

The ideal resolution is 1280 x 720, with a minimum width of 640 pixels.So, how do you create high converting, custom thumbnails for your videos? What are the characteristics of a great YouTube thumbnail?įirst up are the technical requirements of a YouTube thumbnail: The automatically generated thumbnails leave out the ability to create branded, informative, and eye-catching calls-to-action that all of your competitors are using. However, using YouTube’s automated thumbnails limits your pot to create something even more compelling. After all, they’re stills from your video, so if you’ve made a great video, your thumbnails should look good, too.

If you already have some experience uploading videos to YouTube, you’ll already know that when you upload a video, YouTube automatically produces three thumbnails for you to choose from. Therefore, your YouTube thumbnails aren’t just competing with other YouTube videos, but with every other video online! How to make a high-converting YouTube thumbnail

If a search engine returns video content for a search query, and your video is a top result, the thumbnail is what the user will see. What’s more, your thumbnail might not only be seen on YouTube. Studies have also suggested that compelling thumbnails can increase YouTube engagement by 154% among women and 64% among men. If there's a lot of similarly titled content for a specific search term, your thumbnail might be the deciding factor as to whether someone watches your video. With the video title, the thumbnail acts as the primary driver of clicks and views. When you're using YouTube, thumbnails are the images that you see when scrolling through a search result or your recommended channels and subscriptions.
