Content Creation
Yasmina Akni Ebourki
Last updated: Feb 27, 2025
What’s the first thing you notice when you check out someone’s LinkedIn profile? It’s usually their profile picture, followed by the banner.
Let’s be real—if there’s no banner, it can seem like they’re not using LinkedIn strategically or lack a solid communication plan.
Now think about your own profile. It’s the same story.
That’s why having an optimized banner is so important. A well-designed banner helps you make a strong first impression, attract attention, and keep visitors engaged with your profile.
Why Your LinkedIn Banner Matters
Your LinkedIn banner is the image that sits above your profile picture and serves as the background to your profile photo.
Think of it as a reflection and a showcase of your professional persona, brand, or business, and most importantly, your style.
It can highlight your authority by featuring recommendations from companies you've worked with or clients you've served.
Essentially, it’s an image that represents your identity, but it also helps you gain trust with potential clients and employers.
A well-crafted banner has the power to reinforce your credibility and make your profile stand out in a sea of others.
In other words, it’s the first impression people will have of your style after viewing your profile photo.
The banner offers a larger space to tell your story, giving you a chance to leave a lasting impact.
First Impressions Count
Trust me, first impressions really matter.
There’s nothing worse than someone landing on your LinkedIn profile only to see the default gray background image.
It makes it look like you haven’t bothered to optimize it, or worse, you just left it as LinkedIn set it up.
Even if you just have a solid color instead of a real photo, it’s still not making a good impression.
Your LinkedIn banner is like free advertising space—it’s the perfect opportunity to highlight what you do.
This space is also an extension of your brand identity. Incorporate your branding elements—such as colors, fonts, and logos—so that the banner not only informs, but also aligns with the overall visual identity of your personal or business brand.
Establishing Your Personal or Company Brand
It’s also worth mentioning that LinkedIn tends to give more visibility to personal profiles than company pages.
So, if your goal is to promote your product, service, or company, focusing on personal branding through your LinkedIn profile is a great strategy.
Think of your profile as a bridge between your personal brand and your company’s offerings. It’s the perfect opportunity to represent your business with a strong, unified identity.
In this case, it’s essential to ensure that your banner branding is adapted to the platform.
The colors, logo, and message should be consistent with your presence across all social media platforms. Consistency builds trust and helps reinforce your brand's identity.
If you coordinate your banner design with other employees, you can create a cohesive company brand.
This consistency will make your profile stand out and provide a clear call to action, ensuring that your audience knows exactly what you want them to do or learn.
Best Practices for Designing a LinkedIn Banner
Now that we know how important it is to have a LinkedIn banner, and that it shouldn’t just be any random image with a bit of text, let's take a deeper look at some best practices you should follow before designing your banner.
Ideal LinkedIn Banner Dimensions
First things first, whether you’re designing the image yourself or hiring someone to do it for you (or using a tool like Canva, as most creators do), you need to keep the size and format in mind.
The ideal dimensions for your LinkedIn banner are 1584 x 396 px. This ensures the image fits properly and looks sharp.
As for formats, it's best to use either JPG or PNG. Once you’ve got these basics sorted, the goal is to add relevant information.
Keep your message clear and concise—something impactful for your target audience.
The banner is like a one-second ad, so you’ve got to make those few words count.
The image and color you choose should be eye-catching and closely aligned with your service or message.
The key here is to use minimal text but make sure it’s well-chosen and stands out.
Key Design Elements
Let’s dive into the design aspect.
There are countless styles and color schemes to choose from, depending on how you want to shape your visual identity.
If your brand identity is already established, stick to the same colors, formats, and design elements you’ve been using.
If not, a great starting point is to look at what other well-known content creators like Lara Costa, Jasmin Alic, and others are doing with their banners.
This can give you some initial inspiration.
Next, keep in mind that the text on your banner should be super minimal and easy to read in just a couple of seconds.
It should be scannable at a glance.
Focus on highlighting key information: your logo, a catchy phrase that tells people what you do and the value you offer, and a clear call-to-action.
Finally, make sure all the visual elements you use are high-quality.
Avoid using images you’ve grabbed from someone else.
Instead, create your own or use free, customizable elements from platforms like Canva, where you can find a variety of shapes and designs to personalize and match your style.
Later on, I'll share a tutorial with you.
What to Include in Your LinkedIn Cover Image
Your LinkedIn cover image is prime real estate for showing off what makes you stand out.
It’s not just decoration—it’s an opportunity to communicate your expertise, credibility, and unique value in a matter of seconds.
Here’s how you can enhance it even more:
Awards and Certifications: Displaying your achievements immediately boosts your credibility. Certifications show that you’ve put in the work to gain expertise, while awards reflect recognition from your industry or peers. This visual cue tells visitors you’re an authority in your field and can help set you apart in competitive spaces.
Publications and Projects: Featuring key projects or published works not only showcases your expertise but also gives potential clients or employers tangible proof of what you’ve accomplished. Whether it’s a bestselling book, a groundbreaking project, or a major collaboration, it provides context for your skills and helps position you as a thought leader.
Client Testimonials: Including brief, impactful testimonials conveys trust and reliability. A few well-placed quotes from satisfied clients can highlight your strengths from someone else’s perspective, which is often more powerful than self-promotion. It’s a subtle but effective way to demonstrate your impact without saying it outright.
Each of these elements can transform a basic cover image into a powerful statement. Together, they help communicate your value and create a lasting impression.
Common Mistakes you should avoid in your LinkedIn banner
But just as we highlight all the good, we must also address the common mistakes that can harm a brand’s image—mistakes we still see in banners today.
First, nothing screams "unprofessional" louder than pixelated or blurry images. High-resolution visuals are essential.
A banner is often the first thing people notice, and poor quality gives the impression that attention to detail isn’t a priority—something no brand wants.
Second, when it comes to banners, less is often more. A cluttered banner overflowing with text overwhelms viewers and weakens your message.
Stick to a concise, compelling statement or call to action that grabs attention without suffocating the design.
Finally, mobile responsiveness is essential. Many banners look fine on desktops but lose their impact—or even become unreadable—on smaller screens.
Always preview your design on mobile devices to ensure it’s clear, legible, and visually appealing across all platforms.
Ideas for Your LinkedIn Banner
Let’s make sure you never run out of ideas.
Here are some of the most common LinkedIn banner examples, broken down to help you identify what elements you can apply to your own banner.
For Professionals
If you’re aiming for a professional style aligned with your company, consider the following:
Highlight key achievements or certifications.
Incorporate your industry’s themes (e.g., tech, finance, healthcare).
Include a professional tagline that sums up your expertise.
Use clean, corporate colors for a polished look.
For Entrepreneurs and Business Owners
If your focus is on personal branding, whether for yourself as an entrepreneur or for your business, make sure your banner includes the following:
Showcase your business logo prominently.
Add a slogan or call-to-action that emphasizes your unique value proposition.
Use brand colors to establish recognition.
Incorporate an image of your product, service, or a relevant graphic.
For Job Seekers
As a job seeker, your banner is an opportunity to stand out from other candidates.
Use it to clearly communicate your career goals and create a strong first impression for recruiters.
Include a clear statement of your career goals (e.g., “Looking for opportunities in marketing”).
Use keywords or industry-related icons to catch recruiters' attention.
Keep it simple but professional to align with your personal brand.
Highlight your LinkedIn profile URL if space allows.
Minimalist Banners
If simplicity is your style, a minimalist banner can say a lot with very little.
Focus on clean, bold visuals that make your profile look modern and uncluttered.
Focus on simplicity with one or two bold colors.
Avoid clutter—use minimal text or just your name and title.
Utilize geometric shapes or clean lines for a modern aesthetic.
Ensure the design conveys clarity and professionalism.
Visual Storytelling
A banner should tell a story to capture attention and leave a lasting impression.
Some elements that can help you tell a story through your image include:
Use an image or graphic that tells a story about your career or mission.
Include elements like timelines, key milestones, or visuals that represent your journey.
Blend creative illustrations or photos that resonate with your audience.
Balance text and visuals to avoid overwhelming the viewer
Perfecting Your LinkedIn Banner
So, what can we take from all of this? The key takeaway is that your LinkedIn banner should reflect your style and goals, and it plays an essential role in your social media presence.
You can take inspiration from someone else's design, but to truly stand out in the competitive world of content marketing, you should refine it over time so that, in just two seconds, people recognize those colors as uniquely yours.
Also, keep in mind that this needs to align with your personal brand, making it an effective tool for building your online marketing strategy.
Once you've decided on your style and it becomes part of your visual identity, it’s best not to change it too often.
Consistency is key, especially in social media, where familiarity helps build trust.
If you see that a lot of people are responding to your banner or that it's not getting the attention you hoped for, you can always tweak and modify it based on the feedback, leveraging the right tips to improve your engagement.
Don't forget all the tips and details we've covered—some of these banner elements might seem small, but they can truly make you stand out in the crowded world of social media and content marketing.
But don’t make drastic changes all the time, as this can hurt the recognition and trust people have in your brand's colors.
Finally, if you change your service, product, or the value proposition you offer, feel free to update your banner accordingly.
Updating your key message helps ensure that your banner remains relevant to your marketing goals.
The ultimate goal is for your LinkedIn banner to be the first impression of your business—one that builds trust, reflects your personal style, and aligns with your overall content and marketing strategies.
It doesn’t have to be boring, but it should absolutely be a representation of who you are.
Once people see it, they’ll connect with you through that image.
