April 2022 -

How to Make your Own YouTube Video Thumbnails If you’re wondering how to make your own thumbnails for YouTube videos, stick and stay, for our easy-to-follow 7-step formula. Did you know that there are over🐱🏍 500 hours of YouTube videos uploaded Every MINUTE Worldwide!!! Undoubtedly, making your own YouTube thumbnails isn’t necessarily EASY, conversely, it isn't rocket science either. Further in this post, we share instantly simple tricks of the trade that Evokes Attention and will make your YT thumbnails Standout! In all honesty, creating good thumbnails for Youtube (aesthetically pleasing) is critical to your video marketing success, More Today than EVER! No worries my sisters, keep reading as we show you simple proven strategies you can use to set yourself apart from your competitors. ***NOTE YouTube states that 90% of the best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. Click To Tweet Here we'll walk you through what’s needed to make really easy YouTube thumbnails that get ranked and viewed. We also share a few sneaky secrets that you should know to make Stunningly Amazing thumbnails that you can use to grow your YouTube channel, sell your products or services, or drive customers to your website or other social media platforms! Let’s Get Started! What are Thumbnails We’ve all heard it’s easy to overlook the obvious. So, I won't do that here. Just in case there are some people that don’t know what a thumbnail is, here’s one definition: A thumbnail is a smaller version of a much larger image that is often used to help save screen space. However, YouTube thumbnails are commonly used to display a preview of your video's coming attraction. Now you may be asking are they Really important and if so, how important, Super YES and we’ll explain in the paragraph below. Why are YouTube Thumbnails Important? What makes YouTube video thumbnails important? Your YT thumbnail is your visitor's first impression. The thumbnail sets the table, here is where they decide to watch your breath-taking video or not. So before viewing they must get past the gatekeeper. That gatekeeper is your thumbnail. If your youtube thumbnail doesn’t grab the scroller's attention, they will continue to walk on by. Remember there are thousands of Youtube videos being uploaded to yt every minute of the day. (you have to try to set yourself apart from the crowd). Without an engaging thumbnail, the viewers won’t know if they’ll like your video or not. Unfortunately, if the thumbnail isn’t enticing, they won’t click on it to find out. 10 Ways to Get a YouTube scroller to stop on your video Click To Tweet Dramatize your video through imagery Use Bright Colors Incorporate power words Evoke Emotion Add an interested, enticing, or odd image Keep your color scheme to 3 complimentary colors A thumbnail is a sneak peek, like a movie trailer make it count Thumbnails can sometimes be a smaller image, but they still should pack a punch! Minimize the images or objects Enlarge your text… make it easy to read Just in case you want to skip the info. Here’s what you need to create really good youtube thumbnails: 😜😜 Professionally designed templates: No coding, No experience needed, and no monthly payments. Images are free (Google Royalty-Free Images) or paid, click here for cheap images How to Make your Own Thumbnails How to create professional Youtube thumbnails for videos, Follow our 7- Steps to make your custom YouTube Video Thumbnail As always first things first, strategy over skill. Plan your purpose and CTA for your thumbnail. A few other pointers to keep in mind: Include keywords Stick to brand colors. Know your end result Add your CTA to your image Write text overlay on your image Try to differentiate your image from others Choose a complimentary font family Download your images PNG or higher resolution Adjust thumbnail size for YouTube videos specifically Step 1 Plan for your thumbnail outcome. Research your keywords. Use Tube bubby or other keyword research tools to choose a highly relevant and low competitive keyword for creating your video. Keep in mind you can build your YT thumbnail from scratch or from a YouTube video thumbnail template. Below we’re starting from a clean slate. Step 2 Now that the preliminary processes are out of the way you can get started with the fun stuff. Start with your thumbnail background. Choose an enticing youtube thumbnail background. The background presents suggestions for color and style. Try to keep your image consistent. Pull colors from your template background the same as you do when matching an outfit. But try to stick with 2-3 colors for a more cohesive look. Step 3 Choose an image. An original image is usually a plus. Additionally, select thumbnail images that demonstrate emotion, curiosity, or uniqueness to get more YT views. Make certain the image has the highest resolution possible. Brighter images seem to do better as well. Lastly, there is a lot of data surfacing around the added benefit of using human faces. This is another factor you may want to explore. Step 4 Choose your thumbnail font style. Youtube thumbnail fonts play a major role as well. You can always “Google” the term "Fonts" to get youtube thumbnail font ideas. This ensures complimentary print families. Keep in mind, that all font types don’t support each other, however, usually, you can easily find a couple of correlating typefaces Especially, if you use some of the FREE editors like Canva. Step 5 Ok, you have your thumbnail game plan, yt thumbnail background, your main image, color scheme, and font family, we’re almost at the finish line. Now it’s time to put your plan into action. How are you planning to structure your elements? It’s a good idea to place your larger element on the page first. Then insert your smaller accent pieces. Next place your text overlay over your image. You can place your text anywhere on the image, top, bottom side, etc. However, the lower right side is where Google places the time, and anything there could be covered. **Note: thumbnail size for youtube is 1280 x 720, however, most of your thumbnail software apps will provide an option for YT thumbnails. Step 6 It’s time to download and upload your image. Firstly, depending on the platform you’re using most downloading is simple. If using thumbnail software the best YouTube thumbnail apps have a clearly marked button that reads download. Your thumbnail will download anywhere you choose. But if it downloads and you can’t find it, always check your download folder. I normally create a folder, name it my project name, and save my downloads there. Next, once it’s downloaded on your computer you can use it however you like. During your video uploading process, YouTube clearly indicates how to upload your thumbnail. First, you will see a custom thumbnail box, then images yt selected that you can use or choose from to upload as your thumbnail. Step 7 Finally, you finished your first thumbnail creation. It's time to create more. The final step, inspect what you expect. If your video doesn’t perform the way you anticipated the first step is to test your thumbnail. (A/B test) If you’re not getting clicks, then your thumbnail isn’t drawing in onlookers. Don’t get discouraged the name of the game is to fail fast. Create another thumbnail and upload that to see if anything changes. Then, after 3-4 thumbnails you may want to check to see if your keyword has merit. There are a lot of variables, you will have to use a process of elimination. Fortunately, once you get it you GOT IT!!!!! Grab your templates here! Apps to Make Thumbnails If you're wondering what are the best youtube thumbnail apps or if there are apps that can help you create your thumbnails, you're on the right page. This is the era of technology and software is the name of the game. There are plenty of apps available that you can use to make your own YouTube thumbnail. I’m sure you’d heard of a few of them, but I name them again. Canva: everyone raves about Canva, including me. Canva has a free and paid version. I have the paid version because I don’t have time for all the gotcha. I use Canva a LOT!!!!!! But not for my thumbnails. I can make them quick on a dedicated thumbnail creator app. I’ll talk more about that later. PhotoShop: from my understanding photoshop can be expensive. And to add fuel to the fire challenging as well. Microsoft: you will need a Microsoft word 365 subscription. Then go through a learning curve. Those are some of the best thumbnail apps or best software for thumbnails. There are two others that we use and I’ll discuss one of those and share a few templates made with the software. Youtube Thumbnail Best Practices Let’s reiterate a few of the major YouTube thumbnail tips and best practices. Don’t be afraid of color but don’t overdo it either. Bright colors are great for thumbnails but avoid blinding bright colors Include effects, as an example add shadows to your headlines to make them stand out more. Keep your text short… space is welcoming even within thumbnails Choose large bold or thick fonts. Here’s where you want people to see you coming a mile away! As a rule of thumb, a good YouTube video thumbnail title should take up about 1/3 of your visual. Click To Tweet The Best Youtube Thumbnail Examples Below are a few thumbnail examples. Here are a few thumbnails I made using a super simple software app. Grab your templates here! I find it easier to start from templates. Using templates is like building a house. You can start with no plans, or you use a plan or blueprint. It all depends on your level of expertise and or money. Or, you can have them made as well… or you can learn to make your own YT thumbnails. Learn to make your own thumbnails in 3-easy steps. I’ve done all the above, including outsourcing to Fiverr and Upwork … I’ve used both companies. Outsourcing can get expensive and time-consuming. Many times, 3rd-party companies start off with an introductory price I.e., $5.00, and end up with the actual price $50. 00..… and if you prefer the top-rated freelancer, you’ll have to wait. Then all the emailing back and forth, waiting for an email reply isn’t desirable. (Especially if you’re impatient like me…😊 Need thumbnails, check here made in the USA, set prices- complete within 24/48 hrs. . Click To Tweet Youtube Video Tips There are always known and unknown methods to any madness and learning how to make Youtube thumbnails and rank them is no different. Remember the pretty billboard in the desert slogan?... you want to make certain that you factor in these 10 key components, to give yourself a fighting chance. Here are the most important factors: Title– Begin your title with your keyword or keyword phrase. Description- insert your keyword (phrase) into your description at the beginning of your description. Addedly include all your related keywords in sentences. But remember Google/YT doesn’t allow keyword stuffing. (anymore) Add Tags: Add relevant keywords or tags. Google says that tags don’t affect your rankings but that’s not what’s being demonstrated. So, since it’s free you may want to include tags. Include an emoji: add an emoji or two within your description headline, this helps to break up the monotonous look and adds color. Include Hashtags: the jury is still out regarding hashtags but it’s heavily recommended for YT shorts. And again, many of the top YouTubers still use them. Add related Videos: if you have related videos (a playlist) add them. Include a CTA: within your video include a call-t0-action (CTA). Your visitors won’t know exactly what you want them to do unless you tell them. Fast-Paced: keep a steady pace. Today’s customers require microwave solutions. So, keep it moving, bear in mind our clients also watch videos to be edutaining as well. Video Length: make your video as long or as short as needed. The key point is to be concise and straightforward, but thorough. Video Quality: Youtube doesn’t reward poorly created videos either do your visitors. Upload your videos using the highest possible quality videos. Keep in mind the higher the value the longer it will take to download to youtube. Conclusion: If you want to create aesthetically pleasing and stunning thumbnails as mentioned above, there are two ways you start. You can custom build or use templates. Personally, I use templates which saves time, hence money. Below is the link to the YouTube thumbnail app that I use to create all my YouTube thumbnails. Oh... the great news is that you can use it to make thumbnails for all your other social media platforms as well. 🐱🏍🐱🏍 Here's what you need to Make Engaging- Attention-Grabbing Templates: Templates included in YT software app Images free or paid, click here for cheap images Lastly, by learning to use one software or app you’ll get proficient quicker. Hence, creating your thumbnail faster. Once I stopped trying to use 12 thousand different apps,(exaggeration)😜😜 the process became a lot easier. I’m now able to create decent-looking thumbnails in 5 minutes or less. But to be honest, creating a good thumbnail is just part of the equation. Next, you’ll have to learn what works and what doesn’t, which images, text, font, colors, etc. that draws the most views and Attention. But at least, you’re well on your way, to kicking Butt!!!!... 5 minutes at a time. Now it's time to hear from you> Did you find this article helpful? Please leave your comments Now! Most Popular Articles 51 Amazing Ways to Grow your Email List TikTok Bio Ideas How to Make your Own Website Email Marketing for Beginners How to Market your Business on Google How to Make your Own YouTube VideoThumbnails