LinkedIn profile banner images and photography in London

Tips and ideas on how to use photography on your LinkedIn profile page.

We have posted before about the importance of your LinkedIn profile photo and the benefits of having a professional or carefully considered headshot on your LinkedIn page but another important area to consider is the banner or background image you can customise along with the URL you can tailor to benefit you.

The banner image which runs behind your profile photo is important as it is the second thing visitors to your profile will look at. If you leave the default LinkedIn image it looks like you could not be bothered to finish the page and therefore looks unprofessional. I have noticed that people will spend a great deal of time getting their text perfect for their page but when it comes to the use of photography on their LinkedIn profile it seems they either ignore it leaving it as default or make a vague attempt to drop something suitable in. Both or these practises are flawed as LinkedIn has become an excellent market place for professionals but also a way potential employers, clients and customers can check you out without you knowing they have had a look at your professional background.

A friend who was setting up her first LinkedIn page was told by the head of her graphic design degree course not to put a banner image featuring any of her work but just to upload a white file so it appeared neutral. I can see the thinking behind this but I do not agree with the thought process. On your LinkedIn page you should utilise every aspect to make yourself stand out in the business arena. If all the students from my friend’s course follow that advice and only one student uploads her work then which profile will stand out. I suggested she makes a collage of her work so it represents her designs and she can also tailor the background image if she is going for a certain position or commission to fit with that style.

Companies are beginning to ask us to photograph their offices and areas of their business so these images can be used on their corporate profiles. LinkedIn should become a part of your corporate branding and the use of photography is paramount in this process.

On my LinkedIn profile page I have used the image below. It consists of studio, location and office corporate headshots along with one photo of The City. These are the services we offer and the location we work at. Pretty basic stuff but hopefully just by looking at the background photo you could work out what we do and where we do it.

Whichever profession or business sector you or your company work in there will be decent imagery that would greatly improve your profile. Consider what you could use and if you are drawing a blank then approach designers or photographers and collect some ideas and inspiration. It might be a good idea to invest in some good photography software as the banner image has to be 1584 x 396 pixels so all photos would need cropping to fit the letter box format. As already mentioned a montage is useful to fill this shape as square or portrait images can make up the wider landscape crop.

The second point I wanted to draw attention to was the way you can customise your LinkedIn URL. It is free and can help your SEO and make your page more memorable. Simply click on the edit URL option and add your name, company or keywords. Some are taken but you can play around to find a URL which fits your profession. We are corporate photographer London which makes sense.

Please get in touch if you would like our help with your LinkedIn photos and here is an article on professional corporate headshots.