When creating visual content to share on Facebook, it’s important to find the right balance between text and images. The optimal text to image ratio can help your posts stand out in the News Feed and better engage your audience. In this article, we’ll break down the recommended text to image ratio for Facebook posts and explain how to create balanced visual content.
Why Text to Image Ratio Matters on Facebook
Text and images serve different purposes in your Facebook posts. Text communicates information, captions images, and helps convey your message. Images capture attention, visualize ideas, and add visual interest to your posts. Using the two together can create more compelling and effective content.
Facebook’s algorithm also favors posts with a good mix of text and visuals. Posts with little or no text often get lower reach and engagement. On the other hand, big blocks of text without images can appear boring to users scrolling through the News Feed. Balancing text and visuals keeps your audience interested and helps your content stand out.
Benefits of the Right Text to Image Ratio
- Increased engagement – Posts with balanced visuals tend to get more likes, comments, and shares.
- Improved reach – Facebook’s algorithm rewards you for creating engaging content.
- Conveys information visually – Images complement and enhance the text content.
- More shareable content – Posts with images tend to get shared more on Facebook.
- Tells your story – Photos and graphics visualize your brand story and message.
Recommended Text to Image Ratio for Facebook
So what is the ideal text to image ratio to aim for with your Facebook content? Here are some best practices:
60% Images, 40% Text
As a general guideline, Facebook posts tend to perform best with a 60/40 text to image ratio. That means using images to take up around 60% of the visual space in your post, with text filling the remaining 40%.
This creates a good balance where your images capture attention, while still leaving room for a sufficient amount of text to communicate key information.
No More Than 20% Text
When using a single image in your post, best practices recommend keeping your text to no more than 20% of the overall visual real estate. So if you have one large image, the accompanying text should be short and concise.
This helps ensure your image remains the focal point and your text doesn’t overwhelm it. The 20% text guideline works well for photo posts, inspirational quotes over images, and other single image content.
Up to 30% Text with Multiple Images
You can increase the text ratio when using multiple images in one post. With a photo gallery, carousel, or other multi-image content, keep text to around 30% or less of the overall visual space.
The additional images provide more visual interest, allowing room for a slightly higher text ratio while still maintaining balance.
Tips for Optimizing Text to Image Ratio
Here are some tips to help optimize the text to image balance in your Facebook posts:
Choose the Right Images
- Select high-quality, eye-catching photos.
- Use images that align with your message and brand.
- Optimize images for News Feed display.
- Crop images to focus on the key visual elements.
Write Clear, Concise Text
- Keep text brief, around 1-2 short paragraphs.
- Highlight important info in the first lines.
- Use an engaging caption for photo posts.
- Avoid over-compressing text or making it hard to read.
Design with Visual Balance
- Use layout and white space to balance text and images.
- Size images appropriately so they stand out.
- Position text and CTAs strategically around images.
- Add borders or backgrounds to make text more readable if needed.
Check Your Ratio
- Use Facebook’s text overlay tool to preview the text ratio before posting.
- Review posts on desktop and mobile to ensure balance looks right.
- Adjust ratio if too much or too little text.
Using the Facebook Text Overlay Tool
The best way to check your text to image ratio before posting is by using Facebook’s text overlay tool. Here’s how it works:
- Go to your Facebook Page and start creating a new post.
- Upload the image(s) you want to use.
- Click the ellipses (…) icon above the post box.
- Select “Text Overlay” from the dropdown menu.
- Enter your text into the overlay layer to preview text ratio.
- Adjust text or images as needed until you achieve the optimal ratio.
- Post when you’re happy with the balance!
The text overlay tool makes it easy to visualize how your text will appear over the images before the post goes live. Take advantage of it to fine tune your text to image balance.
Examples of Ideal Text to Image Ratios
Here are some examples of Facebook posts with balanced text and image ratios:
Single Image Post – 20% Text
The short inspiring quote and branding keep the text minimal, allowing the eye-catching image to take center stage.
Photo Carousel – 30% Text
More images allow for a slightly higher text ratio while maintaining balance. The caption provides context for the carousel images.
Image Heavy Post – 60% Images, 40% Text
Multiple images take up more visual space, while the paragraph of text provides details to complement the visual story being told.
Text Overlay on Image – 20% Text
The short inspiring quote is sized appropriately to not distract from the landscape image behind it.
Optimizing for Different Post Types
The ideal text to image balance may vary slightly depending on the type of post:
Photo Posts
Aim for 20% or less text. Use captions to enhance the image.
Video Posts
Keep text concise at around 20-30%. Let the video be the main event.
Links/News Articles
Include a relevant image and keep preamble text short at 1-2 sentences.
Stories
The 15% text limit requires getting creative with overlay text and stickers.
Analyzing Text to Image Ratio with Tools
In addition to the Facebook overlay tool, there are other analysis tools that provide helpful text to image ratios for your Facebook content:
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo lets you input a Facebook post URL and provides an estimate of the text to image ratio as a percentage. This allows analyzing what ratios perform well for competitors and industry averages.
Social Insider
Social Insider’s AI scans your published Facebook content and generates recommended text to image ratios to boost engagement. It provides tailored suggestions to improve visual balance.
Keyhole
Keyhole’s Text Length feature evaluates text length vs. engagement for your Page’s posts. This allows optimizing text amount for your audience based on hard data.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite’s Facebook post analyzer tool lets you input a post to get data like character count, word count, and social proof metrics.
Using text ratio tools like these can provide additional insights beyond the Facebook overlay preview.
Adjusting Based on Performance
Keep an eye on your Facebook posts’ performance data and adjust the text to image balance as needed over time. Here are some signs to look for:
Low reach and engagement
May indicate too much text or weak images that don’t grab attention. Try trimming text and using more compelling visuals.
High engagement but low clicks
Short text and eye-catching images are working, but text may need to better direct audience to click through. Improve text quality and calls-to-action.
Low engagement on video posts
Could mean text or caption needs to be shortened to not detract from the video itself.
| Post Type | Engagement Rate Benchmark |
|---|---|
| Photo Posts | 2-3% |
| Video Posts | 4-10% |
| Links | 1-2% |
Compare your own post engagement rates to these general benchmarks to gauge whether your text to image ratio needs improvement for each format.
Conclusion
Balancing text and visuals takes practice, but it’s worth perfecting. The ideal Facebook text to image ratio can vary, but focus on keeping text concise at 20-30% of the overall visual area. Use quality images that align with your message and brand. Employ tools like the Facebook text overlay for easy previews and analysis. Assess post performance and make adjustments over time. With a balanced approach, your Facebook content will become more captivating, engaging, and ready to connect with your audience.