When you create a YouTube channel, it is very difficult to generate the first views. You are a perfect stranger and you have no subscribers. So you should take advantage of all the options you have to start building your audience. One of those options is custom video thumbnails.
Video thumbnails are the images that users see when they browse YouTube and that visually identify each video.
When we upload a video to our channel, YouTube is in charge of selecting a frame of that video as the video thumbnail (it gives us several options to choose from, but it chooses for us if we don’t choose one). This frame is chosen randomly so it can even be a part of the video in which we come out scratching our ears or with our eyes closed. It is important that, at least, we select the best of the thumbnails that are offered to us by default.
Fortunately, YouTube also allows us to customize the thumbnail of our video and it is very important that we make the effort to create a custom thumbnail. You can optimize your images as the basis for your future thumbnails.
For your info, YouTube has shared a video in which it explained very clearly why custom thumbnails can help a video get more views.
In response to a question about whether changing the thumbnail could make a video receive more views, a spokesperson for the platform had the following to say:
“When you change the thumbnail of a video, you will notice that it receives more or less views. This happens because your video appears differently to users and that will change the way people interact with your video when it is offered to them in their recommendations. Our systems respond to the different ways users interact with your video, ”says YouTube. “Changing the thumbnail itself will not change the number of impressions that the video receives, but it is the audience itself (the one that will make more or less clicks).”
In other words, thumbnails are very important because they are decisive for a user to click (or not) click on the video. The more clicks the video receives, YouTube will consider it more relevant and show it to more people in their recommendations, leading to a greater number of views.
How can we create a thumbnail that attracts clicks?
There is no sacred rule when creating a thumbnail for videos on YouTube, it depends on factors such as the theme of your channel (news, humor, vlog), your audience (age, gender) or your tastes. The best thing, always, is to experiment. We can go through tests to see what type of thumbnail generates better results and then adopt that style for the entire channel.
Remember that we can change the thumbnails of videos that we have already published. So if you find that a style works very well, apply it to your old videos to refresh them for more views.
One thing that I do advise for thumbnails on YouTube and, in general, for any digital strategy is to be consistent and coherent. Using a different style for each video (fonts, colors) will make us lose the opportunity to create a recognizable brand and will affect our results.
What thumbnail styles work best?
There are thousands of styles of video thumbnails on YouTube, but there are a few that are repeating and proven to produce results. These are some examples:
Use your own image
On the Internet, in general, there is nothing that works better than authenticity. And what is more authentic than your personal image? Many youtubers turn to their own faces in the foreground as a claim for the thumbnail of their videos. And if you adopt a face that goes in line with the video, all the better.
Use a frame
If your videos are full of action, a single frame of the video will be more than enough to attract attention.
Meme style and impact typography
The quintessential youtuber style made fashionable by stars like Pewdiepie. You choose a photo with potential for a meme, modify it and add an impact font (there really is a font that is called that, Impact and that is used a lot in this type of thumbnail).
Photo and headline
This is the classic style of news videos. A photo that illustrates the news plus an overprinted headline. And a photo with a transparent background will let you pour your creativity into creating a beautiful thumbnail.
Do you want a transparent background? Or do you want professional images display for your thumbnails? But you don’t have any experience in photo editing? Don’t worry because you have great solutions for everything. With this solution, you can pour all your creativity into your image. That solution is Wondershare PixCut! With this tool, you can do many things, even you can make transparent background PNG with one click!
The first step is to upload an image
Your first step is to upload your image to Wondershare PixCut. You just need to click the “Upload” button. The button appears in the center of your screen. Basically the process is very simple; copy and paste images. You can also drag and drop the image in the program. Do what you think is easier. If these two methods are not enough, you can switch to the third method; type the URL of the web image.
The second step is to make the background transparent
With Wondershare PixCut, you can create transparent backgrounds automatically with AI technology. You just need to wait a while.
The third step is to preview and edit if it’s needed
Before actually saving the transparent background you created, you can preview the image and check if it requires further editing. If you want, you can insert a new background and maybe some shadows.
The fourth step is to download
You can simply click on the “Download” button and the program will instantly save the file with the deleted background to your device. If you want to save images in HD quality, it is recommended for you to take a paid plan.
Conclusion:
If you really want to be a successful Youtuber, you have to make sure not to overlook the thumbnail feature. Thumbnail features can really captivate a lot of people at first glance. And to get various interesting thumbnails for your channel, you can count on Wondershare PixCut as your only helper. Thank you for reading and I hope this article is useful. Have a nice day!
