Why Do You Need a Social Media Cheat Sheet for WordPress?

November 23. 2022

If you’re running a WordPress website or blog, taking advantage of social media channels is a must. The issue is that there is no universal standard for profile pictures, cover images for articles, or other visual content across all of these sites. This makes it extremely difficult for first-time users to get up and running. But if you’re already utilizing social media to promote your website or blog, you’ve probably heard about the social media cheat sheet for WordPress. We’ve asked pros from WP Full Care what is it and why do you need it and you’ll find answers to these questions further in this article.

Social media cheat sheet for WordPress – what is it and why do you need it?

Even though you’ve probably linked your website with your different social media platforms by adding a share button to your WordPress and similar, your work here is not done. You need to do so much more in order to utilize social media in a way that will help you attract more audience.

If you’ve been maintaining social media profiles in addition to your WordPress blog or site, you know that each network has its own set of rules. For instance, the image dimensions required by social media platforms like Facebook and pinboards like Pinterest are two such examples. Therefore, it’s not easy to keep all that facts in mind when you’re trying to make a social media profile picture or article image.

Don’t get us wrong – it’s not the end of the world if you get it wrong but it’s enough to ruin the great impression you’re trying to make. However, if you have a social media cheat sheet for WordPress, you can rapidly peruse all your choices. You can use it to make sure you don’t forget anything when setting up a social media account or posting content to your WordPress blog. That’s the main reason why this cheat sheet will be more than useful to you.

So, without further ado, let us launch into the most comprehensive social media guide ever compiled for WordPress users. In this article, you’ll find out how to choose the best social media platforms to promote your website as well as what are the recommended image sizes for them.

Choosing social media platforms you want to use

If one thing is true nowadays is that there’s no shortage of social media platforms. However, not all of them will contribute to expanding your company’s reach or increasing traffic to your website. Your website’s demographic and niche will determine which social media networks are best suited to your site.

For example, let’s say you’re running a fashion blog. In that case, Instagram could be a great way to spread the word about your latest posts. On the other hand, if you are running a website for foodies and are excited about sharing your favorite recepies, You Tube and Yummly could be the best platforms for you. Pinterest is great for websites dedicated to home improvements, interior design, and similar.

Therefore, if you want to use social media to expand your business, you need to be sure you’re reaching the appropriate people on the proper platforms.

Image sizes for different social media platforms

In order to use social media to market your blog or company, you’ll need to create profiles, upload your logo and a cover photo, and make images to go along with your articles and links. The issue now is that there are different specifications for these photographs on various social media sites. If you get the size wrong, the images could look distorted and that alone can make visitors run away from your website.

Let’s see what are recommended image sizes are for the most popular social media platforms today – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Facebook image sizes

As we mentioned, different social media platforms have different sets of rules when it comes to image sizes. When it comes to Facebook, here’s what they recommend:

• Cover image: 820 x 312 for desktop computers and 640 x 360 for mobile devices. The ideal file size for a cover photo is under 100 kilobytes and you can use both JPEG or the PNG format.
• Profile photo: a square image with a minimum of 170 x 170 pixels on desktop computers and 128 x 128 pixels on mobile devices. This is the best place for displaying your unique company logo.
• Shared image: 1200 x 630. The maximum width for this image to appear on your site is 470 pixels, and the maximum width for the feed is 600 pixels.
• Group cover photo: 1640 x 856 pixels.

Twitter image sizes

Even though twitter is the internet’s conversation hub, using the right image sizes can help you make your profile more interesting and engaging. Here’s the cheat sheet for Twitter image sizes:

• Header image: 1500 x 500. In place of a cover photo on your Twitter profile, this image will fill the entire width of the screen.
• Profile photo: 400 x 400. You can submit images in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, up to 2MB in size.
• In-stream image: 1200 x 675. This picture appears when you submit a picture, retweet a tweet, embed a tweet, and so on. Twitter will automatically select the best image to accompany your article’s title and description if you’re already using Twitter Cards.

Instagram image sizes

The majority of Instagram’s material is already presented visually. When you upload photographs from your mobile device using the Instagram app, the program will automatically resize them to the correct dimensions. But ig you want your photos to look their best on Instagram, crop them to the following dimensions:

• Profile photo: 320 x 320. If the image is square, the measurements don’t need to be exact.
• Thumbnail size: 161 x 161.
• Photos uploaded and shared with others:  1080 x 1080. If your image is square, you can utilize a greater quality than usual.
• Video size: 1080p in resolution.
• Instagram stories: 1080 x 1920 or a minimum of 600 x 1067 pixels. It’s not possible to upload files larger than 4 GB, which is a lot for a high-definition film.

YouTube image sizes

When it comes to user engagement, YouTube is second only to Google in terms of popularity. The thumbnails, cover art, and channel art for your videos on YouTube are some of the most important visual elements in attracting viewers. If you run a YouTube channel, the first thing to do is to add a YouTube subscribe button to your WordPress website.

When it comes to the images sizes, here’s what to pay attention to the most:

• Cover image for your YouTube channel: 2048 x 1152 pixels. Make sure the image is horizontally centered so that it displays properly on mobile devices, where YouTube may adjust the image’s dimensions to match the user’s display.
• Channel icon: 800 x 800 pixel icon for the channel. Your channel’s icon will be a small, circular version of this image.
• Preview video thumbnail: 1280 x 720. If you ask any video maker on YouTube, they will tell you that the thumbnail is the single most significant factor in getting views. This is what will appear on the main menu, search results, and other sections of YouTube. A well-optimized video thumbnail can increase your channel’s viewership and popularity.

Final thoughts

We hope our social media cheat sheet for WordPress helped you make the most of the social media platforms you decided to use for your business. However, this doesn’t mean you should neglect your website. While you’re focused on growing your audience through social media, reach out to WordPress experts and let them make sure your website is always running smoothly.