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Why You Need Vertical Images In Your Blog Post
(Yes, Every Single One)
TL;DR: I want to share your posts to Pinterest, so…you gotta help me out!
I decided to both write and share this post this week (bumping it ahead of a few more closer-to-finished pieces), because it’s really important to me. And really important to YOUR blogging success.
(And it’s also might kind of be a slight blogging pet peeve of mine.)
So here it is in the shortest and simplest: you need a vertical image in every single blog post you share.
Yes, every single one.
Vertical Images: Why Vertical?
Why vertical? Because Pinterest, that’s why.
Now, I probably should go into the what-is of Pinterest and the fundamentals before writing this post, but…I do what I want.
And what I want is to talk about THIS fundamental first. Know that a full Pinterest fundamentals post is to come. In short, Pinterest isn’t a traditional social media platform like Instagram or Twitter or Facebook or whatever else the kids are coming up with these days.
Think of Pinterest like you think of Google.
It’s a search engine. A search engine with pretty pictures.
So, why vertical?
Because vertical is what Pinterest likes.
It really is as simple as that.
And when it comes to having the most success on Pinterest, it all starts with your website. Optimizing your website with a vertical, pinnable image in each one is one of the key factors to Pinterest success that no one really talks about.
And that is why I have a vertical image at the bottom of each and every post. Yes, including this one. You can scroll down and check it out. It’s okay, I’ll wait!
That’s the one that you should be sharing on Pinterest (seriously, scroll down and hit the Pin It button, or schedule it to your Tailwind queue. Want a free month of Tailwind with 100 scheduled pins? Click here!
Vertical Images: Sharing For Pinterest
Pinterest loves long, vertical images. Like, LOVES. That’s what makes Pinterest stand out. Everywhere else you look on other social media platforms, images are optimized to square and rectangle, but not Pinterest. Pinterest pretty much has the market cornered on long, vertical images.
When you scroll through your Pinterest feed, 98% of the time, you’re seeing vertical images.
Not so much the horizontal.
I can not tell you how many times I have decided against sharing a post to one of my Pinterest boards because there are no vertical images. It could be an AMAZEBALLS post, but nine times out of ten, I won’t share it if there’s no vertical image.
Why? Because what I share goes out first to all my followers on Pinterest (you can follow me here, if you’re not already), and Pinterest will put the best, most optimized images higher up in the Smart Feed (pretty much the Pinterest newsfeed). I want every image I share to be optimized so it gets seen by the maximum amount of people.
Vertical Images: How Pinterest Users Take In Vertical Images
Why is it important to have peoples’ eyes be drawn down the page or down a long image? Because it keeps their attention longer. And more attention to your pins means a higher likelihood that it’ll be repined and even clicked on.
There are a ton of posts all around the inter-webs A/B testing different types of pins, including this one from The Wedding Playbook. And a wedding-themed blog would know, because by and large, Pinterest is used by women. Also, there is a bit of a stereotype that ALL Pinterest is for is wedding planning, crafting, and meal planning.
But we all know that there is WAY more to Pinterest than that.
And that’s why it’s important to ensure you have graphics that will do best on Pinterest. Which means long, vertical images. The longer someone looks at your awesome pin, the more likely they are to repin it. There are thousands upon thousands of Pinterest users online each day, and you want to take as much advantage as possible, and want to keep their attention on your content.
Remember: the more eyes on your content, the more likely they are to click through.
Vertical Images: Best Dimensions
This is really simple. The best dimensions for a vertical image are this:
2:3 to 1:3.5
See? Told you it was easy!
Looking for answers in pixels? The minimum width of a pin is 600 pixels, and the maximum is 735. Since I use the default Pinterest setting in Canva, all my pins are 735 pixels x 1102 pixels. More on Canva below.
Vertical Images: The Easiest Way To Make Your Images
Make your images in Canva! It’s a completely free alternative to Photoshop and it’s AWESOME for beginners. And guess what, you guys:
I’m a beginner too!
And since I don’t have the time or patience to deal with trying to make my graphics from scratch, as I said above I just use the default Pinterest graphic setting and design from there. It cuts out a ton of time and lets me focus on what’s actually important: the design of the pin itself.
Canva even has a ton of resources, from free (and paid) images, graphics, and font sizes and colors, so you can make every pin to your customizations. And make sure it fits in with your branding too! One of the other biggest benefits to Canva is you can easily batch your designs, so you’re making more than just one image at a time.
Vertical Images: Take Some Of The Work Out Of Pinterest With Tailwind
Running a successful Pinterest account isn’t easy. And it can take a lot of time if you’re not working smart. Remember: we are all about working smarter, not harder.
That’s why Pinterest has partnered with other websites to make things easier on us, the user. My favorite Pinterest Partner is Tailwind. Tailwind is the best approved scheduler for Pinterest, and it means that all I have to do is schedule a bunch of posts into my queue (which is optimized to post during the time of the where my followers are the most active), and I’m done.
Not only that, but I can also schedule the same pin to multiple boards (with an interval so I don’t spam my followers with the same content) in a few quick clicks. Tailwind also features detailed analytics about your account and Tribes you can join to really pin the best of the best content, and ensure that YOUR content is getting in front of people in your niche.
There’s something to be said for manual pinning too, but to pin in the realm of 30-50 pins a day, I (and you) need a little help.
Ready to start with Tailwind? Click here for 100 FREE pins and you can see what it’s all about.
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Pin It For Later!
I try to use a healthy mix of both types of pictures. You are right, it’s good to have vertical! Thanks for the tips though, so insightful!
I have definitely seen a lot of pins that have done very well that are square, but yeah, my favorites are vertical!
Interesting insight! I have seen a lot more vertical posts recently. Great to see the context. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely! You’re going to see more and more as you continue growing your website through Pinterest! Happy to help!
Thank you! I know there are a lot of group boards that only want vertical pins so it kills me to see people only post square pins. I played around with long and longer pins, but hate seeing them get cut off so have been sticking to 600X1100. Might play with a little wider and see how that does.
Yeah I know there are a lot of people using super long pins but I think Pinterest is going to start passing those in favor of the traditional sizes when it comes to promotion and the smart feed. Unless in just re-pinning something like a motivational quote or another type of pin that I’m not intending to actually click through, I tend to stick to the vertical pins
A very informative post. I didn’t realize that about Pinterest
There are a lot of tips and tricks to it. It’s easy to master, but does take time to see the return on your effort investment. So worth it!
Great and informative post! I always stay verticle on Pinterest, seem to get better results and the style stands out as well. Thanks! 🙂
Exactly!
Yes! And not just vertical images, but ones with words almost like the cover of a book that falls your reader! I hate it when I see something on Pinterest and I can’t tell but the post is about!
Exactly! I pass by so many pins because they’re hard to read or I don’t know what they’re about! So important!
Great tips! Canva is a life-saver for me when it comes to making pinterest images and other things for my blog. It’s so nice!
Seriously is! I generate the prompts for my other website in giant batches and I don’t know what I would do without Canva!
Thanks for all the info. Just when I think I have Pinterest figured out my numbers go down! But I scour for all the info I can get so this is much appreciated.
That happens when the algorithm changes. You have to power through and just keep going. Pinterest is a long game and there may be pins that pick up traction months after you post them. Keep at it!
It for sure seems to be the trend. What do you think about video? vertical or landscape?
https://thisfamilyblog.com
I think video depends on the platform you’re sharing it on. For Instagram, for instance, you’re going to want to go vertical, but for Facebook horizontal. Whatever fills the screen the most.
Thanks for this! Pinterest is a strange land that I haven’t explored much yet but it’s on my to do list.
I was SO confused about Pinterest when I first started on it. It took some time to figure it out but it’s definitely worth it!
So guilty of been Pinterest lazy. Took this to heart. Thanks!
Happy to share some great tips! Keep at it!
Important information – thanks for sharing!
Happy to!
You are totally correct and it is good to have a mixture of photos! Thank you!
That’s true! Don’t just settle on one pin per post have many, because you will never know which design does best until you try it out!
I use canva to create my Pinterest images too. Makes it so much easier!
It’s fantastic! I love it!
I’ve been focusing on FB and IG. Pinterest is on my someday list. Good data to know when I venture there.
Pinterest is great because it’s not “pay for play” like other platforms are. It’ll take time to pick up but the payoff is SO worth it!
Yessss! Great points!
Thank you!!
I’ve just started adding vertical pictures. They do look so much better. I haven’t tried the longer verticals and after reading your post, I don’t think I need to. Thanks for the information!
Yeah, I don’t think it’s necessary. Just stick with what Pinterest likes right now, but know that things may change. Just keep an ear to the ground and keep doing what you’re doing and find what works for you and your account!
Thanks for the information! I’m always interested in hearing tips and tricks from other people! Good stuff!
Happy to share!
I’ve been trying to get better about including vertical images and optimizing them for SEO. Great reminder to add vertical ones because if anyone goes to Pinterest and pins an image, I know vertical images do better there.
Speaking of SEO, don’t forget to include your keywords in the alt text of any images that you have on your website! It’s huge for SEO!
I use a mixture of horizontal and vertical images on my blog posts. And I always create one specific image for Pinterest. I like having a mix for visual interest.
For sure! Having at least one image that is optimized for Pinterest is important, just as important as KNOWING that the image optimized for Pinterest is the one you should pin!
Great tips! My Pinterest account was doing okay, but I just don’t have time to schedule posts in Tailwind and I kind of got away from it. I don’t even have pictures on all my posts anymore.
I’ll have to go through and make sure they’re all vertical.
Tailwind takes a little bit of effort, especially to load up your queue, but once you get it going, it’s very easy to get back to it. Start by optimizing those posts and then try dipping back into Tailwind!
I do a mix of both. That’s because other channels perform better than Pinterest for my content. There are many posts I see out there that would be Pinterest worthy and they are not using the right images and it is so unfortunate for their content!
Makes a ton of sense. I’m not saying that ALL the images have to be optimized for Pinterest (aka vertical), but you should always have at least one, and the people who are coming to your website should know that that’s the one to pin! I feel you with the posts that are great, but are hard to share on Pinterest because of the image formats!
I was getting frustrated doing that today for our latest blog post. The time it takes is kind of a pain but def worth it! Pinterest is huge for bloggers!
Exactly! Keep at it!
It helps to have tips and pointers from others. I agree that vertical pictures help a lot.
Happy to share mine! Thank you!
With so many social platforms, it’s helps to do what you can to keep them working together. Vertical pictures it is.
Exactly!
I love using Tailwind too. It has helped so much!
Tailwind has been HUGE for me! I’m going to be writing a post about it soon!
Super interesting post! I need to work on Tailwind, I still don’t get it! Thanks for sharing!
Tailwind is SO helpful! Really dive in, watch the videos they offer and explore it!
Great info! I always have at least one prepared pinnable graphic, but should probably consider more.
One is awesome, especially to have on your post, but you should definitely have more that you share to Pinterest, because you never know which ones are going to take off. It’s a great way to test your graphics!
I always use vertical pics when I pin to pinterest, but I see that I need to start adding that vertical pic to my blog posts as well so people can pin from my blog. Time for some revamping!
I am just now really starting to focus on Pinterest. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the tips!! This makes so much sense, but I hadn’t thought about it really.
Thank you for this post. I am also a newbie. You shared some really great ideas. Pinterest is picky and all I see is verticle. Thank you for sharing with us.
I love Canva and Tailwind! They make creating and sharing vertical images so easy! And, they make a huge difference in income and analytics.
Thanks so much for this great info! I look forward to putting it into practice!
Thanks for sharing! I use vertical images for most of my Pinterest. I need to check on using Tailwind.
Great ideas and suggestions. I need to start using some of these other tools like tailwind. Thanks
Great post explaining why vertical images should be used in posts. Of course, I use both sizes within my post but always include a couple optimized for Pinterest. Pinterest is SO important for bloggers!!
I totally agree, vertical is the way to go! Thanks for another helpful post. I always learn something when reading them.
We moved to Vertical images a while ago, although we still have some older posts that have horizontal images.
You’ve brought up some great points to consider. Thanks for sharing with us.