LinkedIn is a great platform for establishing your professional brand and networking with other professionals. One way to make your LinkedIn posts stand out is by including visual content like photos. While you’re limited to adding one main photo in your post, you can include multiple photos in the post body using HTML.
Why Add Multiple Photos?
Adding several photos to your LinkedIn posts has a few key benefits:
- Visuals make your posts more eye-catching and interesting to scroll through.
- Photos break up long blocks of text, making your content more scannable and readable.
- Images help reinforce key points and demonstrate what you’re discussing.
- Visuals boost engagement as people naturally react more to posts with photos.
In short, sprinkling two, three or even more pictures into your posts makes them stand out, keeps your audience engaged, and gets your message across more clearly.
How to Add Multiple Photos
While LinkedIn only allows uploading one photo when you go to create a new post, you can add more by using HTML tags in the post body. Here are the steps:
- Draft your post content in a text editor or word processing program first. This makes it easier to add HTML tags.
- Find the additional photos you want to include and upload them somewhere to get the image source URLs.
- Wherever you want a photo to appear, add an HTML
<img>
tag with the source URL inside like this:
<img src="https://example.com/image1.jpg">
- Make sure each image tag is on its own line with no text before or after it.
- Once you’ve added all your image tags, copy and paste the full post content into LinkedIn’s post update box.
- The images should show up inline wherever you placed the tags.
- Publish your post as normal.
For example, your post content might look like:
Here is an overview of my top 3 learnings from the conference: <img src="https://example.com/image1.jpg"> 1. Focus on adding value for your audience with every piece of content. Think about how it can help or educate them. <img src="https://example.com/image2.jpg"> 2. Make networking a priority. Set goals for how many new people you'll meet at events. <img src="https://example.com/image3.jpg"> 3. Stay curious. Ask questions and keep learning new things both within and outside your field.
This would inline the 3 images between the description paragraphs when published.
Image Guidelines
When selecting images to embed in your LinkedIn posts, keep these guidelines in mind:
- Choose high quality images that are clear and professional looking. Avoid pixelated or distorted images.
- Make sure you have permission or rights to use any photos from other sources.
- Images should be relevant and support key points in your post text.
- Avoid photos that are too small. They can look blurry or be hard to see.
- Optimal image size is between 600×315 pixels and 2048×2048 pixels.
Photo Captioning
While the image tags themselves won’t include any captions, you can easily add descriptive text to introduce or explain each photo in the paragraphs surrounding them.
For example:
Here are some highlights from the conference: <img src="https://example.com/image1.jpg"> This shot captures me networking with industry peers and making new connections. <img src="https://example.com/image2.jpg"> One of the most popular sessions focused on emerging marketing strategies. Here attendees pack the room.
Adding short caption-like descriptions next to your embedded images makes the post more informative and accessible.
Photo Alignment
By default, LinkedIn post images are aligned left, appearing inline with the surrounding text. But you can customize the alignment using some additional attributes in the HTML.
To align an image in the center, use:
<img src="https://example.com/image.jpg" align="center">
And for right alignment:
<img src="https://example.com/image.jpg" align="right">
This can help add visual interest and break up long blocks of centered text.
Linking Images
You can also link images to external sites by wrapping the <img>
tag in an anchor <a>
tag like this:
<a href="https://examplesite.com/"> <img src="https://example.com/image.jpg"> </a>
Now clicking the image will open the linked website in a new tab. Useful for citing data sources or linking off for further reading.
Image Layout Ideas
When adding multiple images to your posts, consider these layout ideas:
- Title image: Add an eye-catching photo at the very top to reinforce the post subject and draw readers in.
- Break up text: Place images between paragraphs or sections to make long posts more scannable.
- Show examples: Use photos of products, charts, or places to give tangible examples of what you discuss.
- Funny memes: Humorous reaction memes can lighten the tone and inject personality into professional posts.
- Behind-the-scenes: Candid shots of events, offices, or travels give your audience a peek behind the curtain.
- Infographics: Display data in colorful visual ways for quick consumption of stats and facts.
Aim for a healthy balance of text and images. Walls of unbroken text can be hard to digest, but going overboard with too many photos also diminishes their impact.
Ideal Number of Photos
There are no hard rules for how many images to include, but we recommend:
- 1-2 photos for short posts under 250 words
- 2-4 photos for medium posts around 500 words
- 5-8 photos for the longest posts over 1000 words
You’ll get a feel for what looks best as you experiment with adding visuals to your content.
Sourcing Images
Wondering where to find quality photos to embed in posts? Here are some top options:
- Original photos: Take custom pictures relevant to your posts with a camera or smartphone.
- Image libraries: Sites like Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay offer thousands of free stock photos.
- Image editing tools: Canva, Snappa and Adobe Spark make it easy to create engaging social graphics.
- Screenshots: Grab screenshots of data, tools or processes you’re writing about.
- Image creators: Hire a designer on Fiverr or Upwork to make custom images for your brand.
Sourcing great photos takes a bit of work, but is worth it to boost engagement and visual storytelling.
Video Embeds
In addition to images, you can embed YouTube, Vimeo or other video content within your posts using similar HTML tags.
For YouTube, use:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Just replace VIDEO_ID with the code from your YouTube video URL.
Embedded video helps break up text with dynamic multimedia that engages audiences. But use it sparingly, as too much can be distracting.
Other Media Options
Beyond just photos and videos, you can embed various media types in LinkedIn posts with HTML tags:
- Twitter posts
- SlideShare presentations
- SoundCloud audio
- Code snippets
- Infographics and visualizations
- PDF documents
Each platform provides embed codes to copy/paste into your posts for seamless integration. Get creative with mixing in other media for an multi-dimensional experience!
Using Templates
Coding HTML tags each time can get tedious. Many social media management platforms like Hootsuite offer post templates that make it easy to quickly insert visual content.
You can create templates with your brand images already added and just swap in new text. This saves time while ensuring visual consistency.
Browser extensions like LinkedIn Post Editor also let you upload media and insert tags on the fly as you create posts.
Following Best Practices
While sprinkling in photos can boost engagement, you’ll want to follow best practices to keep your LinkedIn feed professional.
- Use high quality, well-composed photos relevant to your industry and audience.
- Write concise captions explaining and providing context for each image.
- Avoid using too many photos that crowd out valuable text content.
- Link images to sources for proper attribution.
- Only post original images or those you have explicit rights to use.
- Keep a consistent visual style aligned with your brand.
Balance visual aesthetics with informative content for the best reception.
Analyzing Performance
Use LinkedIn’s analytics to see how adding visuals impacts your post performance. Track key metrics like:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- Reactions
- Comments
- Shares
Compare posts with multiple photos vs. text-only posts. Test different image sizes and placement. See if captional images perform better than unlabeled ones.
Use these insights to optimize your visual content strategy over time.
Summary
Here are some key tips for adding multiple photos to LinkedIn posts:
- Draft posts in a text editor and embed
<img>
image tags. - Place images between paragraphs or sections for visual relief.
- Write captions for each photo to explain relevance and context.
- Experiment with image alignment using attributes like
align="center"
- Link images to attributed sources where possible.
- Aim for 1-8 photos depending on total post length.
- Source compelling photos from stock libraries, designers, and original shoots.
- Follow best practices for visual content to keep it professional.
Adding photos takes posts to the next level, so get creative with visual storytelling! Consistently embedding great images will make your LinkedIn feed shine.