If it feels like there’s a million things to consider when writing blog posts, that’s because there is; you need to keep everything from word count to keywords to distribution in mind. Since blogging involves balancing all these factors while simultaneously creating value, it’s no surprise that WordPress featured images are often overlooked.
Using high quality images with the correct WordPress featured image size can offer a ton of benefits for your blog–starting with increased brand awareness, shareability, and visual appeal.
In this blogger’s guide, we’ll answer all your questions about why you need to use strong visuals and the best WordPress featured image size. You’ll also learn how to make a strong post thumbnail and the best practices to follow.
What is a WordPress Featured Image?
WordPress featured images are the images that automatically become a blog post’s thumbnail. Your featured image is a visual representation of the blog post that it is assigned to. It will also be the default image that is displayed when your blog post is shared on social media.
While some themes will automatically display your featured image at the top of your blog post, many will not; you can manually enter your featured image into your post if you want it to show up there.
Plenty of bloggers just let WordPress select any image to show up as the post’s thumbnail; in many cases, this will be the first image in the post. For the best results, you should manually set a custom featured image for each blog post. Placing it at the top or within the first three paragraphs is ideal.
The Best WordPress Featured Image Size
The best WordPress featured image size is 1200 x 628 pixels. These dimensions will satisfy most WP blog themes.
Different blogs (and more specifically, different themes) may have featured images with different sizes. In WordPress, you can alter and customize your image settings so different image types will be sized accordingly.
If you go to Settings and then Media, you can customize different image specifications for your blog.
The thumbnail size lets you set specific image dimensions for all WordPress featured images. Once your settings are set to the correct dimensions (1200 x 628), your thumbnails will be cropped accordingly. Because of this, you’ll want to create WordPress featured images with the best size to avoid any awkward cropping.
To make this process super easy, Snappa has hundreds of free WordPress featured image templates that are already pre-sized to the correct dimensions.
The best part is, they are all fully customizable and no design experience is needed.
How to Set a Featured Image in WordPress
To set a featured image in WordPress, open a blog post to edit, then scroll down until you see “Featured Image” in the bottom right corner. Then click “Set Featured Image.”
You’ll be able to choose any image in your library, or upload a new one if necessary. You can add in Alt Text and titles just as you would with any other blog images in the post.
Once your WordPress featured image is set, it will show up in the Featured Image box on the right side tool bar. You can change it, remove it, or edit it at any time.
Why You Need a WP Featured Image in Every Blog Post
WordPress featured images are easy for bloggers to forget about, but that doesn’t mean that you should overlook them.
Using high quality, consistently-styled featured images will benefit you greatly. They can grab the attention of readers, enhance your blog’s credibility, and boost engagement.
Branded blog featured images can go a long way in helping new users find and learn about your business. Because these images are shared on social media, having an easily-distinguishable look for your featured photos will build brand awareness on distribution channels like social media and Medium.
Users will begin to notice the distinct look and recognize it as yours; this can get more clicks from users already following you, and help attract new users. Over time, this can build a more loyal and engaged readership.
If you add Alt Text to your featured image, you can also get an extra SEO boost. Place your keyword as Alt Text when setting your featured blog image in WordPress for an extra search engine perk.
Optimizing WP Post Thumbnails for Social Sharing
If you’re using the Yoast SEO plugin (including the free version), you can upload specific post thumbnail images for different social platforms in WordPress.
If you’re using Snappa to create your WordPress featured images, you can make use of our image resize feature to easily create multiple thumbnail sizes for your post.
What Types of Blog Thumbnail Images Should I Use?
This depends a lot on your specific blog. Many blogs will see the best performance when using high quality photographs. Food blogs, wedding blogs, fashion blogs, and photography blogs are all examples of sites that would benefit from using relevant photographs as blog featured images.
The key here is to choose relevant images. Food blogs should have the actual food they’re teaching users to make in the post as the WP featured image. Tech blogs should feature images or specs of the devices they’re reviewing.
Many businesses—especially B2B businesses—benefit from custom-made blog post thumbnails like the ones we make in Snappa. These graphics should also be high quality and relevant to the blog post.
You can easily add in your logo or brand colors for a professional touch.
WP Featured Image Best Practices (and Why They Matter)
When you decide what type of WP featured images you want to use on your WordPress blog, there are a few strategies and best practices to consider to get the best results. Some WordPress featured photo best practices include:
Use high-resolution images capable of scaling
Since your featured image will represent your post on your blog and on social media, you want to choose an image that will look good at a large size. Various online platforms display images at different sizes, and using a high-resolution image will help you avoid any pixellation or distortion.
Choose simple, clean images
When in doubt, stick with images that are simple, clean, and sharp. This will make it easy on the eyes for readers, capturing their attention quickly. The faster they’re able to figure out what the post is about, the better.
Keep your WordPress photos consistent
Your WordPress featured images should typically adhere to the same style. If you add anything to your images—which I typically recommend doing—keep these additions consistent. This can include your logo, the font you use, or your brand colors.
Always use relevant images
Have you ever heard “we read with our eyes first?” We also tend to look at images in a post before we actually read the text; our brain actually processes visuals 60,000x faster than text. The images you choose can attract users, or cause them to skip over your description entirely, especially on social media. Because of this, choose relevant images that represent your posts accurately, or you might see an increase in bounce rates.
Make sure you have legal rights to the image
One prevalent issue in the blogging community is the accidental use of images that are copyrighted. Not only can this damage your credibility, it can also lead to legal consequences.
Unless you’re sourcing images from copyright-free stock photo sites like StockSnap.io or Pixabay, you may get yourself into trouble. Ideally, you want images that are licensed under Creative Commons CC0 which all images included in Snappa fall under.
Final Thoughts
The best WordPress featured images will help your blog look more professional, boost its credibility, and build brand awareness. To achieve optimal results, you need to use the correct WordPress featured image size and follow the best practices.
With easy-to-use design tools like Snappa, you can create stunning WordPress featured images in minutes. The correct size is already pre-set, along with hundreds of design templates and millions of free stock photos to choose from.
Are you ready to make custom WordPress featured images? Get started with Snappa for free!
