When you are setting up your accounts you are going to need to include a cover image to draw attention to your page and make people want to read more about you, after all first impressions count! It is important that the image you use is of the correct size so that it displays properly; there is nothing worse than bits hidden, missing or having the graphic badly distorted.
So what image sizes for social media should you use?
For Facebook, the dimensions of the cover image are 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall. Anything smaller than this and your photo will be stretched out, which could cause distortion. You are also going to want to make sure that the photo is less than 100 kilobytes so that it ensures the fastest possible load times. Facebook recommends that if you are using images of your logo or text, that you may want to consider using a PNG file. JPG files for example, because of the way they compress the data, often create images that appear to be fuzzy or of lower resolution.
The second social media platform that you will want to brand is your twitter account. For the twitter cover image, the dimensions are 1252 x 626 pixels. Twitter will automatically resize the photo to be no more than 500 pixels. Again be sure to stay in these guidelines for the best possible image. Please note that at the time of writing this, Twitter is phasing in a new home page format so these dimensions will soon change to 1500 x 500 pixels. See image below for new layout. In fact new accounts that already look like the image below will be viewing your profile in the new version. Meaning your cover image will look distorted, stretched and fuzzy to this new viewer.
You can view this Twitter profile @icetags have a look at the layout, this is what your account will look like soon!
The next media site we will address is Google+. For this platform you will need the image to be a recommended size of: 1080 x 608 pixels with a Minimum size: 480 x 270 and a Maximum size: 2120 x 1192. The good thing about Google+ is that on this site they will allow you to crop your image which makes it much easier for you to ensure that the graphic used within the given dimensions is consistent with your other branding.
The final platform we will review is YouTube. They suggest that you use only a single photo that is 2560 x 1440 pixels and they provide a template to place the image into. YouTube will also automatically adjust your photo for different monitors and displays.
In conclusion, the image sizes for social media platforms are all very specific and it is vital that your cover photo matches the required dimensions. It is exactly the same as any other branding that you do – it must be consistent, professional and of the relevant quality. If the image, such as your logo, does not fit well on the page it will certainly not look professional and a potential client is much more likely to look right over your page and move on to the next. So make your branded page eye-catching by using the correct image sizes for social media platforms.