When it comes to making your social media presence look sleek and professional, it’s crucial that you use the correct image sizes for each platform. Incorrectly sized images can become warped and blurry, creating an overall messy appearance online (and no one wants that!)
There are many benefits to using visual content on social media, in fact, LinkedIn posts which include images have a 98% higher average comment rate, and Tweets with visual content are three times more likely to get engagement. Including images and videos in your social media content is well worth the time, however, using the correct sizing is crucial.
Unfortunately, it’s definitely not one-size-fits all. Let’s make life a little easier and put all of the visual content need-to-knows in one place.
Social Media Image Size Cheatsheet
Please note, all sizes are in pixels.
When it was launched in 2010, Instagram was all about square images. There were no capabilities for other image sizes, and very little attention was given to video content. However, the platform has since changed to support horizontal and vertical images. Furthermore, there has been a massive push towards Instagram Reels in recent years, with the algorithm actually favouring video content.
Here’s a quick tip for you: Instagram profile pictures are displayed as a circle so, although you will upload your images as a square (320 x 320 pixels), you should ensure the important elements are in the centre of the image as it will be cropped.
Facebook has a wide range of visual possibilities, with a push towards video content and an ever-changing algorithm. It’s worth noting that Facebook will automatically resize and format your photos when you upload them to the timeline, to be 500 pixels wide and to fit the 1.91:1 aspect ratio. It’s easy enough to avoid pixelation (and slow loading times) by sticking to the recommended size of 1200 x 630 pixels.
If you’d like to share a collection of images on Facebook – for instance, if you’d like to share an adapted version of a LinkedIn or Instagram carousel post – opt for a 1:1 ratio, at 1200 x 1200 pixels.
On Twitter, visual content consistently performs better than content with no images or videos. Tweets with images get more click-throughs, more likes and even more retweets than Tweets with no visual content, so creating high-quality visual content for Twitter is well worth the effort.
Visual storytelling has become a more prominent feature on LinkedIn in recent years, and including visual elements in your content has consistently proven to increase engagement on the platform. As with other social media platforms, ensure you’re uploading your content using the correct sizing to avoid cropping, blurring or warping.
It is also worth noting that LinkedIn cover images are actually cropped differently on mobile and desktop devices. Double check that your profile looks professional on multiple devices!
Image sizes can be somewhat confusing at times, as all platforms have their own guidelines and dimensions, but it really is worth giving consideration to. No matter how fantastic an image or video may be, incorrect sizing and formatting can result in the message being lost. Social media image dimensions do change from time to time, but these are correct at the time of writing (April 2023).
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