How Do You Add Your own Custom Cover Photo to LinkedIn?
It’s easy!
Images play a huge role in both attracting visitors and visually telling a story. When you perform a search on LinkedIn and click on a profile you are immediately drawn to the large LinkedIn cover photo at the top of the page.
I am surprised to see profiles absent of this, so this article will show you how to add LinkedIn cover photos. I will also share how to change LinkedIn background images and where to place them within your profile.
You will boost your professional reputation when you add a cover photo that communicates your personal brand and/or your company brand. Don’t you perceive people who have a great image as being more professional? You are perceiving something about them or their brand so you want to make that top image memorable or at least eye catching enough that you want to learn more.
How to Add LinkedIn Cover Photos
To add a photo if you have a Free or basic account:
1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your homepage, and select Edit Profile.
2. Click the Camera icon above the top section of your profile.
3. Select an image file from your computer to upload.
4. Click Save.
To Add a Linkedin Cover Photo if you have a Premium Account:
1. Make sure you have the Premium Profile feature turned on.
2. Click Profile at the top of your homepage.
3. Click Edit Background, which appears above the top section of your profile.
4. Select a preloaded image from the gallery or click Upload to use a photo of your own.
5. Click Save.
Requirements for a LinkedIn Background Images
• File type JPG, GIF or PNG
• No larger than 4MB.
• Pixel dimensions between 1000 X 425 and 4000 X 4000
How to Change LinkedIn Background Images
As you browse all social platforms you notice the presence of large images. What catches your eye? What can you learn from those brands who consistently use images?
Adding your own custom cover photo to LinkedIn , hover over the center of the background area until you see the shaded area, ‘Add Image’ or ‘Edit Background’
Premium accounts will have access to a variety of templates they can upload. I recommend a custom image that is representative of your personal or company brand.
How to Create a Custom Header Image on Your LinkedIn Profile
To create a custom branded image for your LinkedIn profile there are a couple of options;
1. Hire a graphic artist
2. Outsource to services such as Upwork
3. Do it yourself using a free tool such as Canva
Whether you are hiring a professional or doing it yourself you will need to know the LinkedIn cover photo dimensions need to be 1400w X 425h pixels and no more than 4 MB in weight. Now if that’s over your head, when you hire someone and provide these measurements they will know how to handle it. If you are hiring the workout, be sure to let them know the image is for your LinkedIn profile and if you want text added to the image be sure the text is above your profile’s header which you can see in the example above.
LinkedIn Cover Photo Ideas
There are many ways to use your LinkedIn cover photo for branding. Perhaps you want to promote an event, simply create a cover photo specifically for the event. You can take it down after your event and put your original photo back up. A strong brand image can help boost your LinkedIn lead generation efforts.
Perhaps you are speaking or presenting at a noteworthy event, again let people know just prior. Another idea – say you published a book – again let people know with a image of your book cover and release date.
Shown below are a couple of creative LinkedIn cover photos:
Check out Neal at http://maximizesocialbusiness.com/about/
Check out Lisa at http://thebuyergroup.com/lisa-buyer/
How to Add Photos to Your Profile
You can add photos, video and pdf’s to the body of your LinkedIn profile under the ‘Summary’ and ‘Experience’ sections. I recommend you add images that further tell your brand story, add Pdf’s of reports or marketing documents that would add value to someone visiting your profile and lastly you can add a link to a video. I recommend adding your company’s promotional video’s and consider adding video if applicable showing what you do.
In 2016 video is a leading in content production. With live streaming video available on Facebook, I think there is a good chance you will see it become available on LinkedIn. Currently, you have the ability to post a video clip as a status update. Video web content has the ability to tell a story much better than one picture does. Keep your video clips short, under 1 minute is ideal. You simply want to give your audience a way to experience you.
Another idea for utilizing video is to record video testimonials and add them under the experience section of your profile. Indicate in the description something like – ‘Click for testimonial’. I use this strategy when I teach in-person workshops. At the end of the workshop, I will ask if anyone is willing to provide me a video testimonial and usually I get one or two willing participants. If I am teaching a free workshop and wanting to get the attendees into a paid service, I offer a discount for their testimonial. Testimonials or reviews are powerful ways to build trust and your credibility. If you view my LinkedIn profile you will see that I do both a video testimonial and I ask for written recommendations that will post on my profile.
Getting your Status Update Noticed on LinkedIn with Images
People are more likely to engage with you and your post if you have a great image along with the status update.
In my blog post Make Your LinkedIn Status Updates Stand Out With Images, I recommend an ideal size image for a status update is 550w X 375h pixels which is the same size you would use for a sponsored update (ad) that appears in the newsfeed. I also recommend creating a new graphic image to accompany your own blog post, otherwise when you put a link to your blog post in the status update it automatically pulls any image you have in embedded in the article, however the size of the image that is pulled is a thumbnail size and will not have the same impact in the newsfeed. Just scroll down your news feed from the Home page tab and you will see what I mean. The more I am drawing your attention to this now you will want to make the effort to create the perfect image.
If you are utilizing 3rd party social management tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer to save time and post on multiple platforms at one time just know that using one sized image will not work the same on all platforms. I know it is much more time intensive however if you don’t have someone creating your graphics, start with the platform that is where your most ideal audience spends their time and create your image sizes for that platform.
You will stand out and get noticed and why else would you be doing this anyway?
*article originally posted on the LinkedIn For Business Blog
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