Do you know that over 500 hours of video are uploaded in an hour? Everyone is aware of the growing competition on YouTube. If you want to stand out from the crowd you need to post unique and trendy content. To rank on YouTube’s search results you need to post consistently and keep engaging with your audience. As you know YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and shows many results. Why will a user click on your video instead of the other videos that appeared in the search results? You need to use an attractive thumbnail for your YouTube videos to grab the attention of your users. Today let’s discuss how to customize and set thumbnails on YouTube.
Why use custom thumbnails on YouTube?
As I mentioned above, YouTube thumbnails act like a window to your YouTube videos. It’s the first impression that creates on your viewers. You can use one of the stills from your videos as a thumbnail but that’s a bit unprofessional. Therefore, if you want to give a professional view to your YouTube channel you need to create thumbnails for your YouTube videos. While making a thumbnail keep these points in your mind:
Include your title in the thumbnail: This gives the audience an overview of what your video contains. Do not keep the title too long as it might cover the entire image.
Use images relevant to your topic: If you want to use an image in your thumbnail, see to it that the image is related to your video. Your image should be a visual representation of your video.
Add your own picture in the thumbnail: Well if you want the audience to recognize your videos you should add your own picture in the thumbnail. It also helps you to add a personal touch to the thumbnail.
Make use of readable fonts: Remember the maximum audience on YouTube use their mobiles, therefore, use fonts that can be read from a desktop and a phone screen. Avoid using cursive fonts.
Size of the thumbnail: You need to maintain the size of the thumbnail that is 1280×720 pixels. Also, Youtube allows you to upload thumbnails in JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG image formats.
Steps to set Custom Thumbnail on YouTube
YouTube allows you to use a still from your own video as your thumbnail. If you want to upload the customized thumbnail follow these steps:
- Log in to ‘YouTube Studio’
- Click on the menu bar then select ‘Videos’
- Click on the video that you want to insert your customized thumbnail
- Tap on ‘Edit thumbnail’
- Select the thumbnail from your device and click on ‘upload’. You can also select a still image from the video.
- Now click on ‘save’
Yay, you have uploaded your customized thumbnail successfully!
Concluding thoughts
If you want to learn to customize your thumbnails read our guide on how to create YouTube thumbnails on Canva?Also, read these tips that will help you to customize your thumbnails.0