The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Image Sizes 2021
When it comes to a brand’s social media presence, no matter which platform we’re talking about, uploading images with the recommended dimensions is crucial to ensure that the page looks professional and visually striking.
And the harsh reality is that in a world where the competition in the social media space is tougher than ever, slacking on apparently trivial details like this can make or break a brand’s social performance.
However, it’s well-known by social media managers that keeping up with the recommended dimensions isn’t as easy as it sounds.
The platforms are constantly changing and that means that a perfectly sized profile picture today might not be so perfect tomorrow.
But don’t worry – we’re here to help!
Keep reading to discover the updated social media image sizes in 2021 for:
Instagram Image Sizes
Instagram is the biggest visual platform of today and nailing your dimensions is crucial to make sure that your feed looks aesthetically pleasing (although using the right filters won’t hurt either).
Image Source: Screenshot wemakestuffhappenhq
- Profile picture: 360 x 360
- IGTV Cover Photo: 420 x 654
- Instagram Stories: 1080 x 1920
💡Pro tip: Instagram zooms in a bit when you create a story, so place any essential information in the center of the image.
- Highlights: 1080 X 608
💡Pro tip: Highlights appear as small circles in your profile, so refrain from using images with a lot of detail.
For more information on Instagram’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
Facebook Image Sizes
With over 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook is still the biggest social platform in the world. This means that your potential reach within the network is incredible, but also that there’s a lot of competition you need to beat (more than 60 million business pages, to be precise).
- Profile picture (personal and business page): 170 x 170
⚠️Note: Your business profile picture will be cropped into a circle when it appears next to your posts and ads.
- Cover image (personal and business page): 851 x 315
💡Pro tip: The recommended format is sRGB JPG (unless it includes text, in which case you should use a PNG file).
- Shared image: 1200 x 630
- Shared link: 1200 x 630
- Shared video: 1280 x 720 landscape, 720 x 1280 portrait
- Feed ad image: 1080 x 1080
Image Source: Screenshot We Make Stuff Happen
- Group cover image: 1640 x 856
- Carousel images or videos: 1080 x 1080
For more information on Facebook’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
Twitter Image Sizes
One of the main characteristics of Twitter is that all posts are limited to 280 characters and, many times, a visual element is a crucial supplement to the written post, making it that much more important for images to be properly designed for the platform.
- Profile picture: 400 x 400
- Cover image: 1500 x 500
⚠️Note: Keep in mind that your profile picture will overlap with the cover image on the bottom left corner.
- Shared image: 1024 x 512
💡Pro tip: The recommended formats are PNG, JPEG, and GIF. On the other hand, Twitter doesn’t accept BMP images, nor TIFF files.
- Card image: 144 x 144
- Ad image: 800 x 800
For more information on Twitter’s recommended image dimensions, click here and here.
LinkedIn Image Sizes
LinkedIn is the biggest professional social media platform and, as we mentioned before, using incorrectly sized images online doesn’t make any business look that professional. Need we say more?
- Personal profile picture: 400 x 400
- Personal background image: 1584 x 396
💡Pro tip: LinkedIn might crop your image in order to fit the screen of the users, to make sure you include all the essential information (like your company’s logo or slogan) at the center of the image.
- Business logo image: 300 x 300
- Business cover image: 1128 x 191
Image Source: Screenshot We Make Stuff Happen
- Business banner image: 646 x 220
- Shared image or links: 1200 x 627
💡Pro tip: When you type in a URL into LinkedIn, the platform generates a thumbnail automatically, but remember that you can always change it (especially if the image that LinkedIn pulled is too small and appears on the left side of the post).
- Article image: 744 x 400
Image Source: Screenshot Capucine Yeomans
For more information on LinkedIn’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
YouTube Image Sizes
YouTube is mostly about video content, but there are still some images you need to pay attention to in order to make sure that your channel is worth the subscription and your videos worth the view.
- Profile picture: 128 x 128
- Cover image: 2560 x 1440
💡Pro tip: Your channel displays differently on mobile and, given that more than half of YouTube’s views come from mobile, that’s something you need to consider. In order to make sure that your logo and copy aren’t cropped, remember that the safe area is 1546 x 423 pixels.
Image Source: Screenshot National Geographic
- Thumbnail: 1280 x 720
For more information on YouTube’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
Google My Business Image Sizes
Local SEO is growing at an exponential rate, and the fact that 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information or that the search terms “near me” and “close by” have grown by more than 900% over two years prove that.
Considering all of this and the fact that Google My Business has an impact on local search results, it’s easy to understand why optimizing your account has become more important than ever.
- Profile picture: 800 X 800
- Cover image: 2048 x 1152
- Shared image: 720 x 720
For more information on Google My Business’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
Pinterest Image Sizes
Pinterest might not be as popular as the social platforms we mentioned so far, but the truth is that in 2019, the network’s active user base grew by 26%, reaching a total of 335 million!
- Profile picture: 165 x 165
- Board display image: 222 × 150
- Pin: 1000 x 1500
- Video: Aspect ratio of 1:1 (square) or 2:3/9:16 (vertical)
💡Pro tip: Your videos need to have a minimum of four seconds and a maximum of 15.
- Promoted carousel: Aspect ratio of 1:1 or 2:3
For more information on Pinterest’s recommended image dimensions, click here.
TikTok Image Sizes
The newest player in the game, TikTok has 800 million monthly active users. Although many people associate this video platform with influencers and challenges, many brands are jumping on the bandwagon and using TikTok to reach their younger target audience.
- Profile picture: 200 x 200
- Shared video: 1080 x 1920
Reaching social media success is about more than creating engaging posts.
It’s about paying attention to detail and making sure that your page as a whole looks good and flows perfectly, which is exactly what following the recommended image dimensions for each platform will help you achieve.
Our suggestion is that you bookmark this page on your browser so that you can easily come back and double-check the size of your visuals before you click “Publish”.
If you want to learn more about social media marketing and everything it entails, check our Social Media Bootcamp and get on the waitlist today!
- The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Image Sizes 2021 - April 1, 2021
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