I’ve covered some tips by way of the thumbnail examples above. But here are nine more that are important to keep in mind, also with examples.
1. Get your thumbnail size and dimensions right
While YouTube recommends using a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels for your thumbnails, remember that they’ll be displayed in different sizes across various devices. It’s worth checking that they still look okay and any text can still be read on smaller screens.
2. Convey strong emotion
Representing strong emotions like joy, sadness, or fear can be a good way to get more viewers. You don’t have to use gimmicky, exaggerated facial expressions if that’s not your style. But you can still make clear how you feel about a topic or how you want your readers to feel about it. This could be via facial expressions or the colors and images you use for your thumbnails.
This creator’s YouTube thumbnails capitalize on emotions such as happiness, strength, positivity, confidence, and empowerment.
3. Avoid clickbait and misleading thumbnails
It may be tempting to use clickbait to attract viewers, but that’s not a sustainable video marketing strategy. Viewers will quickly lose trust in your channel if your videos don’t promise what your thumbnails and video titles promise. Always accurately represent your video’s content.
4. Add text to explain what the video is about
We’ve already talked a lot about how the text in a thumbnail can communicate what people can look forward to in your video. I’ll just add that less is more. Keep text to a minimum and ensure that it would make sense to the people you want to watch your content. You don’t want people struggling to read a huge chunk of text or wondering what message you’re trying to get across.
This TED-Ed YouTube thumbnail example does a good job of keeping it simple and to the point.
5. Choose the right font and font size
As far as text goes, font and font size are also worth mentioning. Make sure is big enough to be legible no matter what device it’s viewed on. Also, it’s usually best to opt for thicker, sans-serif fonts since they’re easier to see against different backgrounds and easier to read than thin, cursive, or calligraphic fonts.
To illustrate, take a look at this thumbnail from one of Squarespace’s videos. It’s a nice font but the “how to” text is too small and some parts of the white cursive text are harder to see because of the lack of contrast with the background image. Plus, it may be hard for some to read at a glance when scrolling through a list of similar videos.
On the other hand, this YouTube thumbnail example—also from Squarespace—is much easier on the eyes. The bulkier, white text stands out clearly from the background, is a larger size, and is legible.
6. Avoid clutter
Thumbnails are meant to help viewers quickly size up what each video is about. Having huge blocks of text or a very busy background image can prevent them from being able to do that. This, of course, reduces the chance that they’ll click on and watch your video.
So, use minimal text and make sure it’s not fighting with the background image for attention. Also, leave enough space between icons, logos, text, and other elements of your thumbnail to prevent visual overwhelm. The thumbnail below is a good example.
7. Choose colors that stand out and use contrast
This is not to say that you should only use bright colors or use every color in the rainbow for your thumbnails. You want to choose colors that make sense for your brand and that complement one another. But only using dull colors like gray, black, and white isn’t the way to attract attention. So, experiment with bold-colored backgrounds or pops of color in your images or thumbnail text.
Also, use contrast to make important elements of your thumbnail stand out and, more importantly, to ensure that the text is easy to read.
8. Test different thumbnail styles
Some thumbnails may drive more clicks than others. Try different styles, compare click-through rates, and gradually whittle it down to the ones that work best.
9. Stick to a consistent thumbnail style
Use a consistent style, font, and color palette. Also, use your company’s logo and branding elements to make your thumbnails instantly recognizable to viewers. If they are attractive and people view your videos and enjoy the content, they’ll be more likely to spot your thumbnails in the future and watch your videos. In other words, visual brand consistency builds trust and increases memorability.
YouTube thumbnail best practices:
Aside from the technical specifications YouTube outlines, there are a few best practices that a good YouTube thumbnail example embodies. When done right, your YouTube thumbnails can and should:
- Capture the attention of potential viewers
- Work with your video title to further stoke their interest
- Contribute to a high click-through rate (CTR)
- Make your brand instantly recognizable, driving more clicks and views over time.
The easiest way to create YouTube thumbnails:
Now that you know what effective (and ineffective) YouTube thumbnail examples look like, you need to know how to make your own thumbnails. Plenty of design tools have templates you can use, but Canva is one of the most popular and user-friendly. You don’t need any design experience to use it but, if you have an eye for design, you can start from a blank YouTube thumbnail template with the proper resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.
Source: Localiq/Onehack.us
Happy learning!
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