Banner & Photo Specs
Banner
Dimensions
- 1584 x 396 px (4:1 ratio)
- Keep text/CTA in the right 2/3 of the image — the profile photo covers the left 1/3 on desktop and overlaps even more on mobile
Composition checklist
- High contrast background (pure white, pure black, single brand color — not noisy photos)
- Value prop or tagline in bold type
- Brand colors + logo (small, in a corner)
- CTA: URL, email, or "Book a call →"
- Optional: visual showing your work (not a stock photo)
Mobile crop test
LinkedIn crops banners aggressively on mobile. Before finalizing:
- Upload to a test profile
- Check on 3 screen sizes (phone portrait, tablet, desktop)
- Verify key text is visible on the smallest screen
Anti-patterns
- Stock photo of a handshake
- Stock photo of a city skyline
- Tagline only, no visual structure
- Text that overlaps with where the profile photo sits
- More than 3 colors (noisy)
- Tiny logo in the center (gets lost)
Profile Photo
Dimensions
- Minimum 400 x 400 px (LinkedIn enforces)
- Square crop
Composition checklist
- Face fills 60% of the frame (not a full-body shot)
- Update every 2-3 years — older photos read as stale/inactive
- Natural lighting near a window beats studio lighting
- Neutral background (solid color, uncluttered wall) — no distracting backgrounds
- Work clothes appropriate to your industry
- Slight smile beats "serious professional" — humans respond to warmth
- Eye contact with camera
Kills credibility
- Cropped group photo (others' shoulders visible)
- Vacation shot (beach, mountains, cocktail in hand)
- 10-year-old photo
- Sunglasses or hats
- Filters / heavy retouching
- Very low resolution (pixelated)
- Facing away from camera
- Stock "professional headshot" (obvious — faceless model)
Why this matters
- Banner + photo = first visual impression; visitors decide whether to scroll in under 2 seconds
- Profile with a real, current photo: 14x more profile views than one without
- High-quality banner: +23% profile view duration (correlation, from Co.Actor's 2026 data)
- Banner space is essentially free advertising — 90% of users waste it on a default or stock image