YouTube Thumbnail Size report
Whether you are a creator of new content or run a small business, success on YouTube is critical. Excellent video marketing can become a massive driving force for your business, bring in additional income, and even become a mature business.
Small things have great power. With 19 billion monthly users (excluding viewers who are not logged in to watch videos), YouTube is the world's largest online video platform. So do you know how to let more people watch your video? The first step is to use the correct YouTube thumbnail size.
If you plan to start your new career or new hobby on YouTube, you must not skip the following content. This article will introduce the perfect YouTube thumbnail size, best practices for creating thumbnails, and other top tips to get more video views.
Why YouTube Thumbnail is important
It is not enough to make great YouTube videos and be optimistic. YouTube uploads more than 400 hours of video content every minute, so a high-quality YouTube video needs to have a particular thumbnail to grab people's attention.
Thumbnail preview is the first line of contact between your video and the YouTube users, and it is often a crucial opportunity to attract new coming users. Your video may be Oscar-level, but if no one clicks to watch it, it is nothing. Without the click-through rate, YouTube's computer algorithms will think your video is not essential and will stop recommending it. In many recommended videos, viewers are often attracted by a specific cover image first and then decide whether to click to play the video. If the YouTube thumbnails are well-designed, the viewer will choose to watch your video.
The top YouTube thumbnails are particularly eye-catching. The solid colors and focused images grab the user's attention and provide information about the video content. It pays to make time to create an eye-catching YouTube thumbnail. After all, 90% of the top videos on YouTube come with custom thumbnails, so you should have them too.
Read on to learn how to make custom YouTube thumbnails and add them to your video!
How to make A YouTube thumbnail
Basics: select the best pictures from the video
We do not recommend choosing only the best images from the video, but this is the beginning. Being able to find the essence of your video is vital for designing custom thumbnails. YouTube’s automated thumbnail generation is very random. It is possible that the automatic thumbnails are blurry, or your face looks strange in the picture, or part of the head is cut off. Choose your video image as the YouTube thumbnail, scroll your video in full-screen mode, stop at the frame you like, and then take a screenshot.
Design your own custom YouTube thumbnail
Your best bet is to design your thumbnails from scratch. In addition to allowing you to control the picture, you can also control the background color, screen text, the size of the thumbnail, and a series of other design elements.
A good YouTube thumbnail design can capture the attention of the audience and allow users to have a good impression of your work before watching the video. Even better, your thumbnail is a way for viewers to start communication before clicking on the video. A static picture can only express one moment of the video, but a carefully crafted thumbnail can convey the overall value of the entire video.
You should note that there is a limit to the number of custom thumbnails that a channel can upload per day.
free tools of Making YouTube thumbnail
There are many free tools on the market for you to create your own YouTube thumbnails, such as:
- Fotor: This editing tool is an excellent choice for those who have no editing experience. Fotor has a series of free templates, which allow people to quickly get high-level results and add clip art and dynamic fonts.
- Fotojet: The function of Fotojet is similar to that of Fotor, and there is no need to register an account to create and download thumbnails. It has many templates, and clip art is available.
- Adobe Spark: Adobe is a well-known advanced image design and video editing tool. They also provide Adobe Spark, an easy-to-use online tool that can be used to make YouTube thumbnails. You need to register for a free account or log in with Google, Facebook, or an existing Adobe ID.
YouTube thumbnail Size
YouTube thumbnails need to use the correct size to display perfectly on the website. Your thumbnail will be shown in YouTube’s sidebar or video recommendations. You also can consider the effect of the video if it is embedded or appears at the top of the YouTube page. Therefore, please always use a larger picture to facilitate zooming out, rather than a small picture, which becomes grainy and ugly when zoomed in. Please make sure the image is below the 2MB limit.
- The ideal ratio of YouTube thumbnails is 16:9 and the resolution is 1280×720. It ensures that the thumbnails look clear on a widescreen TV or computer.
- Make sure your thumbnail size is a minimum of 640 pixels wide.
- Upload using image formats such as JPG, GIF, or PNG.
- The size does not exceed 2MB.
- A 16:9 aspect ratio is the most commonly used aspect ratio for the YouTube player and preview features.
Tips For making a great YouTube thumbnail
Use screen text
Adding text to the video is a good idea. It allows people to understand your video when there is no sound when it is automatically played in preview mode.
Don't only rely on pictures. Add text to your thumbnails and let users appreciate the excitement of the video. Whatever it is, this text must summarize the core concepts of the video so that the audience knows in advance what they will see.
Please note that the screen text is entirely different from the video title. The screen text is often short and attractive, making people want to learn more. Use capital letters and limit to 3-6 words. When the YouTube thumbnail is on preview mode, the audience can still see the text. The color should be consistent, which will make them highly recognizable.
Branding
Your YouTube thumbnails don't need to all look the same, but they all look strongly related. Think of some elements that can be associated with your thumbnails and make them your characteristics. It can be a font and color theme, and it can also be a similar design style.
The popular YouTube channel Good Mythical Morning has a good grasp of branding. Would you please notice how their video thumbnails are unique while using a common theme, rich expressions, large white fonts, colorful pictures, and brand logos?
Integrity and accuracy
It is very tempting to defraud clicks with exaggerated pictures or text. However, if your video thumbnails make viewers feel misled, it will ruin your reputation. Therefore, make sure that your YouTube thumbnail accurately shows the information you want to convey.
We cannot overestimate the importance of YouTube thumbnails. They can make or break your video. They can significantly improve your channel's ranking and improve your branding efforts.