Social Media Images: Quick Guide for News & Social Sharing

Want more clicks and shares on your news posts? The right social media image does most of the heavy lifting. Use the right size, keep text readable on small screens, and make your brand obvious at a glance.

Below are practical sizes and easy rules you can use right away. Test one change at a time so you know what works for your audience.

Platform sizes that actually matter

Use these pixel sizes to avoid awkward crops and blurry thumbnails:

• Open Graph / Facebook link image: 1200 x 630 px (16:9)
• Twitter / X card: 1200 x 675 px (16:9)
• Instagram feed: 1080 x 1080 px (1:1) or 1080 x 1350 px (4:5 portrait)
• Instagram / Facebook Stories: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16)
• LinkedIn shared image: 1200 x 627 px
• YouTube thumbnail: 1280 x 720 px

Tip: design at 2x resolution (double those sizes) and export scaled down for crisp results on high‑DPI screens.

Design tips that get attention

Keep visuals simple. Use a single clear headline on the image (6–8 words max) and large fonts so the text remains readable on phones. High contrast between text and background helps readability fast.

Always include a small, consistent logo or brand bar in the same corner. That helps recognition when people scroll fast. Leave a safe margin (about 10% from the edges) so cropping won’t cut off important content.

Pick one focal element: a strong face, action shot, or bold graphic. Faces drive engagement for human stories; data visuals work better for analysis pieces. For breaking news use a bright color or label like "Breaking" so readers notice it quickly.

File types and speed matter. Use JPG for photos, PNG for images with sharp lines or transparency, and WebP for best compression. Aim to keep social thumbnails under 200 KB so pages load quickly on mobile.

Accessibility and SEO: write clear alt text (brief, descriptive, include key phrase once). Name your image file with words — not random numbers — e.g., enzo-fernandez-argentina-win.jpg. Set Open Graph and Twitter Card tags so platforms show your chosen image, not a random frame.

Tools and quick workflow: use Canva, Figma, or Photoshop for templates. Compress with TinyPNG or Squoosh. Schedule posts and preview them in the platform’s composer to check mobile cropping before you hit publish.

Want to keep consistency? Create three templates: breaking news, feature story, and opinion. That saves time and keeps your feed looking professional.

Try one change this week: add readable headline text to your next three post images and compare share rates. Small tweaks add up fast.

If you want, I can create a simple template checklist for African EduNews Tree — sizes, fonts, and export settings you can copy into Canva or Figma.