Web Development / SEO

WordPress Featured Image Size

Use 1600 x 900 as the practical WordPress featured-image default, then create a dedicated social image when Open Graph previews matter.

This guide separates the article hero image from social preview crops so the same post can work in WordPress, archive cards, Google, and shared links.

1600 x 900clean 16:9 featured image baseline

1200 x 630dedicated social preview shape

safe centerkeep important detail away from crop edges

Key Takeaways

Start with 16:9. A 1600 x 900 image is a practical WordPress featured-image default for article heroes, archives, and responsive layouts.

Do not confuse image jobs. A 1200 x 630 image is a social preview shape, not the universal WordPress featured-image size.

Design for crops. Keep the main subject in the safe center so WordPress, Google, and social platforms can resize the image without breaking the idea.

Choosing a WordPress featured image size sounds like it should be simple.

Then you start reading advice online.

One person says the correct size is 1200 × 630 px.
Another says 1200 × 628 px.
Google Discover talks about large images and 16:9.
Your WordPress theme may crop the image into a completely different shape.
Then social platforms use their own preview cards.

So what should we actually use?

Our practical answer is:

If we are starting a new WordPress site from scratch and only want one featured image format, we would use 1600 × 900 px.

That gives us a clean 16:9 landscape image that works well for article headers, archive cards, modern responsive layouts, and Google Discover-style image use. It is not the perfect Open Graph/social preview shape, but it is the best one-image compromise.

The real lesson is this:

A WordPress featured image is not the same thing as a social sharing image.

Category Web Development

Tags Assets SEO WordPress

What is a WordPress featured image?

In WordPress, the featured image is the representative image for a post, page, or custom post type. WordPress also calls this feature “Post Thumbnails” in its developer documentation.

A theme can display that image in many different places:

above an article
inside an archive card
in a homepage section
in a page header
in a related-post block
in search results
in custom layouts

That is why there is no single official “WordPress featured image size.”

WordPress provides the image system.
Your theme decides how the image is displayed.
Your SEO plugin may decide which image is used in metadata.
Social platforms decide how the preview card is rendered.
Google may choose a preview image for Search or Discover.

Those are related, but they are not the same problem.

Our recommended default: 1600 × 900 px

For a new WordPress site, our default featured image format would be:

Size: 1600 × 900 px
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Orientation: Landscape
Use: Featured image, article hero, archive card, schema image, default og:image

This is a strong default because it is large enough for modern screens, wide enough to satisfy Google’s large-image expectations, and still small enough to be manageable for normal web publishing.

Google Discover recommends compelling, high-quality images that are at least 1200 px wide, high resolution, and 16:9. Google also recommends enabling large previews with max-image-preview:large or AMP, and it warns against using generic logos or text-heavy images as the main preview image.

A 1600 × 900 px image fits that direction very well.

It is also below WordPress’s default big-image threshold. Since WordPress 5.3, images above the default 2560 px threshold are automatically scaled down to a web-optimized maximum size, while the original is stored separately.

So 1600×900 is a good working size: big enough for quality, not absurdly large for everyday publishing.

Is 1280 × 720 enough?

Yes, in many cases.

If we want a smaller 16:9 featured image, 1280 × 720 px is still a good option:

Size: 1280 × 720 px
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Use: Smaller article hero, archive card, lightweight editorial image, Google Discover-compatible image

Google Discover recommends large, high-quality images that are at least 1200 px wide, high resolution, and 16:9. Google even uses 1280 × 720 as an example of a 16:9 image that satisfies its high-resolution requirement.

So 1280 × 720 is not wrong.

The tradeoff is that 1600 × 900 gives us more room for large article headers, sharper high-density screens, and future crops. If we are creating a reusable master image, 1600 × 900 is still the better default. If we are creating a lighter article image and the design does not need extra resolution, 1280 × 720 is fine.

Why not just use 1200 × 630?

The common 1200 × 630 px recommendation comes mostly from social sharing and Open Graph previews.

Meta/Facebook often recommends images of at least 1200 × 630 px for high-resolution link previews. LinkedIn recommends a 1.91:1 image ratio for link previews and commonly lists dimensions around 1200 × 627 px.

That makes 1200×630 a good social sharing size.

But it does not make it the universal WordPress featured image size.

A 1200×630 image is approximately 1.91:1.
A 1600×900 image is 16:9, or about 1.78:1.

Those are not the same shape.

1600 × 900  = 1.78:1  = true 16:9
1200 × 630  = 1.90:1  = social preview shape
1200 × 628  = 1.91:1  = also social preview shape
1200 × 627  = 1.91:1  = LinkedIn-style link preview shape

So the question is not really:

Which number is correct?

The better question is:

Are we optimizing the image for the article page, or for the social preview card?

For the article page, 16:9 is usually the better default.
For a dedicated social preview image, 1.91:1 is usually better.

Is 1200 × 628 outdated?

No.

The idea that 1200 × 628 px is “outdated” is too strong.

The 1200×628, 1200×630, and 1200×627 sizes are all tiny variations of the same social preview shape. They exist because platforms and design tools rounded the 1.91:1 ratio in slightly different ways.

At 1200 px wide:

Exact 1.91:1 height ≈ 628 px
Meta-style common recommendation = 630 px
LinkedIn-style common height = 627 px

The two or three pixel difference is not important for human readers. The more important issue is whether the important part of the image survives automated cropping.

So instead of arguing about 628 vs 630, we should keep important content away from the image edges.

Usually, yes.

A 1600×900 featured image is large, landscape, and easy for social platforms to process. It should work as an og:image as long as the image URL is public, crawlable, not too large, and correctly declared in the page metadata.

But there is a tradeoff.

A 16:9 image is slightly taller than a 1.91:1 social card. If a platform crops a 1600×900 image into a 1.91:1 preview, it may remove a little from the top and bottom.

For that reason, we should design 1600×900 featured images with a safe center area.

Canvas: 1600 × 900 px

Keep important content away from:
- top 50–70 px
- bottom 50–70 px
- left 80–100 px
- right 80–100 px

This does not mean the outer area must be empty. It just means we should not place faces, logos, important UI, or readable text too close to the edges.

Social Preview

Featured images and social cards should not be the same crop.

The article page needs a clean 16:9 image, while shared links often need a 1200 x 630 card that explains the page before anyone clicks.

Social preview image explaining why 1600 x 900 is the better WordPress featured image default. — Use the 1600 x 900 image as the article master, then make a separate social image only when the shared preview needs clearer copy or framing.

Featured image vs Open Graph image

Open Graph metadata is what many platforms read when building a link preview.

The important fields usually include:

<meta property="og:title" content="Article title">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/article/">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/uploads/article-image-1600x900.jpg">
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1600">
<meta property="og:image:height" content="900">
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="Description of the image">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large">

For a simple one-image setup, we can use the featured image as the Open Graph image.

That is a clean and practical default.

For important campaigns, landing pages, tools, or articles that will be shared heavily, we may later add a dedicated social image:

Featured image: 1600 × 900
Social image:   1200 × 628 or 1200 × 630
Square image:   1200 × 1200, optional

But we do not need to start there.

How WordPress handles image sizes

WordPress does not only store one image and use it everywhere.

When we upload an image, WordPress creates several generated sizes. Modern WordPress also supports responsive images with srcset and sizes, which allows browsers to choose a suitable image file depending on screen size and display density.

That means a 1600×900 upload does not necessarily mean every visitor downloads the full 1600 px-wide file. WordPress can serve smaller generated versions where appropriate.

Themes and plugins can also register custom image sizes with add_image_size(). WordPress supports both proportional resizing and hard cropping, including crop positioning.

For example:

add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function () {
    add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

    // Default article featured image / hero crop.
    add_image_size( 'article-featured-16x9', 1600, 900, true );

    // Optional social sharing crop.
    add_image_size( 'article-og-1_91', 1200, 628, true );

    // Optional square crop for feeds and structured data.
    add_image_size( 'article-square', 1200, 1200, true );
} );

If we only want one greenfield standard, we can keep it simpler:

add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function () {
    add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

    add_image_size( 'article-featured-16x9', 1600, 900, true );
} );

The best default policy

For a new WordPress site, our image policy would be:

Default featured image:
1600 × 900 px

Aspect ratio:
16:9

Format:
JPG or WebP

Design rule:
Keep important details inside the safe center area.

Metadata:
Use the featured image as og:image by default.

Robots setting:
Allow max-image-preview:large.

Then, when an article or page is especially important, we can create a separate social image:

Dedicated social image:
1200 × 628 or 1200 × 630 px

This gives us a simple publishing workflow now and a better upgrade path later.

Recommended safe area

If we use 1600 × 900 px as our standard, we should design with cropping in mind.

A good practical rule is:

Full canvas:
1600 × 900 px

Safe content area:
roughly 1400 × 760 px

Avoid placing critical content near:
top edge
bottom edge
left edge
right edge

Important content includes:

article title text
logos
faces
product UI
important icons
screenshots with readable details
anything that must remain visible in previews

This is especially important if the same image is used both as the article hero and as the social preview image.

Should featured images contain text?

Sometimes, but not always.

For social campaigns, text inside the image can work well. A clear headline, bold visual, and brand element can make a link more clickable.

For article images and Google Discover-style surfaces, we should be more careful. Text-heavy images and generic logo images are usually weaker. A more natural editorial image, illustration, screenshot, or visual concept often works better.

A good rule:

Article/Discover image:
visual-first, not text-heavy

Campaign/social image:
can be more poster-like, but keep text inside the safe area

File format: JPG, PNG, WebP or AVIF?

For most featured images, use:

JPG for photos and complex illustrations
WebP when supported by your workflow
PNG only when transparency or crisp UI graphics matter
AVIF when your tooling and server support it well

For broad compatibility, JPG is still a safe default. WebP is also a good modern option for smaller file sizes. AVIF can be excellent, but only if your publishing workflow handles it reliably.

For Open Graph images, JPG is often the least surprising format because social crawlers handle it reliably.

File size matters

Image dimensions are only one part of the problem.

A 1600×900 image can still be bad if the file size is huge.

As a practical editorial rule, we would aim for:

Normal article image:
under 300 KB when possible

High-quality hero image:
under 500 KB when possible

Avoid:
multi-megabyte featured images

The exact file size depends on the image type. A detailed screenshot, gradient illustration, or photo may need different compression settings. The goal is not to destroy quality, but to avoid shipping unnecessarily heavy images.

Final answer

There is no perfect WordPress featured image size for every use case.

But if we are starting fresh and want one practical standard, we would choose:

1600 × 900 px

It is the best one-format compromise for modern WordPress publishing.

Use 1600×900 for the featured image.
Use it as the default Open Graph image.
Keep the important content away from the edges.
Enable large image previews.
Add a dedicated 1200×628 or 1200×630 social image later only when a page needs extra polish.

That approach is simpler than managing multiple image formats from day one, but it still respects how WordPress, Google, and social platforms actually use images.