The Perfect YouTube Thumbnail Size and Tips for for 2022

YouTube thumbnails are the small preview images used to represent videos. Their job is to attract people's attention and convince them to ... Skiptocontent StartsellingonlinenowwithShopify→ Home / Blog / ThePerfectYouTubeThumbnailSizeandBestPractices Article by ThomasJLaw 7Mar,2022 Skiptoarticlecontent Postcontents 1 BestSizeforYouTubeThumbnail 2 WhatIstheUseofYouTubeThumbnails? 3 WhyareYouTubeThumbnailssoImportant? 4 WhatistheYouTubeThumbnailSize? 5 HowtoAddaCustomYouTubeThumbnailtoYourVideo 6 6TipsforCreatingEffectiveThumbnails 1.UseaStillImagefromYourVideo 2.CreateaCustomGraphic 3.CombineaVideoStillwithGraphics 4.WriteEye-CatchingTitles 5.AvoidMisleadingImagesandTitles 6.TestDifferentThumbnailDesigns 7 3FreeToolstoCreateaYouTubeThumbnail 1.CreateaThumbnailforYouTubewithCanva 2.CreateaYouTubeThumbnailwithFotoJet 3.CreateYouTubeThumbnailswithAdobeSparkPost 8 8YouTubeThumbnailBestPracticeswithExamples 9 Summary:WhatAreTheDimensionsofaYouTubeThumbnail? 10 WanttoLearnMore? Smallthingshavegreatpower. Thisarticlewillgiveyouanedgeoveryourcompetition–andthatcompetitionisfierce. Thefactisthat2.3billionlogged-inusersvisitYouTubeeverymonth.That’shalftheinternet,withoutcountingviewerswhodon’tlogin.  Sohowcanyougetmorepeopletowatchyourvideos? Thefirststep–usingtherightthumbnailsizeforYouTube ThisarticlewillrevealtheperfectYouTubethumbnailsize,bestpracticesforcreatingathumbnail,andothertoptipstogetmoreviews. StartsellingonlinenowwithShopify Startyourfreetrial BestSizeforYouTubeThumbnail YouTube’shelpcenternotesfiveimportantpointswhenitcometoYouTubethumbnailimages.Ifyoufollowtheseguidelines,youwillseeYouTubesuccess.Thesefivepointsare: TheperfectYouTubevideothumbnailsizeis1280pixelsby720pixels. TheseYouTubethumbnaildimensionsuseanaspectratioof16:9. Makesureyourthumbnailsizeisaminimumof640pixelswide. Thumbnailimagesshouldbeunder2MB. ImageformatsareJPG,GIF,orPNG. WhatIstheUseofYouTubeThumbnails? YouTubethumbnailsarethesmallpreviewimagesusedtorepresentvideos.Theirjobistoattractpeople’sattentionandconvincethemtowatchthevideo. HerearesomeexamplesofcustomthumbnailsfromShopify'sYouTubechannel: ThinkofYouTubethumbnailslikebookcovers. They’reminiaturerepresentationsofthevideocontentdesignedtostimulateinterestandcuriosity. WhyareYouTubeThumbnailssoImportant? Theysay“Don’tjudgeabookbyitscover.” However,inreality,mostpeopledo,andthesameholdstrueforYouTubethumbnails.Thismeansthatthumbnailimagescanmakeorbreakyourvideos. Agoodthumbnailcanhelpyoutorackupthousandsofviews.Abadonewillensureyourvideostaysunseen. Thankfully,YouTubeallowsyoutocustomizeyourvideothumbnails. Whenyouuploadavideo,YouTubewillautomaticallypullthreestillimagesfromyourvideothatyoucanuseasthumbnails. Althoughthere’sthateasyoption,it’salwaysbesttocreatecustomYouTubethumbnails. ComparethesetwoimagesfromoneofourYouTubevideos–whichdoyouthinkismostlikelytocatchpeople’sattention? Or: Customthumbnailshelpyourvideosstandoutfromthecrowdandcanhaveamassiveimpactonthegrowthofyouraudience. They’realsoagreatopportunitytodevelopyourbrandaesthetic. Butthat’snotall.YoucanevenuseacustomYouTubevideothumbnailtoincreaseyouremailmarketingclick-throughrate.Infact,Wistiafoundthatusingvideothumbnailsinsteadofimagesinemailscanincreaseclicksbymorethan21percent. Plus,thumbnailimagesdon’ttakemuchtimetocreate. Afterthetimeyou’vespentplanning,organizing,filming,andeditingtheperfectYouTubevideo,what’sanother10-15minutes? Don’tfallatthelasthurdle. Ensureyourvideo’ssuccesswhenyoucreateacompellingcustomYouTubethumbnail. WhatistheYouTubeThumbnailSize? Beforeyoubegin,it’shelpfultoknowtheidealsizeforyourYouTubethumbnail. GooglerecommendsthatyourcustomYouTubevideothumbnailsizeis1280pixelswideby720pixelstall.Yourimageshouldalsohaveaminimumwidthof640pixels. Inotherwords,theidealcustomYouTubethumbnailsizeisbig. Googleexplainswhy:“Yourcustomthumbnailimageshouldbeaslargeaspossible,astheimagewillalsobeusedasthepreviewimageintheembeddedplayer.” It’scalleda“thumbnail”becauseit’softendisplayedsmall: However,theimagealsoneedstobebigenoughtolookgoodwhendisplayedthesamesizeasthevideoplayer: TheYouTubethumbnailratioforthesedimensionsis16:9. YoucanuseboththeimagesaboveascustomYouTubevideothumbnailresolutiontemplates. Youmustalsouploadyourthumbnailinoneofthefollowingimageformats:JPG,GIF,BMP,orPNG. Lastly,yourcustomYTthumbnailsizemustbeunderthe2MBlimit. HowtoAddaCustomYouTubeThumbnailtoYourVideo Let’srunthroughhowtouploadyourcustomthumbnailimage. Tostart,headtoYouTube.comandclickthecamera-plusicontouploadanewvideo. Toaddacustomthumbnailtoavideothatyou’vealreadyuploaded,headtoyourvideosintheYouTubeStudiodashboard.Thenclickonthevideotoedititssettings. Inthevideo’ssettings,you’llseethreeautomaticallygeneratedthumbnailsatthebottomofthescreen. Onthebottomright-handsideofthescreenthere’stheoptiontouploadyourcustomYouTubethumbnail. Justclickthebox,selectyourimagefromyourdevice,andclick“Upload.” 6TipsforCreatingEffectiveThumbnails YouTubethumbnailsprovideanincrediblecreativeopportunity.However,itcanbehardtocreateaneffectivethumbnaileverytime. Herearesixtipsofwheretostartwhencreatingyourthumbnails. 1.UseaStillImagefromYourVideo ThisisthemostbasicformofYouTubethumbnail. Ifyou’relucky,youmightfindthatYouTubehasautomaticallyselectedtheperfectstillimagefromyourvideotouseasathumbnail. Alternatively,youcouldexportaparticularstillimageusingvideoeditingsoftware. Whatifyou’reupdatingoldYouTubevideothumbnailsanddon’thavetheoriginalvideo?Inthiscase,youcanalwayspausethevideoonastillyoulike,makethevideofullscreen,andthentakeascreenshot. Then,youcansimplyusetheimagebyitselforaddatitle,likeinthisvideofromShopify,whichtellsthestoryofMVMTWatches. 2.CreateaCustomGraphic Manybrandscreateanimagethumbnailthateffectivelyrepresentsthevideocontent.Oftenthiswillincludeashorttitlesummingupthevideo’skeybenefit. ThesetypesofYouTubethumbnailswillincludethebrand’snameorlogo. Here’sanexampleofaYouTubevideothumbnailgraphicthatwemadeforourvideothatteachesyouhowtolaunchyourfirstFacebookadcampaign. 3.CombineaVideoStillwithGraphics Youcancombineastillimagefromyourvideowithgraphicelementstocreateatrulyattention-grabbingandcompellingYouTubethumbnail. Thisisapopularoptionforvideosthatincludepeople,suchasavlog,tutorial,ortalkshow. Here’sathumbnailimagewemadeforourvideoteachingyouhowtofindagooddropshippingsupplier. 4.WriteEye-CatchingTitles YouTubevideosareonlyasgoodastheirtitles–well,thisisnotcompletelytruebutthetitleofyourYouTubevideoisimportant.Includingitinyourthumbnailisalsoessential.Letpeopleknowexactlywhatyourvideowillbeaboutwhilealsotryingtocatchtheirfocusthroughcarefullycraftedtitles. Forexample,wecouldcreateavideoaboutvideomarketingandtitleit“EverythingaboutVideoMarketing”orwecouldbecraftyandtitleit“VideoMarketinginaNutshell:6TipstoElevateyourVideoMarketingin2021”.Whichwouldyoubemoreinclinedtoclickon?Thesecondoneismoreeye-catching. 5.AvoidMisleadingImagesandTitles Whencreatingthumbnailsandtitlesitcanbeeasytogetcarriedaway,especiallywhiletryingtooptimizetraffictoyourYouTubechannel.Thisiscompletelynormalbutitisimportanttokeepyourcreativityinchecktoensureyouarenotcreatingmisleadingimagesortitles. Forexample,ifyourthumbnailcontainsthetext“HowtocreateanamazingYouTubeThumbnailImage”butyourvideoisaboutthetop6waystooptimizeyourthumbnail,thecontentyouarepromotingismisleading.Keepyourimagesimpleandtothepointtoincreaseyourvideoclick-through-rate. Itisalsocrucialnottoincludeimagesthatareunsafeforyouraudience.Don’tuseimagerythatisexcessive,over-the-top,orinappropriateasyoudon’twanttoscareyourtargetaudienceaway. Avoidusinganotherperson’simagealsoastheuseofreverseimagesearchtoolscantracktheimagebacktoitsownerandgetyouinalotoftrouble. 6.TestDifferentThumbnailDesigns WhenindoubtaboutwhatthumbnaildesignsuitsyourYouTubechannel,don’tbeafraidtotestdifferentdesigns.Identifyadesignthatyoulike,pickavideothatperformswell,changethethumbnailtothenewdesign,andtrackresults.Ifyourclick-throughrateincreasesafteryouhavechangedthethumbnailimage,thenthisdesignisbettersuitedtoyouraudiencethanthepreviousone. Thebestthingabouttestingisthatyoucankeeptryingdifferentdesigns,aslongasyoubaseyourfindingsonsignificantdata.Ifavideoisonlyreceivingoneortwoclicksaweekormonth,thefindingsarenotsignificantenoughtoproveanything. IfyouneedtogrowyourYouTubeviewsbeforetestingdifferentthumbnaildesignscheckoutourarticle,18Easy(andFree)WaystoGetMoreViewsonYouTubeforsomeeasytoimplementideas. 3FreeToolstoCreateaYouTubeThumbnail Therearetonsofamazingtoolsouttherethatwillhelpyoutocreateaneye-catchingYouTubethumbnaildesign. Hereisaquickoverviewofthreeawesomedesigntools. 1.CreateaThumbnailforYouTubewithCanva Bestfor:Regularuserslookingforawideselectionofdesignelements. Canvaisahugelypopularonlinegraphicdesigntool. ItprovidesawideselectionofincredibleYouTubethumbnailtemplatestogetyoustarted.Therearealsotonsoffonts,stockimages,icons,andillustrationstohelpbringyourideastolife. Thebestpart? Canvaiscompletelyfreetouse.Plus,youget1GBstorageforphotosandassetsandaccesstomorethan8,000templatesandfreeimages. Youcanupgradefor$12.95permonthtoaccessadditionalfeatures,stockimages,templates,andgraphicelements. 2.CreateaYouTubeThumbnailwithFotoJet Bestfor:Casualuserswhowouldprefertoavoidcreatinganotheronlineaccount. FotoJetisanothergreatonlinedesigntool. LikeCanva,itprovidesplentyofYouTubethumbnailtemplates,clipartimages,andfontsthatyoucanusetocreatetheperfectdesign. However,unlikeCanva,you’reabletouseFotojetforfreewithoutregisteringanaccount. Ifyou’dlikemoreoptionsandfeatures,youcanalwaysupgradetoFotoJetPlusfor$6.99permonthor$39.99peryear. 3.CreateYouTubeThumbnailswithAdobeSparkPost Bestfor:AdobeCreativeCloudusersandthosefamiliarwithAdobe’sotherdesigntools. AdobeSparkPostcomesfromafamilyofheavyweightprofessionaldesigntools.Asaresult,ithasalloftheprofessionalfeaturesyou’dexpect. Thiseditoralsoprovidesanarrayoftemplates,fonts,andcompositiontools. ThekeysellingpointofAdobeSparkPostisitsintegrationwithAdobeCreativeCloud. SoifyoualreadyusePhotoshopforyourphotoeditsorPremiereProCCforvideoediting,itmakessensetokeepeverythinginoneplace. However,thisconveniencecomesataprice. YoucanuseAdobeSparkPostforfree,butit’llincludeawatermarkonyourdesigns.Toremovethisandaccessmorefeatures,plansstartat$9.99permonthor$99.99peryear. 8YouTubeThumbnailBestPracticeswithExamples Nowthatyouknowthetechnicaldetails,let’slookathowyoucancreateaYouTubethumbnailthatcapturespeople’sattentionandconvincesthemtoclickthroughtowatchyourvideo. HereareeightYouTubethumbnailbestpracticestokeepinmind. 1.YourThumbnailMustAccuratelyRepresentYourVideo Firstthingsfirst:Don’tmisleadyourviewersbycreatingathumbnailimagethatdoesn’taccuratelyrepresentyourvideo. Everyonehatesclickbait. Notonlyisthisagreatwaytoannoythepeopleyouwanttocreatelastingrelationshipswith,butyou’llalsohurtyourYouTubechannel. How?Becauseofsomethingcalled“AudienceRetention.” AudienceRetentionisaYouTubemetricusedtodeterminethequalityofyourviewsonYouTube. Inotherwords,thismetricisn’tconcernedwithhowmanyviewsyouget,buthowlongyourviewersspendwatchingyourvideo. Thisisextremelyimportant. YouTube’salgorithmrewardschannelsthatretainviewers. IfyoucreateaYouTubethumbnailimagethatmisleadsusers,assoonasthevideostartsplayingthey’llknowthey’vebeentrickedandclickoff. Thiswilldrasticallyhurtyourvideo’sAudienceRetentionscore–andasaresult,YouTube’salgorithmwillpunishyourchannel. Honestyisthebestpolicy.Makesureyourthumbnailsarefairrepresentationsofyourvideos. 2.IncludeaShortenedVersionofYourVideoTitle It’slikelythatmanyusersonYouTubewilllookatvideothumbnailsbeforereadingthevideo’stitleordescription. Forthisreason,ithelpstoincludeyourvideo’stitleinthethumbnailitself. However,sincespaceisatapremium,it’softenbettertoincludeanabbreviatedversionofyourvideotitle. InthethumbnailexamplebelowforourvideoonhowtostartadropshippingstorewithShopify,weshortenthetitlefrom: “HowtoSetUpShopify–DropshippingwithShopify” To: “HowtoBuildaShopifyStore–2022” Noticealsothattheabbreviatedthumbnailtitlefocusesonthekeytutorialthatthevideoprovidestoviewers:howtobuildaShopifystoreyourself. 3.MakeSureThumbnailTextisLargeEnoughtoRead Highlightingakeybenefitinthethumbnailcanmakeahugedifferencetothenumberofviewsyoureceive–butonlyifuserscanreadthetext. FrankBodyusesgreatstillimagesfromtheirvideostocreatetheirYouTubethumbnails,butthetextisextremelysmall. Thismakesthetextdifficulttoread. What’smore,theimageabovewastakenonacomputer–thesethumbnailswouldbedisplayedevensmalleronsmartphones. It’sclearfromFrankBody’sthumbnailimagesthattheydeliberatelyavoidoverlayingtextonamodel’sface.Thismakessensewhenyoudon’twanttodetractfromtheimageitself. However,intheseinstances,itmightbemoreeffectivenottoincludetext. Justlettheimagedothetalking. 4.UseContrastingColorstoCaptureAttention Colorsarepowerful.Theydrawtheeye. Bright,contrastingcolorscanhelptomakeyourYouTubethumbnailseye-catchingandcompelviewerstoclickonyourvideos. What’smore,contrastingcolorshelptomakeyourtextstandoutsoitcanbeeasilyread. Here’showGaryVaynerchukdoesit. Playaroundwithdifferentcontrastingcolorstoseewhatworksbestforyourbrand. Youcanevenincreasethecolorsaturationorcontrastofyourthumbnaildesigntoreallymakethecolorpop! 5.UseWhitespaceandNegativeSpace Manybrandscreatethumbnailsthatlookbusyandcluttered. However,sometimeslessismore. Inartanddesign,whitespaceornegativespaceistheareaaroundandbetweenthesubjectsofanimage.It’sanimportantandahighlyeffectivedesigntool. Skullcandyharnessesthepowerofwhitespaceandnegativespaceinthiscleanandprofessionalthumbnail. Thespacecreatesaprofessional,sleek,andclassyaesthetic. TheFrenchclassicalcomposerClaudeDebussyfamouslysaid,“Musicisthesilencebetweenthenotes.” SowhencreatingyourthumbnailsforYouTube,payattentiontospacebetweentheimages. 6.IncludeYourBrandLogo StrengthenyouronlinebrandpresencebyincludingyourlogoorbusinessnameinyourYouTubethumbnail. Andtocreateaconsistentbrandaesthetic,alwaysmakesuretopositionyourlogointhesameplaceoneachofyourthumbnailimages. Gymsharkplacestheirlogointhetop-rightcorneroftheirYouTubethumbnails. Meanwhile,Voguealwaysplacestheirlogointhebottom-leftofthumbnails. 7.BeConsistenttoDevelopaStrongBrandAesthetic Asmentionedabove,consistencyisthekeytodevelopingastrongbrand. Soregardlessofwhattypeofthumbnailyoudecidetouse,maintainconsistency.ThiswillmakeiteasyforviewerstospotyourvideoswhenbrowsingYouTube. Thiscanhelptodriveviewsandengagement. Strivetodevelopadistinctivethumbnaildesignandthensticktoit. Forexample,wemostlystickwiththesameYouTubethumbnailtemplateforallofourvideos.Thenwechangetheimagestill,title,andbackgroundgraphicstokeepthingsfresh. 8.UseColorstoHighlightDifferentContentStreams Themostsuccessfulcontentmarketingstrategieswillhavedifferentcontentstreamstokeeppeopleengaged. What’smore,mostbrandswillfindthattheycanseparatetheirvideocontentintoahandfulofcategories. Whatrecurringcontentthemesdoyouhave? Themajorityofourvideofallintooneofthreecategories:Q&Avideos,productrecommendations,andmarketingtips. Then,wecolor-codeourthumbnailstomakethingseasierforourviewers: YellowforweeklyQ&Avideos. Greenforproductrecommendations. Blueformarketingtips. Soboostyourviewsbymakingiteasierforviewerstofindthevideosthey’remostinterestedin. Summary:WhatAreTheDimensionsofaYouTubeThumbnail? Yourthumbnailscanmakeorbreakyourvideomarketingefforts. Don’tunderestimatethepowerofacompellingdesignthatcancapturepeople’sattentionandcompelthemtoclicktowatchyourvideos. KeepinmindtheseYouTubethumbnailbestpracticeswhencreatingyourdesign: MakesuretousetheidealdimensionsforYouTubethumbnail–1280pixelsby720pixels. EnsureyourYouTubethumbnailaccuratelyrepresentsyourvideocontent. IncludeanabbreviatedversionofyourtitleinyourYouTubethumbnail. Makesureyourthumbnailtextislargeenoughtoreadevenonsmartphones. UsecontrastingcolorstomakeyourYouTubethumbnailsstandoutandcaptureattention. UsewhitespaceandnegativespacetoaddatouchofclasstoyourYouTubethumbnails. Includeyourbrandlogointhesamepositionofeachofyourthumbnails. TestafewdifferentYouTubethumbnaildesignstofindaneffectiveimage. ConsistentlyusethesameYouTubethumbnailtemplatetodevelopastrongbrandaesthetic. Color-codedifferentcontentstreamstomakeiteasyforviewerstoidentifytheirfavoritetypeofvideos. Lastly,makesuretospendalittletimetocreateagreatdesign. BecauseastheAmericanbaseballplayerCharlesComiskeyoncesaid,“Itisthesmallthingsinlifewhichcount;itistheinconsequentialleakwhichemptiesthebiggestreservoir.” WanttoLearnMore? 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