Finding a job today isn’t just happening in the physical world. It’s also in the digital realm now. Most job seekers and employers are on different professional networking platforms to find a job and to hire applicants, respectively.
One of the most popular ones is LinkedIn. The 600 million professional profiles (and counting) you can find there just goes to show how extensive the network connections and job opportunities LinkedIn now offers. Personal branding is a vital element to get a job when it comes to LinkedIn. Hence, the demand for solid career accomplishments and experiences and a striking LinkedIn banner.
To give you a guide, here’s a list of what you should and should not do when making your own.
Do
Make sure your LinkedIn banner reflects you to land favorable responses as a professional. Do all of these, and you’re well assured of a striking LinkedIn banner. See LinkedIn banner examples below.
1. Link Your Linkedin Banner with Your Professional Background.
Every banner you use should visually tell a story about you as a professional — an image that represents you. We all know how effective a single photo is as a storyteller. It is generally deemed better to show your LinkedIn visitors who you really are just by using powerful and compelling cover photos rather than having to explain it through words.
For example, let’s say that you are a senior architect or designer for a construction firm. It will make sense if you use a skyscraper photo for your professional LinkedIn background. (Just like this template.)
2. Include Your Contact Details in Your Banner.
To help potential clients avoid inconveniences, including your essential contact details would be wise. Your email address and phone number and your website, if you have one, are the basics to reflect on your profile.
3. Format Your Linkedin Banner Correctly.
Imagine spending a lot of effort designing your banner, and LinkedIn crops it due to wrong formatting. This will totally ruin the intended effect you want your photo to deliver. Unfortunately, there is no other prevention to that other than respecting the required format of the site or app. This way, your LinkedIn banner will be at its optimal quality once uploaded.
Check out LinkedIn’s Help Center, and you’ll see the format they prefer. The image file must be in PNG, JPEG, or GIF format; file size should not exceed 8 MB, and the minimum size requirements are 646 x 220 pixels.
4. Find the Perfect Tool to Create a Linkedin Banner.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have graphic designing skills. But thankfully, there are free and paid online sites, like Venngage, that can help you create a banner yourself. So if you can just find the perfect tool to create one, you are ready to go! Venngage is the application we suggest you use for your graphic design needs. The platform just comes super handy for cover photos, LinkedIn banners, and even YouTube channel art if you need them in a matter of minutes.
Don’t
Our goal is to drive people into our profile and not the other way around. Avoid these things to boost your networking and opportunity development.
1. Don’t just focus on one specific element.
Indeed, your profile must have powerful content. But a background is actually one of the few features that people initially see in your account. A LinkedIn banner, also known as the background or header, is oftentimes overlooked by many. Make sure yours elicits a favorable first impression. It has to be captivating enough to make viewers want to stay for a while and get to know you more professionally.
2. Don’t stick with a general template.
Given the heavy traffic of LinkedIn users, it would be quite a challenge to stand out. One way to do just that is to avoid one-size-fits-all templates. Once people have seen your LinkedIn profile, there is a good chance that they have gone through your Facebook and/or Twitter profiles too. Though you might come across some job opportunities on the two platforms mentioned, they were truly meant for people’s social lives. Your cover photo from your social media accounts should be different from that of your LinkedIn’s. A professional community such as LinkedIn only deserves to have equally professional users.
3. Don’t go overboard with your use of words.
When you stuff your LinkedIn background with too much text, you attract and impress only a few to none. If you want to describe yourself more using words, there are other sections for this in LinkedIn like your articles, work experience and posts. Just make your cover photo as clean and as presentable as can be.
4. Don’t overdo it.
Despite the many factors on your banner that you can go all out with — the color scheme you used, the icons you added, etc. — choose to keep it simple. To avoid overwhelming your audience with too much visuals, you can opt to include only your contact details and business or personal logo. When you design your background photo, keep in mind that your profile photo falls in the middle of it once uploaded. Hence, alignment is one of the important points you have to consider when designing a LinkedIn banner.
LinkedIn Banner Templates
It would totally look bad to appear unprofessional on a platform that is filled with tons of business professionals. Check out these LinkedIn banner templates that reflect how professional and adept you are in your field.
Vintage Legal Profile LinkedIn Cover Banner Template
Venngage
Office Desk Profile LinkedIn Cover Banner Template
Venngage
Purple Cityscape Profile LinkedIn Banner Template
Venngage
Vibrant Pattern Profile LinkedIn Cover Banner Template
Venngage
Some users fail to recognize how impactful their LinkedIn banner could be. So use that to your advantage. Don’t miss the window of opportunity to stand out from the rest. To be completely honest, a LinkedIn banner may not be the most essential element in your profile. It’s never meant to be. But it definitely helps give recruiters and employers a solid first impression.
With a tasteful LinkedIn banner with a compelling LinkedIn header, people are more likely to know you better as a person and as a professional. Start crafting yours today!
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