What are the Blog Post Featured Images?

The blog post featured image is an image chosen as the representative image for a blog post.  Since this image is often the first thing a visitor will see when they come across a blog post, it should be eye-catching and reflective of the post's content. 

Furthermore, a good featured image will make a visitor want to click on a blog post and read it. 

In addition to a featured image, most blog posts will also have a thumbnail image. This image is usually smaller than the featured image and is placed to the left or right of the blog post title. It should also be high quality and relevant to the blog post content.

However, having a high-quality and catchy image isn’t enough if you miss another essential factor: the right image size.

Let’s first see why the Shopify image size is so important.

Why Is the Image Size Important for a Shopify Store?

The image size is essential for a Shopify store because it can make or break the look of your store. 

In a nutshell, if the image is too small, it will look pixelated and unprofessional. If the image is too large, it will take up too much space on the page and make the store look cluttered. Furthermore, it will drastically increase the page load time.

Let’s see in more detail the relevance of the image size:

• Improves user experience - When images are properly sized and formatted for different devices, online shoppers can see the products more clearly, understand their features, and get a realistic sense of how they look and feel. This makes for a better overall shopping experience.

• Improves the page load speed - Optimized images keep your page load speed within 2-3 seconds. If it takes longer than that, your visitor will drive away. 

• Improves other SEO efforts - The above 2 factors largely contribute to overall SEO efforts. This, in return, helps you rank higher. If you are looking for SEO related apps on Shopify here is the list of the best SEO apps.

Now that we’ve covered this, it’s high time we tackle the right image size.

So Which Image Size is the Right One on Shopify?

This part is actually a bit tricky because the right size depends on what type of image you’ll need: a product image, a banner image, a featured image, etc.

Still, there are some basic parameters you must follow if you want your image to be Shopify-perfect:

• The image size can’t exceed  4472 x 4472 pixels

• The recommended size for a square image should be 2048 x 2048 pixels

• The image file size can’t exceed  20 MB

• The image resolution should be 72 dpi.

It is also important to remember that you should first think about the image's width. Why? Because if your image isn’t wide enough, Shopify will automatically stretch it out to make sure it fills the space. And the end result could be a blurry and pixelated image.

The same is true if your image is too wide. Then Shopify will compress it, which will affect the aspect ratio.

So let’s check the Shopify blog post featured image size.

The Image Size for Blog Post Featured Images

If we talk about the full-width images, the size should be 1800 x 1000 pixels. If you convert that to the aspect ratio, then we talk 1.8:1.

However, these measures aren’t set in stone. A lot will depend on how much screen you want your blog featured image to take up. It will also depend on the Shopify theme you use.

When it comes to images in your blog post, they should be around 600 pixels.

It is highly unlikely to talk about the image size and not mention image formats.

What Image Formats Should You Use on Shopify?

Image optimization and formats go hand in hand. Let’s see the most common ones and where you can use them.

• JPG/ JPEG is probably the most popular image file format. It is resizing friendly without compromising the quality of the images. You’ll put it into best practice with product images and screenshots.

• PNG is another super popular format on Shopify. It allows eCommerce owners to make custom designs, but the images can become quite large. Still, it is very popular for creating logos, transparent images, and graphics.

• GIF  is definitely a winner when we talk about animated images. This is a popular format for moving images and a great way to showcase more products or more features of one product.

So far, we've covered the main aspects of the image size, but the story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the importance of optimization for mobile phones.

Optimization for Mobile Phones

With 55.4% of internet users that buy online via mobile phones, it becomes pretty clear how important it is to optimize your images for the mobile phone. 

A very important fact that you shouldn’t forget is that not only do desktop and mobile screens differ in size, but they have opposite orientations, too. So what does Shopify do? It automatically resizes your images to be optimal for smaller screens but isn’t always an errorless process. Therefore, sometimes, you must manually edit the images.

The best way to avoid this is to stick to the square images, and if there is a product in the image, you should center it horizontally and vertically.

Of course, you should pay attention to the size of the images. Don’t go too big because your images might turn blurry.

Before we get practical, let’s just quickly summarize the three main factors when it comes to image sizes:

• Stick to the recommended image size and resolution

• Decrease the page load speed and

• Make optimized images across all devices.

So, now it’s finally time to see how you can easily create blog post featured images with Glorify.

How to Create Blog Post Featured Images with Glorify?

In case you haven’t yet come across Glorify, it is an all-in-one platform that provides design tools to help non-designers create stunning and converting images. Moreover, you can also create logos, work on your brand identity, social media marketing, collaborate, and much more.

However, since our topic is image size, let’s show you how you can easily, quickly, and seamlessly resize any image you like.

Once you’ve logged in, you will see a gallery of different templates. In this case, you will choose an HD Banner option.

When you click on it, you will see more than 400 templates for the HD banner. You will probably also notice that the size isn’t what we mentioned in the post.  

Let that not worry you. Why? For two reasons:

• You don’t have to stick to 1800 x 1000 pixels

• You can easily resize a photo to 1800 x 1000 if you want to keep this size.

Regardless of which one you choose, the process of resizing can’t be simpler and more straightforward.  

For example, let’s say that you chose the HD Banner below.

Take a look at the Resize option next to Save. Once you click on it, you will get two options.

Either enter the dimensions you want or do Smart Resize. If you choose the latter, you will get a drop menu with the list of many eCommerce stores, Shopify being one of them. 

Then you can click on the size you need, confirm your choice, and your image will automatically be resized once you click Resize Design button.

The only thing left to do is to save your design and continue editing it. If you want to learn more about editing images for eCommerce stores, check our blog library.

As you could’ve seen, it literally took a few clicks and no effort to resize an image. Cool, right?

Wrapping It Up

Although our topic was about image resizing, there is so much more that goes into creating stunning, engaging, and converting visuals and content. The right image size is just one fragment of it.

The final goal is to improve a user’s experience and more easily turn them into loyal customers and eventually brand ambassadors.

Start your free trial on Glorify today so you can begin to create an ultimate shopping experience for your visitors. 

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