Are you curious to know how to make a good LinkedIn banner?
In this blog, I am going to cover everything you need to know when it comes to your LinkedIn banner.
We will be covering not only what you can make your banner, but also things like dimensions, where to make it, and what content you should be putting on it.
What Is A LinkedIn Banner?
A LinkedIn banner is a banner that goes above your profile picture that people can see even when they aren't visiting your profile.
This is the part of your profile that is large and "in your face" when you visit someone's profile. Its also above your profile when you're looking at "my network" area of LinkedIn.
The banner is a key part of the profile that can let people know who you are, what you do, and paint an image in their mind far faster than text can. Your LinkedIn banner is by far one of the most important parts of your profile.
Can You Make A LinkedIn Banner?
The simple answer is yes, you can. It's rather simple. The size of the banner is 1584 by 396 pixels.
To give you a good idea, that is a long thin horizontal rectangle that can cover most of the web pages. It will also scale down and be visible when you are looking at it under my network.
This is the reason why its important. It can help tell visitors on your profile what you do and how you do it. It's also an amazing way to grab someone's attention.
How you choose to use your banner is up to you, but know that it can be the most valuable part of your profile.
Before you pick or make your image, there are some things to cover.
First is when you pick an image to know that the bottom left side of your image is going to be cut off on your profile.
That is because your headshot goes there when people check your full profile. The other thing to keep in mind is that your photo shifts to the middle of your profile when you are being searched on mobile and under my network on desktop.
This means if you have words on your profile, know they could be blocked depending on the device someone uses to look at your LinkedIn profile.
You might be thinking, "Harrison, why is this important?"
This is important because if you have text that can be covered by your headshot, this is going to make your profile look strange or throw it out of "whack."
You may also change what you want your background to be because if you know the center of the image and the bottom left side is going to be covered with your profile picture, then your ideas may shift.
Either way, your LinkedIn profile background should convey to you and who you are.
There are three main options on how to create your profile background.
Find One Online
There are dozens of sites that offer free images or pictures that you can use to fit the exact needs of LinkedIn.
This takes all the guesswork out of your profile with websites like LinkedInbackgrounds.com. They have a huge selection of pre-made images that all fit your profile perfectly.
They are extremely high quality and can cover a variety of different fields. This takes a lot of the guesswork out of creating your profile background image.
This, in essence, is the true meaning of plug and play.
Find one you like, download it, and upload it to LinkedIn. In that matter of minutes, you're done.
There are also other websites that I absolutely love, like Pexels.com, pixabay.com, and unsplash.com. These are all great resources that provide royalty-free pictures. These pictures you can use without having someone who will come and say it's theirs.
They have millions of photos that photographers provide, and you can choose the one you want. If you choose to, you can leave a donation for the photographer for their hard work.
This is the easiest of the three options and the least time-consuming. It's a great option for people on the go or who aren't creative or don't have time to make a custom one.
Personally, I had used it on my own for years before I created a custom one for my profile.
Make The Photo
A simple photo is great, but going above and beyond and creating a completely custom one in software such as canva.com is an awesome alternative.
You can plug the size of the image in and be on your way, creating a custom background.
This is a huge help because it allows you to make it unique and creative. It goes far beyond the normal idea of finding a normal picture when you can add words to tell people what you do or create a collage of images that display what you do.
It is a relatively small image, so there is no need to get carried away with adding too many photos.
It's great for customizing what you want, creating that wow factor and gives you full control.
I highly recommend this for people who are a bit creative, have a little more time on their hands, and want to get their hands dirty with creating something unique.
You can get as creative as you want by adding images from the sites above, creating unique shapes, and adding text.
These are also a great way to stand out amongst the crowd on LinkedIn. It's very obvious when someone has designed their own background image.
Make It Yourself
Far to often, people don't realize how amazing their job is and what they do. Because of that, if you have a physical product or something that would catch someone's eye, try to take a photo of it. There are only so many images out there, and no matter how good they are, they aren't unique to you. Because of that, I love seeing people create their own background image from "scratch". This means they went out, took their own photo, and spruced it up with software like Canva.com. These are amazing because its one of a kind, and usually you can tell its completely unique to that person. It gives you full control of creativity, but it can be a little time-consuming.
Personally, I recommend everyone create their one of a kind LinkedIn banner image.
There are some additional things you can add to your banner, even if your not the most creative.
This is extremely helpful when it's done with an entire company, but adding a company logo is extremely powerful. Your banner image stands out, but people also remember patterns.
By adding your logo, it gives people the peace of mind they want to know yours with an organization.
People know the Nike logo because they see it everywhere. If you have a staff and they are willing to put your logo in their banner, its a great idea.
It builds brand recognition and gets rid of any doubt they may not be with the company.
Don't miss out - check out the full LinkedIn checklist for more insider information and tips!
