90% of best-performing videos have eye-catching thumbnails. A good thumbnail can boost your discovery and increase your viewership rate drastically. Your thumbnail should tell people exactly what your video is about and encourage them to click through. Here’s how you can create the perfect thumbnail:
1) Custom-make your thumbnail
Use a platform like Canva to create your thumbnails with ease. There are plenty of free templates you can choose from and customise.
2) Use the right thumbnail dimensions
The ideal size for thumbnails as recommended by YouTube should be 1280×720 pixels. If you your thumbnail is too big or small, your image will be scaled and lose its clarity. You can resize your thumbnails easily on photoshop or other editing platforms.
3) Use contrasting colours
Choose colours that are right at the opposite ends of a colour wheel. Use a tool like Adobe Color Wheel to experiment with the most suitable colour theme for your channel.
4) Try to include a human face
Use a close up image of a person showing strong emotions in the thumbnail. People will be curious to find out the cause of such an emotion.
5) Use bold fonts
Readers should be able to read your fonts even when the image is small. Use fonts that are clearly readable.
6) Use the rule of thirds
Divide your thumbnail into nine equal grids and align your content into these grids. The rule of thirds technique makes the picture more attractive and easy to digest.
7) Use catchy titles
Avoid using titles that are clickbaity, offensive, violent, gross, misleading or grammatically incorrect. Opt for creative titles that make viewers want to know more.
Now that you know the secrets to creating an eye-popping thumbnail, all you have to do is test your thumbnails to determine which version will perform better. Tools like TubeBuddy allow you to compare and A/B test different thumbnails. Just make sure you’re consistent with using the same fonts, colour and design theme in all your thumbnails. And before long, you’ll have built a strong brand identity that will help viewers recall your channel in the long haul.
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