What Makes A Good Facebook Profile Picture?

Your Facebook profile picture is your first impression to people visiting your page. Not to mention your profile picture shows in a little bubble on all your comments and posts. Your Facebook picture reflects who you are. Deciding on a picture can be overwhelming. This article will help you know what makes a good Facebook profile picture.

Your profile picture is key to your personal brand and online networking

When a guest visits your profile they look at your picture for 1/10 of a second before passing judgement. People engage and do business with those they trust so your picture needs to make a first impression. 

A picture that portrays warmth, approachability and being friendly wins people over. A recent picture of you in natural light, smiling or faux laughing shows you lead a content, full, and happy life. (instill a little fomo).

Remember, you never know who’s looking at your Facebook, which is why you should assume that everyone is. Good profile photos help you gain followers that will be your next client or customer.

What makes a good Facebook profile picture?

A large part of building a business on social media is building relationships. Well, no one can be friends with a plant or a sunset. And absolutely no one wants to be friends with someone who looks mean or aggressive. Big smiles in profile pictures encourage positive social relationships. “The more a person smiled in a photo, the more viewers of that photo expected an interaction with that person to go well…and expectations like that make people treat others with more warmth.” – Social Psych Online

Frame yourself and size your photo to fit the Facebook frame

Over the past year Facebook has changed the profile picture frame. The once square image is gone and has been replaced with a smaller circle frame. Whether you’re shooting your own photos or having professional photos taken, it’s important to check your sizing before uploading.

Some headshots are too close to the camera. While others are too far away. Making sure you are properly framed within the shot and have good sizing for the platform frame. I like to upload my photo into canva.com to format my picture. Then I go to my Facebook profile to upload it. If you need instructions for uploading a profile picture please read – How to make an attractive Facebook profile.

Contrasting colors help your Facebook profile stand out

Social feeds move fast and the person scrolling moves even faster. Using color is a great way to stand out.

When colors contrast with the colors around them, they stand out. 

Here are some color tips:

• What color are most social media websites? Blue (a cool color)
• What color is the complement of blue? Orange (a warm color)
• Red represents energy and excitement. It’s bold, youthful, and captures attention. 
• To find popular colors check out Pantone’s color and palettes of the year.

Use a simple background for your profile photo

The focus of the image should be your face. Busy backgrounds can take the focus off of you, which isn’t ideal. A single or two-tone background that has some texture like brick will help your features pop. 

If you have a picture you like, but the background isn’t ideal you can use a site like https://www.remove.bg/ to remove the background. Once the background is removed, you can replace it with a solid color or background using the canva app or picsart app.

Include your brand into your photo

Here are five ways to sneak elements of your brand into your profile pic.

• Wear your brand colors: wear a shirt with the company colors.
• Put the brand color in the background: Put your office in the background.
• Wear your company’s branded merch.

Your profile pic appears in: 

1. The News feed of your followers
2. Posts on your profile timeline
3. Replies in comments
4. Comments & posts you make on other pages/profiles

How to Take a Good Profile Picture

And don’t forget to keep these photo practices in mind: 

• Always use clear, high-resolution images
• Try to choose a clean image that aren’t cluttered or busy
• Check each profile picture to make sure that it’s cropped correctly both on desktop and mobile