7 YouTube Thumbnail Tips to Increase Your Video's Click-Through Rate

How do you make sure people watch your videos? If you own a YouTube channel or another social media account, you have noticed that content is useless if no one clicks. Your thumbnail tells viewers what they can expect to see in the video and makes them want to watch. Give them a reason to watch by making your thumbnails exciting and engaging. We'll lay out the best YouTube thumbnail tips to help you increase your viewership.

Keep it short and simple. The thumbnail is your unique chance to catch viewers' attention. Stick to basics: an image and a few words. If you have more to say than what can be shown in your thumbnail, you may want to consider using it for the introduction.

Make sure the thumbnail reflects what happens in your video. There are different rules for thumbnails depending on what type of video you are creating and where you plan to post it. Your content can be matched to the interests of those watching on YouTube or Facebook, which could lead to more views if your video is immediately relevant.

Clarity, Consistency, and Intrigue. The thumbnail should be easy to read, consistent with the brand, and encourage the viewer to click on the video to find out what happens next.

To make the best thumbnail for your video, you must use a compelling image. This can be any number of things: a still from your video, an image relevant to what you're talking about in your video (a product or service), or just something that's eye-catching and makes people want to click on it!

You should use high-resolution images if you want them to look good when scaled down by YouTube and make it easier for viewers to learn what they'll be getting into when they click on the thumbnail. Additionally, it helps if the image has been cropped specifically for this purpose - removing unnecessary portions can avoid awkwardness.

The font you choose will be the first thing viewers notice when they see your video. So what is the best font color for YouTube thumbnails? Make sure it's bold and easy to read so they immediately get the message you want them to see. I recommend pairing a contrasting background with your font choice. Doing this makes things stand out even more and more likely to draw attention without being distracting.

The next step is to set a focal point in your thumbnail. The focal point is the first thing viewers look at; it should be an object or element that will attract their attention. In some cases, this will be a person or animal; in others, it could be an interesting background detail or an item of clothing.

Photoshop's Quick Selection Tool (W) can remove background objects from your image. Use this tool to reduce the complexity of your image. By doing this, you can select foreground objects without selecting their backgrounds. If you're filming on location and there are distractions behind your subject, like buildings or trees, you can pick and remove them with this tool.

Your focal point should also match what's written in your video title—this ensures that any keywords used appear prominently and clearly within both titles and thumbnails. Your goal here should always be clarity. When one looks at either of these two things separately, one should understand what each word means.

There is no rule for what colors work best together. Still, it would be best if you generally tried to use bright, high-contrast colors that complement each other. For example, if your thumbnail has a lot of blue, it's probably not a good idea to have some orange text. On the other hand, if you're using green as your primary background color, red text will look good against it and offer a holiday theme. You can also use this technique when choosing fonts for the video title and subtitle text: If the background is white, try using black text. The best background color for YouTube thumbnails contrasts with the other elements in the image.

You want your thumbnail to be readable on any device. That means ensuring it's not so small that it looks pixelated or unclear, but also not so large that the text is hard to read or the image gets distorted.

Here are some YouTube thumbnail tips to increase the click-through rate of your videos.

Make sure it's crisp and easy to read! Use a template from Canva (or another similar site or program), and make sure you choose a font size that works well at that size. You can find this information by checking out YouTube's official guidelines.

Include only the essentials.

Don't include too much text, and make sure it's readable.

Don't include irrelevant information, like what you ate for lunch or where you went last weekend.

Don't overdo it with images, especially if they're small and hard to read (which can happen if your thumbnail is too busy). If an image or two makes sense, that's fine! But don't use an image in place of text—unless they're needed, like a logo or profile shot of yourself or someone else relevant to your content.

Testing different thumbnails is a crucial step in ensuring that your video gets the maximum number of views. A well-designed thumbnail can be the difference between a viewer clicking on your video or skipping it. By creating multiple thumbnails and analyzing the performance of each one, you can determine which design is most effective in catching people's attention and driving clicks.

This process is called A/B testing and it involves showing two different thumbnails to two groups of viewers and comparing the results. This way, you can make informed decisions about which design elements to include in your future thumbnails. By continuously testing and optimizing your thumbnails, you can maximize the visibility and engagement of your videos on YouTube.

Your thumbnail is the first thing your audience sees, so it will determine whether they watch your video. It needs to be exciting and enticing! Try our tips today or contact partners@aviewint.com to have it made for you.