How to Create the Perfect WordPress Featured Image (Sizing & Design Guide)

To draw new visitors to your site, you may consider publishing blog posts regularly. However, without featured images, your posts likely won’t look inviting enough to earn clicks.

Fortunately, you can easily create well-designed featured images for your articles. Once you know how to find the right photos, size them correctly, and optimize them for search engines, you can instantly revitalize your WordPress posts.

In this post, we’ll explain what a featured image is. Then, we’ll share some tips on how to use them. Let’s get started!

What is a Featured Image?

In WordPress, the featured image is the visual representation of a specific post, page, or custom post type. When someone visits your website, these images will usually appear at the top of posts or in your blog feed:

Essentially, the featured image is the default thumbnail of your post. If someone shares the post on social media, this image will appear with the link:

In WordPress, the featured image settings are determined by your theme. This includes the location and size of your images.

Typically, featured images are displayed in the following places:

1. The top area of posts or pages
2. Pages on your website that link to blog posts, like your WordPress homepage, recommended posts section, or search results
3. Thumbnails for social media links

Sometimes, featured images may be included in image galleries or sliders. You may also see them as background images.