By now, you will know very well that social media plays a vital role in digital marketing and in the Social SEO strategy, to attract specific audiences with quality content. So using images correctly for social networks is basic.
Think that humans process images 60 thousand times faster than plain text, so images and videos tend to have a greater social impact.
For all this, I have prepared an updated guide with the 2020 data on the proper use and measures that images should have on social networks.
Uses of images on the Internet
One of the main problems we encounter when using images on the Internet is legal restrictions.
"If you do not produce your own graphic or visual content, you need to know well the alternatives you have."
You can choose to use royalty-free content or buy resources offered by others. However, what you should not do is take images of others without permission, but keep one of these 3 options:
1. Use image banks
The image and icon banks offer a large number of options where you will surely find what you are looking for. You can opt for the free versions, more limited, or hire a Premium service.
2. Perform advanced searches on Google
You must select those images tagged for reuse. This means that the authors give their permission so that they can be freely shared, and even edited or modified without problem.
3. Use images for social media that others have already shared
In this situation the laws are more permissive, since it is understood that by sharing content on social networks it is accepted that it can be redistributed publicly.
Of course, this permissiveness ends when a user or a fan page shares the content in a private or restricted way.
➽ Practical tips for using images in social networks
All social networks leave space for banners and other audiovisual content, whether in the form of videos or photos. In some cases, such as Instagram, Pinterest or Flickr, images are the center of activity.
For its part, YouTube is one of the most viewed social networks in the world and bases its content on videos. Others, such as Facebook or Twitter, give more and more prominence to photographs or video montages, with the possibility of even broadcasting live.
If audiovisual content and images are given so much importance for social networks, it is because it works really well. Therefore, you must also give it to him.
Here are a series of tips for you to make optimal use of your images on social networks:
- Coherence: Transmits the same values and the same information as transferred through other formats. Help yourself with techniques to apply good copy on your social networks.
- Hierarchy: Start by publishing the images that contain the most important of what you want to make known. Later, you can include other accessory photographs.
- Margins: It is not only the center of the image that is important. Take care of what appears in the background and in the margins to achieve a good composition.
- Colors: Users identify your brand with certain colors, which are the ones you expose with your corporate image. Try to make your photographs follow the same color line, so they will be better identified.
- Simplicity: Less is more. That is, try to deliver a clear message, without distractions or too many elements that overload.
- Trends: Fashions that fit your brand can help you bond with consumers and users. Therefore, follow them as long as they align with your values and those of your business.
- Opacity: Do not stop experimenting from time to time with the possibilities provided by photography and the online editing tools that exist such as Visme, as well as those provided by social networks themselves.
Image measurements for social networks
Finding the right size for social media images, including banners, headers, or profile photos, requires constant updating as they often change.
"Every time they change the design of the social profiles this usually affects the technical requirements of the images."
Even so, the sizes usually remain unchanged for quite some time, so you can write down these measurements without fear (they are the official ones currently):
➽ Size of images on Facebook
Facebook is the most popular social network, and the one that accepts the most types of content. If we focus on the images, the sizes are:
- Profile picture: 180 × 180 pixels
- Header image: 851 × 315 pixels
- Square post: 1200 × 1200 pixels
- Rectangular post: 1200 ×628 pixels
- Post with link: 1200 × 628 pixels
- Story: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Event Image: 1920 × 1080 pixels
- Photo post: 1200 × 900 pixels
➽ Size of images on Twitter
The microblogging network is not focused on visual content, although it allows an image to accompany the publications. The sizes of its contents are:
- Profile picture: 400 × 400 pixels
- Header image: 1500 × 500 pixels
- Tweet content: 1024 × 512 pixels
- Twitter cards: 800 × 418 pixels
➽ Size of images on Instagram
The measurements of all the images that you may need for your Instagram profile are:
- Profile picture: 150 × 150 pixels
- Post feed: 1080 × 1080 pixels
- Vertical photo: 1350 × 1080 pixels
- Horizontal photo: 1080 × 566 pixels
- Story (photo): 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Video (feed): 640 × 640 pixels
- Video (story): 750 × 1334 pixels
- IGTV: vertical, max. 9:16 and min. 4: 5; horizontal, max. 16: 9 and min. 5: 4
- IGTV cover: 420 × 654 pixels
➽ Size of images on YouTube
If we work on images for social networks, YouTube may not be the first thing we think of, since it is a network focused on video.
However, there are certain images that it does support:
- Profile picture: 800 × 800 pixels
- Cover image: 2560 × 1140 pixels
- Video cover (thumbnail): 1280 × 720 pixels
➽ Size of images on Vimeo
Another social network focused on videos that also requires knowing the measurements of some images:
- Profile picture: 300x300x pixels
- Cover of the 4: 3 video: 640 × 480 pixels
- Cover of the videos 16: 9: 640 × 360 pixels
- Cover of videos 720p HD Video: 1280 × 720 pixels
- 1080p HD video cover (Plus / PRO): 1920 × 1080 pixels
➽ Size of images on Pinterest
On Pinterest, images take on a special importance, and their measurements are:
- Profile picture: 165 × 165 pixels
- Pin: 600 pixel width and undefined height
- Dashboard cover image: 220 × 150 pixels
- Thumbnail of each board cover: 100 × 100 pixels.
➽ Size of images on LinkedIn
LinkedIn focuses on user CVs or information about companies. All this must be accompanied by images that help to recognize the profiles.
LinkedIn measures are:
- Profile picture: 400 × 400 pixels
- Brand image: 130 × 130 pixels
- Header image: 1584 × 396 pixels
- Publications (image post): 520 × 320 pixels
- Publications (link post): 520 × 272 pixels
Remember that for profile and cover photos with your logo, you can get better results by using a PNG file with a transparent background. Thus, it will fit perfectly to the profile.
In addition, and to finish, I recommend that you keep your graphic content always updated to give a professional image to your followers and potential clients.
And you? Do you give images for social networks the importance they deserve?
Image (social networks): Shutterstock
