Your brand’s Facebook profile pic may be smaller than all other images on your page, but it’s every bit—if not more—important than the rest.
Here’s a list of top tricks with plenty of examples on how to create a killer Facebook profile image for your business.
What Is a Facebook Profile Image?
While your Facebook cover is a considerable expanse of space in which to create immersive experiences for your users, your Facebook profile pic is the tiniest image in your toolkit, with a much more limited set of possibilities.
It sits atop your profile, just to the bottom-left of your Facebook cover, and is almost exclusively displayed as a circular image.
It also follows you around the entire platform. It forms part of your business page. It sits next to every comment and post you make. And, it appears on other people’s newsfeeds.
Although the official size of a Facebook profile image is 170 x 170 px on desktop (and 128 x 128 px on mobile devices), the only place it displays at this size is on your profile.
Elsewhere, it displays much smaller, so optimizing for small spaces is critical to a successful Facebook profile image.
Here’s our tips for creating the perfect Facebook Profile Image:
1. Use a Logo
A logo is the most obvious contender for a Facebook profile image. It’s your brand’s most important visual asset, so showcasing it across Facebook as you create posts and make comments is a good way to promote your brand.
There are some cases, however, where a logo might not be the correct choice. If your logo is complex or contains numerous elements, or if it doesn’t fit easily into a circular format, then you may wish to think about other options.
Bold, simple, and graphical logos work best at small sizes, whereas rectangular logos, portrait-orientation logos, or text-heavy logos will start to get busy fast, and won’t stand up quite so well.
To overcome this, you may wish to create an emblem or stamp version of your logo—a smaller or simpler version of your logo that fits into a circular format—specifically for use on Facebook and other social media platforms.
2. Or . . . Don’t Use a Logo
If your logo isn’t the best fit for your Facebook profile image, don’t worry—there are plenty of other options. For some industries, such as professional services, a logo may not be the most expressive way to introduce your brand anyway. Instead, a headshot might work better to build rapport and create a personal connection with customers.
For businesses offering experiences or travel, a photograph of a plane, cruise ship, or sun-kissed beach could be just the ticket.
What works for one business won’t necessarily translate to another, so don’t be afraid to experiment and do what feels right for your business.
3. Maintain Brand Consistency
Your brand identity is not just your logo, but all the visual assets that make up your brand. If you have brand guidelines for your business (and you should!), it will contain a set of rules and principles for ensuring that your branding doesn’t become diluted.
These principles should extend to your presence on social media, especially when creating your Facebook profile image. Modern brand guidelines will often include a section specifically on social media, so be sure to think about that for your business.
If you don’t have brand guidelines, then take a look at your branding from other branding collateral you may have and stay aligned with the typography, colors, and other visual assets that are used.
Business cards, letterheads, or a sales brochure are smart places to start.
4. Remember That Only Square Images Work
Always use square images when creating your Facebook profile image. Using any other dimensions will lead to cropped areas when uploading to Facebook.
Also, remember that once on Facebook, your square will be cropped to a circle, so keeping all important content as central as possible—both horizontally and vertically—is key to a successful result.
Having part of your logo or image-subject missing won’t create a strong first impression, so experiment with different sizes and positions to make sure you make the most of the space available.
5. Keep Your Design Simple
Facebook profile images, especially on mobile, can be tiny. For that reason, it’s critical to optimize for small sizes first and then scale upwards, as anything that works at a smaller size will work at larger sizes, but the same isn’t always the case in reverse.
Set out to avoid ornate typography, intricate graphics or designs, or photographs that lack contrast between subject and background, as these will lead to confused and muddled results.
A limited color palette, bold graphics, and basic shapes will create a clearly defined Facebook profile image.
6. Think Beyond Facebook
One of the keys to creating a successful Facebook profile pic lies in consistency across all social media platforms. Users may find you on their Instagram feed, then want to check you out on Twitter, and finally hear about a promotion you’re running on Facebook and head over to take part.
Profile images work similar on other platforms as they do on Facebook, appearing alongside any type of content you create—posts, comments, videos, and more.
To create the most exposure, and ensure that customers can validate that they’ve successfully located you on Facebook, it’s important to use the same profile image on all platforms. This allows for instant recognition and avoids confusion for the user.
Each platform has different dimension requirements for their platforms, so it’s essential to check out your profile at several sizes to make sure it looks good in all the places.
Equally, different platforms have different maximum file size requirements. For reference, check out our handy Social Media Sizes and Dimensions Cheat Sheet.
This may sound like a lot of work, but if you follow all the tips we’ve shared, you’ll create an engaging Facebook profile that will be safe to use across all your channels—and your brand will massively benefit from it.
7. Use Create to Craft Your Own Facebook Profile Image
Making a Facebook profile image is easy with design and photo-editing tool Create by Shutterstock. Select from a whole range of pre-sized templates for all types of assets across all social media platforms, including Facebook profile images—and you can’t go wrong!
To start on a Facebook profile image, go to File > Create new > Blank canvas, select Facebook, and start adding your text, graphics, and other assets (choose from Shutterstock’s massive library or upload assets of your own).
Note: Facebook (and all social media) dimensions change quite often, so be sure you’re up to date with the latest by checking Facebook itself. You can always adjust your canvas size within Create by clicking Canvas > Resize canvas.
In this same place, you can also crop your canvas. Or, click Smart Resize (for Creative Flow+ Premium users) inside the tool to match your design to Facebook’s profile image specs in just one click.
When you’re done, download your finished piece using the red Download button, or click Publish to upload straight to Facebook.
Nice work, Creator!
License this cover image via VECTOR FUN, Keep Calm and Vector, and Foxys Graphic.
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