20 LinkedIn Banner Examples and Free Templates for 2024 (+ Swipe File)

Your LinkedIn profile is your online storefront, your first impression. It's crucial to make it count.

When building your personal brand, you may overlook your Linkedin Banner, but it's a great place to show why people should connect with you and what you're about.

I've seen countless generic banners - landscapes, cityscapes, and the default grey. And it boggles my mind to this day.

Such an underestimated and underutilized screen real estate.

Your banner should be a visual representation of you and your brand, grabbing attention and telling your story. You need to make it count and make it memorable.

I know designing your banner can feel like a daunting task though. Especially when you don't know yet what elements you'd like to include. So, I've curated the best LinkedIn banner examples to inspire you.

But that's not all, our designers also made 12 free LinkedIn Banner Templates for you + we gathered in total over 50 banners to create the most comprehensive swipe file you can use for inspiration.

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Get your LinkedIn banner templates + swipe file here.

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Now, let's continue with the examples and breakdowns:

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What is a LinkedIn Banner?

A LinkedIn banner, is the large image that appears behind your profile photo at the top of your LinkedIn page. The recommended size for it is 1584 pixels wide by 396 pixels tall. This space is crucial for creating a great first impression.

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Why Do You Need a LinkedIn Banner?

Having a well-designed LinkedIn banner is essential for so many reasons:

1. First Impressions: The banner is one of the first things visitors notice. A well-thought-out, nicely designed banner can set you apart and make a strong first impression.
2. Personal Branding: Your banner is an extension of your personal brand. It visually communicates what you do and why others should connect with you, making it easier for them to make a decision. It's also especially important if you are looking to attract potential clients or employers.
3. Professionalism: A customized banner shows that you take your LinkedIn profile seriously. It indicates that you are detail-oriented and invested in maintaining a well-rounded and active online presence.
4. Engagement: A visually appealing banner can increase engagement on your profile. Profiles with custom banners tend to receive more connection requests and messages than those without.
5. Information Sharing: You can use your banner to share critical information about yourself or your business. This can include your professional tagline, contact information, your work experience, and Calls to Action (CTA’s) to check out your website or portfolio.

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Design Tips for a Great LinkedIn Banner

• Keep It Simple: Avoid clutter. A clean, simple design is more effective.
• High-Quality Images: Use high-resolution images to avoid blurriness and pixelation.
• Check Visual Hierarchy: It’s so important. You need to place the elements strategically so that they look pleasing to the eye. Using templates or working with a graphic designer can help with this.
• Consistent Branding: Use colors, fonts, and imagery that align with your personal or business brand.
• Avoid Danger Zones: Since your profile photo and other LinkedIn elements cover parts of the banner, keep the essential aspects out of the danger zone, like the left corner. Check the final design on mobile and on desktop devices to make sure nothing gets cut off.

If designing a LinkedIn banner yourself sounds daunting, our social media graphic design service can help you create one that captures the essence of your personal brand or business. Write us an email at hi@magicdesign.io if you’re looking for a custom quote or book an intro call directly.

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LinkedIn Banner Examples and Ideas

Example 1 - Maria Ledentsova

Sorry but I coudn't NOT start with my own LinkedIn banner - I did put a lot of thought into it after all, and it has been serving me well;) I decided to focus on highlighting Magic Design - the company I do marketing for.

The banner highlights some of the companies we have worked with for Social Proof. We also mention our main USP's in the title and have our logo in the top left corner. As a fun addition to make the profile picture *pop*, we added the glowing gradient.

What do you think?

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Example 2 - Angela Davis

Angela's banner is super eye-catching and she has come up with distinct, memorable branding elements for her personal brand. Working as a head of marketing, on her account she shares Marketing Tips & Trends, educational content and her thoughts on the industry. Her account grew to 7k in only a couple of months, which is incredible!

There are a few elements to this banner that I love:

1. She has a "Let's connect" CTA on the top left corner
2. On the bottom right corner, she nudges the viewer to hit the bell button to get a notification whenever her next post is live. She sets the expectation of posting 3 times a week from the get-go.
3. Her tagline showcases what her personal brand is about clearly.
4. Angela decided on her primary brand colours (turquoise and black) and matched her profile picture to the LinkedIn banner.
5. As part of her branding, she adds these cute AI-generated animals to all of her posts, which makes her instantly more approachable!

Wow, a lot we can learn from Angela! 😍

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Example 3 - Matt Barker

With over 145k followers on Linkedin, we can learn a lot from Matt, too! He is an amazing copywriter and marketer and is using LinkedIn to grow his copywriting agency and get leads.

There are 5 elements I'd like to highlight about his LinkedIn banner:

1. He added 2 screenshots of testimonials on the top left corner for Social Proof.
2. He highlights his newsletter front and center with a book-like visual.
3. Matt's value proposition is super clear and speaks to the pain point of his clients: "Stop chasing clients, start attracting them".
4. He calls out his target audience directly: "For founders" and adds a clear CTA: "Visit my website below".
5. Last but not least, he also sticks to simple branding with 2 primary colors that he uses consistently.

Overall a lot to get inspired by here for your profile!

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Example 4 - Maxim Poulsen

Maxim's is another effective example of a LinkedIn banner:

1. The title engages the target audience with a question about their pain point and suggests a solution he offers.
2. From this it's clear what content the audience can expect from Maxim as well: "Follow for...".
3. His second CTA asks you to click on the bell icon to get notified about new posts.
4. For a personal touch, Maxim also added his picture on the top right corner.
5. Note that the colours of his profile picture, once again, matches with the banner.

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Example 5 - Vedika Bhaia

With almost 250k followers, Vedika has a unique LinkedIn banner for you to get inspired by. Again, keeping it simple with only 2 colours in her LinkedIn profile picture and the banner. She also added a slogan "I turn people into brands" + a fun and creative illustration to her banner. Having this element really helps visualize the value she provides to her audience.

For social proof, she decided to provide some numbers on the top left corner: "200+ clients, 400k followers, 0 failures, only lessons.". Very creative approach that makes her profile memorable!

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Master LinkedIn Personal Branding + Free Notion Content Calendar

Want to take your LinkedIn personal branding to the next level?

Check out our ultimate guide on mastering LinkedIn personal branding.

Plus, you can get your hands on our free Notion content calendar dashboard (downloaded by over 300 people already!) with checklists, tutorials and tips to streamline your content planning, grow your personal brand and stay consistent.

Example 6 - Natalia Zhukova

Natalia, Head of Marketing at Semrush, decided on a slightly simpler yet powerful approach of using her company's visual with the brand name as the LinkedIn banner - that's an easy option that will make your account look professional and add social proof, especially if the company is as well known as this one. It depends on your goals if you go with a banner about you or about the company you work for.

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Example 7 - Xan Mannekens

Xan's LinkedIn banner is another great example of how you can use this space to communicate the value you will be adding to your target audience's lives and feeds. He added a CTA as well, to urge viewers to take very specific action ("Follow me for daily B2B SaaS Insights").

His profile is on-brand and beautifully made – just as it should be to attract the right audience to your profile (!important).

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Example 8 - Kathleen Booth

Kathleen's LinkedIn banner shows that there is another way to add social proof to your profile and be perceived as a thought leader: adding a picture of you on stage as a speaker.

Think about it:

A picture of you on stage can say a lot about you:

• Expertise: It shows you know your stuff and others think so too.
• Confidence: Public speaking is no small feat, and it suggests you're confident.
• Visibility: It shows you're active and engaged in your field, which is a big plus.

Example 9 - Courtney Johnson

I'm sure you've noticed a trend by now:

The profile image colours match the background banner colours! This is a great way to make your profile looks aesthetic without having any design skills. Courtney's banner looks clean and professional, with only the title on the solid background. She focuses on communicating what her profile is about and leaves the rest quite simple.

Great choice if you are overthinking what your banner should look like.

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Example 10 - Anthony Pierri

Anthony has built a personal brand to establish himself as the go-to person for homepage messaging for early stage B2B startups. And he's been rocking it! His banner style has inspired many accounts I've seen out in the wild. It's easy to see why: it's colorful, clear, fun and memorable.

He literally teaches us how to communicate your value proposition to a defined target audience with his banner. Genius!

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Example 11 - Nick Broekema

Nick is known for being a master of LinkedIn Content Design. He has built an instantly recognizable personal brand. Nick's LinkedIn banner is simple, yet impactful, and features a question: "If you content got inbound leads every week, how much more revenue would you generate?".

Tip – Ask yourself: "What is something your target audience struggles with (in this case: getting leads from content) and how you can turn this pain point into a question."

P.S. You have to be the one offering the solution too, or else this wouldn't make much sense haha

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Example 12 - Ellie Hanson

Let's do this one together: What does Ellie talk about on her profile?

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Social Media Marketing!

How do I know?

She says so on her banner: "Making Social & Digital Simple" and her profile description expands on her experience.

Again, love that her profile picture colour matches the background. And that she is holding a mug in both pictures - it creates somewhat of a cozy atmosphere and makes her look approachable. Another great example.

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Example 13 - Sophie Miller

Sophie is the founder of Pretty Little Marketer - a community for social media marketers. Her banner is simple and impactful and features her brand colors and lots of social proof (Featured In + Trusted by).

If you have worked with some larger clients or have been interviewed / featured anywhere, your LinkedIn banner is a great place to showcase it.

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Example 14 - Lara Acosta

Lara is a personal branding expert, and her banner showcases it clearly. She also has a YouTube channel – this is the first time from all the examples that the CTA is not for LinkedIn, but for another social platform ("Subscribe to my YouTube").

If you have a newsletter for example and are focusing on growing your Email list, you could have a CTA related to that (Example: "Subscribe to my newsletter to get daily LinkedIn content inspiration").

Her tagline is bold, the colors consistent, and she added social proof to the banner as well.

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Example 15 - Oliver Yonchev

Oliver went for the company-first approach. Which makes sense as he is also the co-founder of Flight Story. He highlights the company name, the tagline, and added an eye catching design on the left side of the banner. Looks great on mobile devices, too!

How you can recreate this is by adding a curved text pattern on the left, the company logo (optional if you're focusing on growing your own personal brand) and your value proposition, like we've seen in previous examples.

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Example 16 - Dean Seddon

Dean's banner is all about his book on social selling. His tagline: "Social Selling for solopreneurs, senior execs and sales teams" clearly states what content you can expect from him and who the target audience is. The line "Selling without the sales pitch!" is catchy and clear. And it addresses one of the biggest pain points of people who want to go into sales and don't want to come off as being too "salesy".

The logos of Forbes, BBC, Entrepreneur etc. that he added on the bottom of the banner act as a convincing trust element. And Dean’s smiling face makes the banner more personal. Simple and effective.

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Example 17 - Jason Vana

Jason’s banner is clean and direct. It's simply a black background with white text and a yellow highlight. “Create a well-loved and profitable brand.” is the tagline – no fluff, just straight to the point. The subheading adds a bit more context.

On the left you can slightly see a pattern of terms that are associated with branding, like Positioning, Differentiation, Mission and Vision etc. Minimal and strong.

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Example 18 - Justin Welsh

Justin’s banner really showcases his expertise. It has a modern look with blue and white colors that can evoke feelings of security, trust, and integrity. The book mockup adds a nice flair too. “The Operating System for LinkedIn Creators” is a straightforward value proposition that definitely catches the eye.

Plus, having endorsements from companies like Forbes and Business Insider enhances his credibility. The layout is tidy, and the message is powerful. It’s spot on for positioning him as the top choice for LinkedIn growth.

The elements on the banner are well spaced out, so that nothing looks crammed and the visual hierarchy is respected.

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Example 19 - Victoria Repa

Victoria's banner creates a welcoming atmosphere. There's lots of white space and the profile image color palette subtly matches the banner image. It's clear that Victoria is on a mission to help people prevent burnout and take care of their mental and physical health. Her genuine smile and impressive achievements, including being a Forbes 30 Under 30, definitely increase likability, credibility and you're intrigued to learn more about what BetterMe is.

If I were to change anything about the banner it's the fact that there is no CTA's. What does Victoria want people viewing her profile to do first?

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Example 20 - Will McTighe

Will’s banner is visually stunning, with the bold headline “Break Into The Top 1%” immediately grabbing attention. That's the first thing our eye sees. Next, the eye falls at the illustration and the CTA to get notified about new posts. Last but not least, the subheading explains what exact topics he is passionate about and what you can expect.

So, the Headline is the benefit you'll get from following him, and the subheading is more about the topics he writes about. A great example of a clear and visually impactful LinkedIn banner.

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These are our 20 LinkedIn Banner Highlights!

Don't forget, you can grab your templates and personal swipe file here:

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What Elements to Include in a LinkedIn Banner

What you want to include depends on what you'd like to highlight.

But generally, as we've seen in the examples above, here are some elements you can consider:

1. High Resolution Photo of You: If you’re comfortable, include a photo of yourself. This personalizes your profile and helps visitors connect with you.
2. Brand Logo: Incorporate your company’s logo to reinforce brand recognition.
3. Tagline or Slogan: Add a concise tagline or slogan that captures what you do or your philosophy.
4. Social Handles / Website: Include your website, or other relevant details to make it easy for connections to reach you and follow you.
5. Call to Action: A simple call to action (CTA) like “Visit my website” or “Check out my portfolio” can drive engagement.
6. Social Proof: Showcase logos of companies you’ve worked with or awards you’ve won to build credibility.

If you’re struggling with design, our unlimited social media graphic design service can help you create a standout LinkedIn banner and any other graphics for your business.

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Where to Get Images for Your LinkedIn Banner

If you don't know where to start, here are some sources to consider:

1. Stock Photo Websites: Sites like Unsplash, Pexels, Dupe Photos, and Shutterstock offer high-quality background images you can use on their own or as a base.
2. Design Tools: Platforms like Canva and Figma have templates that can take some of the heavy design lifting LinkedIn off your shoulders.
3. Your Own Photos: Personal photos, such as those of you at work or speaking at events, can add a personal touch to your banner.
4. Professional Photos: Hiring a professional to take high-quality photos can make a big difference of course. But my advice is that if you decide to hire someone to take pictures of you, do make sure that the pictures show your personality. Unless you work for a bank or something, your picture can show that you can live laugh love ;) Just my honest opinion!

LinkedIn Banner Dimensions

Your LinkedIn banner should follow these dimensions:

• Personal Profile: 1584 pixels wide by 396 pixels tall.
• Company Profile: 1128 pixels wide by 191 pixels tall.

Make sure your image is less than 8 MB and saved in a high-resolution format (PNG or JPEG) to avoid any compression issues.

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How LinkedIn Banners Behave on Mobile vs. Desktop

• Desktop View: On desktop, the full banner is visible, but part of it is covered by your profile photo on the left side. Avoid placing important elements like text or logos in this area.
• Mobile View: On mobile devices, the banner is cropped more tightly, especially at the top and bottom. This can cause some elements to be cut off if they're not placed correctly. To ensure your banner looks good on both devices, keep critical information and visuals centered or more towards the right side of the screen.

LinkedIn Banner Dos and Don'ts

Dos:

• Do Keep It Simple: A clean and uncluttered design.
• Do Use High-Quality Images: Ensure your images are high resolution to avoid blurriness.
• Do Stay On-Brand: Use colors and fonts that match your brand identity.
• Do Test on Different Devices: Make sure your banner looks good on both desktop and mobile devices.

Don'ts:

• Don’t Use Too Much Text: Keep text to a minimum for clarity.
• Don’t Clutter the Space: Avoid overcrowding your banner with too many elements. Let the elements breathe!
• Don’t Ignore the Safe Zone: Keep essential information out of the areas that will be covered by your profile picture or other overlays.
• Don’t Use Distracting Colors: Stick to a cohesive color scheme that is easy on the eyes. Make sure the text is legible on top of the background, if you're adding text to the banner.

5 Tips for Creating a Creative LinkedIn Banner

1. Get Inspired but Be Authentic: Use images and elements that truly represent who you are and what you do.
2. Highlight Key Information: Make sure any important text or logos are placed prominently and not covered by other elements on the page.
3. Use Consistent Branding: Keep your banner in line with your overall brand identity, including colors, fonts, and imagery.
4. Incorporate Visuals: Use visuals like icons, logos, or images of your work to make the banner more engaging.
5. Keep It Updated: Regularly update your banner to reflect your latest projects, achievements, or changes in your career. You can use the LInkedIn banner as a literal banner - to promote new campaigns for a few weeks or days, for example.

By following these guidelines, you can create a LinkedIn banner that not only looks great but also effectively communicates your professional brand.

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FAQ

What should be the headline for LinkedIn banner?

Your banner headline should be concise and to the point. It should clearly communicate your role, expertise, or a value proposition. For example:

• "Expert Digital Marketer Specializing in SEO and Content Strategy"
• "Helping Startups Scale Through Strategic Financial Planning"
• "Award-Winning Graphic Designer with a Passion for Branding"

How do I format my LinkedIn banner?

When formatting your LinkedIn banner:

• Size: For personal profiles, use 1584 x 396 pixels; for company profiles, 1128 x 191 pixels.
• Safe Zone: Keep important elements like text and logos centered to avoid being cut off on different devices.
• Resolution: Use high-resolution images (PNG or JPEG) to avoid pixelation.
• Consistency: Ensure colors and fonts match your overall branding.

How do I create a LinkedIn banner?

Creating a LinkedIn banner involves several steps:

1. Choose the Right Tool: Use tools like Canva or Figma, which offer templates specifically for LinkedIn banners.
2. Select Your Elements: Pick high-quality images, your logo, and any other elements you want to include.
3. Design Your Banner: Arrange your elements in a clean, professional layout. Keep the most important information in the center.
4. Optimize for Devices: Ensure your design looks good on both desktop and mobile by keeping critical elements away from the edges.
5. Export and Upload: Export your design in the correct dimensions and upload it to LinkedIn.

Does LinkedIn banner matter?

Yes, your LinkedIn banner is crucial. It’s often the first visual impression visitors get of your profile, and a well-designed banner can:

• Enhance Professionalism: Shows you are serious about your online presence.
• Boost Engagement: Attracts more connection requests and messages.
• Reinforce Branding: Visually communicates your personal or business brand.
• Share Key Information: Can include contact details, slogans, or calls to action.

Final Words

There we have it. I hope this was helpful and you now are buzzing with ideas to make your LInkedIn banner pop after seeing the examples!

A well-crafted LinkedIn banner is a powerful tool for personal branding. It’s an opportunity to make a strong first impression and communicate what your personal brand is about visually.

By including key elements like your photo, brand logo, and a clear call to action, you can make your profile stand out. Remember to keep your design simple, high-quality, and consistent with your branding.

Good luck!