If you’re like most people, you probably spend a good chunk of your day scrolling through social media. And if you’re a social media manager or content creator, that chunk of time is probably even larger. With all that time spent looking at images, you might think you have a pretty good handle on social media image dimensions. But surprisingly, there’s more to it than just knowing the width and height of an image. In order to create images that are optimized for each social network, you need to understand how each platform uses images and what role they play in the user experience.

For example, did you know that Facebook & Pinterest favor vertical images? Or that LinkedIn recommends using images that are a minimum of 1200×627 pixels?

By understanding the correct social media image dimensions for each platform, you can ensure that your images are seen by the largest number of people possible. Not to mention, you’ll also save yourself a lot of time and frustration trying to figure out why your images aren’t appearing correctly on each social network.

So next time you’re creating content for social media, take a few minutes to research the ideal social media image size for each platform. Your audience will thank you for it!