How to Make Thumbnails for Websites in a Link-in-Bio Page

To make a website thumbnail for a link-in-bio page, choose the destination, prepare an image that represents it, add the image to a card or page section, and link that card to the destination URL. Preview the published page on a phone and test every link.

There are two different things people call a “thumbnail”: an image card inside your link-in-bio page, and the preview image a social platform may show when someone shares the page URL. The first is part of your page design. The second usually comes from metadata on the page and is controlled partly by the sharing platform.

1. Plan the cards and their destinations

Make a short list of the websites, articles, shops, portfolios, or other destinations you want visitors to reach. For each one, note the exact URL, a recognizable label, and an image that helps visitors identify it. A useful card tells people where it goes before they tap.

• Use a concise label such as “Portfolio” or “Latest article.”
• Choose an image that represents the destination and that you have permission to use.
• Keep the visual style consistent across cards so the page reads as one set.
• Check the destination URL carefully, including whether it should open a particular page rather than a site homepage.

Do not rely on an image alone to explain a link. A visible label helps visitors understand the destination, including when an image fails to load or is difficult to interpret.

2. Add an image and make the card clickable

In your page builder, select a layout that supports image cards or add an image to the relevant section. Then connect the image or its containing card to the destination URL. Editors differ: adding an image does not necessarily make it clickable. If the editor has a separate image-link control, use it; otherwise, link the card’s text or surrounding element.

Canva’s documented link-in-bio workflow is to choose a template, customize it with text and images, add hyperlinks, preview the page on desktop, mobile, and tablet, then publish. Its feature page describes adding photos, logos, graphics, and media-library images, and hyperlinking content. Exact controls and plan eligibility can change, so check Canva’s current interface and plan details before publishing. Canva’s link-in-bio guide

1. Open your page design or choose a template.
2. Add the image and a clear label for the destination.
3. Use the editor’s link control to enter the destination URL.
4. Preview the page at phone, tablet, and desktop sizes.
5. Publish, open the live page, and tap every card to confirm it goes to the intended URL.

3. Make thumbnails work well on phones

Many visitors will open a link-in-bio page on a phone, so check the actual mobile layout rather than relying only on the desktop editor. Canva describes its link-in-bio websites as responsive and provides previews across desktop, mobile, and tablet.

• Check that each image remains recognizable at the size it appears on a phone.
• Make sure labels are visible and do not get cut off or crowded.
• Tap each card and verify the clickable area behaves as expected.
• Check that the page is easy to scan and that cards appear in a useful order.
• Test the live published URL; an editor preview cannot confirm that every published link is correct.

If your builder offers a choice of page layout, select one that displays the cards clearly at narrow widths. Avoid putting essential destination information only inside a small image.

4. Set the social sharing preview separately

The thumbnail inside your page does not automatically become the preview image when someone shares the page URL. Social platforms can read page metadata and apply their own rules. LinkedIn lists the Open Graph fields og:title, og:image, og:description, and og:url for a website shared there. If you control the page’s HTML, a basic example is:

<meta property="og:title" content="Your page title">
<meta property="og:description" content="A short description of your page">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/share-image.jpg">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/links">

Use absolute, publicly accessible URLs for the image and page. If a hosted link-in-bio builder manages the page HTML, look for its social sharing or SEO settings; you may not be able to edit metadata directly.

LinkedIn’s help page lists a minimum image size of 1200 × 627 pixels and JPG, PNG, or GIF formats, and says images narrower than 401 pixels display as a thumbnail. These are LinkedIn-specific details, not universal rules for every social network or page builder. The cited help page was marked as last updated two years before the research retrieval, so check LinkedIn’s current sharing guidance before preparing an image to those specifications.

5. Check what the published page displays

Inspect the live page and, if useful, capture it as an image to review card spacing, cropping, and the overall layout. A browser screenshot can also help you compare how a page appears at different viewport sizes. Keep this check separate from the social preview: a screenshot of the page shows its rendered content, while a social network’s preview depends on metadata and that platform’s handling.

You can capture a rendered page yourself using a browser automation tool, or use a screenshot API. ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server; its API can return a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF from one GET request. It supports viewport settings, full-page capture, and element capture, among other options. See the ScreenshotNeo website and API documentation.

Or skip the browser setup

Use a single request to capture your published link-in-bio page. Replace the target URL with your own page and provide your API key:

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

In this example, replace https://stripe.com with your published page URL. ScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each of those steps can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and response headers report the page verdict and billing status. An MCP server gives AI agents tools to take screenshots, get page information, and capture PDFs. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots.

Create a free ScreenshotNeo account to get 1,000 screenshots a month with no card.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	What to check
The image appears, but tapping it does nothing	The image was added without a link, or only a nearby text element is linked.	Use the editor’s image or card link control, then test the published card on a phone.
The card opens the wrong page	The destination URL was entered incorrectly or points to a general landing page.	Copy the intended URL into the link setting and test the live link.
The thumbnail looks unclear on mobile	The source image has important detail that disappears at the displayed size.	Choose a simpler, more recognizable image and inspect the phone preview.
The social preview uses the wrong image	The sharing platform is using page metadata or a previously fetched preview.	Check the page’s social metadata settings and the platform’s current sharing guidance. Do not assume the in-page card image is used.
The social preview is missing or incomplete	Required metadata may be absent, inaccessible, or unsupported by the page builder.	Check the title, image, description, and URL metadata where editable; verify that the image URL is publicly reachable.
The published layout differs from the editor	The live responsive layout or published link settings differ from the design preview.	Open the published URL at phone and desktop sizes and test the actual links.

Performance, reliability, and cost considerations

For a small set of page cards, the main practical costs are preparing suitable images and checking that the published page works. Compress or resize images using your normal design workflow if they make the page slow to load, while keeping enough detail for the card to remain recognizable. The research sources do not establish a universal ideal thumbnail file size or an engagement lift from a particular image dimension.

For visual QA, repeat captures only when you need to check a change or a different viewport. ScreenshotNeo offers caching with a TTL you choose, plus asynchronous jobs and bulk capture for workflows that need them. Its usage API can help monitor consumption. Pricing is Free for 1,000 shots per month, Starter $5 for 3,000, Growth $15 for 15,000, Pro $39 for 60,000, Scale $99 for 250,000, and Business $249 for 1,000,000; yearly billing gives two months free, and every feature is on every plan. Confirm current details in the documentation.

FAQ

Is a link-in-bio thumbnail the same as a social preview image?

No. The thumbnail card is part of the page design. A social preview is generated from page metadata and platform-specific behavior.

Does adding an image automatically make it a link?

Not necessarily. Check the page editor’s link controls and test the published card.

Can I use LinkedIn’s image dimensions for every platform?

No. The 1200 × 627 minimum cited here is specific to LinkedIn guidance. Check the destination platform’s current requirements.

Can I create a link-in-bio page in Canva?

Canva documents a workflow with templates, images, hyperlinks, previews, and publishing. Check its current feature and plan details for your account.