How to Make Creative and Compelling YouTube Thumbnails and Banners

If you have a YouTube channel, you’re aware of how powerful branding is. Learn how to create a creative YouTube custom thumbnail and banner.

YouTube stated that 90 percent of its best performing videos have custom thumbnails. This made many content creators start using various vibrant and creative thumbnails to stand out from the others.

The evolution of thumbnails and YouTube templates is an opportunity that most YouTubers should try to optimize. This is because it will land them more views and subscribers which turn out to brand deals which bring in the money.

So, if you have a YouTube channel, you’re aware of how powerful branding is. Read on to learn how to create a creative YouTube custom thumbnail and banner.

1] Use the Right YouTube Thumbnail Dimensions

If you want to attract people using a professional looking thumbnail, the thumbnail dimensions must be of YouTube standards.

YouTube thumbnails should be 1280 pixels wide x 720 pixels tall, with 640 pixels as the least width pixels. An aspect ratio of 16:9 is used to preview most of your videos on YouTube.

Make sure that your thumbnail is of the right dimensions so that its quality is not reduced when posted.

2] Use the Best YouTube Thumbnail Font

You need to create a font that is easily readable and also one that your viewers can relate to you. Customizing fonts is a great way of having a unique font style that viewers will relate to you whenever they see it posted. For instance, in the case of Sam Kolder and his wobbling Surfing font.

3] Use the Best Photos as Your YouTube Thumbnail Background

Thumbnail images give viewers an idea of what your video will be about. You need to post high-quality photos that complement your title text or thumbnail itself.

4] Add Title Texts in Your Thumbnails

Adding text to your thumbnails will not only give videos more professional look but also help viewers know more about your video.

Thumbnail images accompanied by title texts gain more user attention and clicks compared to plain image thumbnails.

5] Avoid Clickbait Thumbnails

Misleading your viewers to watch your videos through Clickbait thumbnails is not good. It generally makes you lose subscribers and viewer clicks also because people don’t get to watch what they expected to see.

Still, YouTube will stop showing your videos in the recommended or trending sections if your bounce rate is too high because of clickbaiting viewers.

6] Create a Brand for Yourself With Your Thumbnail

You need to be consistent with your YouTube thumbnails so that people can easily associate you with them whenever they see the thumbnail. This technique has helped YouTubers like Mr. Beast and FBE to have a certain brand related to their thumbnail.

You can use a free YouTube channel art maker to create get YouTube thumbnails for yourself.

Use the Right YouTube Custom Thumbnail

Successful YouTubers like David Dobrik, Casey Neistat, and others use creative thumbnails to grow their following to the tens of millions using the platform. So, a YouTube custom thumbnail won’t just increase your views but it’ll also enable you to create a solid brand on YouTube.

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