) that gee whiz, wouldn’t it be just grand if all social media outlets leveraged the same optimal dimensions for displaying imagery? We agree. But that’s not the way the world works, Virginia. And really, it isn’t all that hard to tailor-make your imagery per social media outlet so long as you keep the following handy-dandy chart . . . er. . . handy.
CHART OF OPTIMAL DIMENSIONS FOR IMAGERY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
(all dimensions are offered as width x height)
Cover photo: 851 x 315
Profile picture: 160 x 160 (upload as 180 x 180)
App icons: 111 x 74
Timeline: 504 x height is up to you (shared image), 484 x 252 (shared link)
News feed: 470 x 394 (shared image), 470 x 246 (shared link)
Header image: 1252 x 626, 1500 x 500 (redesign)
Profile picture: 250 x 250
Image in feed: 1024 x 512
Banner image: 624 x 220
Logo: 100 x 60
Link Thumbnail: 100 x 100
GOOGLE +
Cover photo: 1010 x 608 (recommended), 480 x 270 (minimum), 2120 x 1192 (maximum)
Profile picture: 250 x 250
Image post: 4:3 aspect ratio (800 x 600 minimum)
Board cover: 217 x 147
Preview image: 51 x 51
Make sure that all of your images correspond to the chart above to ensure their proper display via each social media channel.
Of course, you don’t have to navigate solo: if you’re ever inclined to have a pro handle your social media imagery, contact Stern Inbound Marketing. Our proven expertise in social media optimization can help your company grow — and we can begin that growth today.
When you’re ready to continue…
Click here to discover optimal times for posting frequency.