We all know that the first impression is crucial, but do you ever wonder why it is crucial? It is important to stick your audience to your video amongst millions of videos. Here is why thumbnail is important and plays a vital role to grab the attention of the audience.
When someone experiences something in a series or sequence, there is a high probability that they tend to remember the first thing more. Which signifies the 1st impression lasts longer than any other moment.
In the same way, whenever we are searching anything on YouTube, our all attention is captured by the thumbnail of the video. Let’s understand why thumbnail is important for YouTube video promotion.
Why Thumbnail Matters?
A thumbnail is a brief introduction that acts as a sneak peek for our video.
So it’s become important to optimise the thumbnail. Because it shows the preview of a YouTube video and it tries to encourage viewers to click it which means it increases CTR.
1. A Thumbnail Allows Us To Convey A Summary Of Our Video.
In this modern era, if you think about new generations’ behaviour, they do not have patience. Everything they want immediately. Whether it is food or even a little information, we want it as soon as possible.
Whenever we are searching for anything, such as informational videos or any entertaining videos on YouTube, thumbnails play an important role here. It gives a quick introduction of our video to searchers.
If you follow all the guidelines such as thumbnail optimisation, title optimisation and hashtag strategy, then you can go viral on YouTube.
2. It Also Works Well For Viewers Too.
Whenever we are searching on YouTube, we see the thumbnail first. We click on the video after we are convinced by the thumbnail. If you add relevant text in your thumbnail then it becomes easy for the viewer to choose it.
So it is essential to optimise thumbnails because this is the first thing that users will interact with. If you are planning to reach your target audience, you must understand the importance of thumbnails.
3. Thumbnails Add Professionalism To Your Video.
YouTube offers a lot of videos when its users utilize the search option. It is important to stand out the most surrounding that pile of videos. This can be achieved by using catchy or attractive thumbnails. Thumbnail plays an important role in real YouTube video promotion. It is important to note that thumbnails are the very first thing users tend to notice, and second being the caption.
Note: You can search videos on YouTube and check out thumbnails used by other YouTubers, then create a thumbnail that would stand out the most in a good way. Don’t overdo it, the result may be the very opposite.
If we do not create thumbnails for video. Then it will choose a thumbnail by default which will not look professional because it chooses from a different type of still images of our video. It will not look attractive and people tend to avoid it. Therefore, a professional thumbnail plays an important role to get more views on YouTube videos.
4. It Helps To Increase View Count In Youtube Channel
After the YouTube video title, thumbnails are the best tactic to catch users’ attention.
We all are aware of how crucial YouTube views are. If you want to gain real YouTube views in a legitimate way then thumbnail optimization is one of the best ways.
How To Make A Good Thumbnail
Creating an eyecatching thumbnail is quite simple. Here are 8 tips to create an attractive thumbnail which in turn helps you to grow as a YouTuber:
1. Add Title Text In Thumbnails
Optimising a YouTube title is the most important factor because it summarises what the entire video is all about.
Adding a title in the thumbnail will be beneficial for us because the thumbnail is the first thing which people see while searching. If people can get a glimpse of the video before they watch it, they will have a better idea of what it is about and are more likely to click on it. Therefore, including a title in the thumbnail is a good practice.
For example, if you want to promote music on YouTube, you should write your song name on a thumbnail. If you are a famous musician, then you can add your name too.
2. Font Style Should Be Appealing
We should choose a font style wisely. A font makes text attractive and appealing. The correct selection of fonts helps to grab the attention of viewers.
You should always use bold and clear text. Attractive text makes readers understand the text’s information.
If you are creating multiple videos on YouTube and those are interconnected to each other then you should use the same font style, colour and size. Or if you want to create a brand then also you can use the same style font. It helps people to remember you and this way you can promote your video with ease.
3. Add A Picture Of The Face In Thumbnail
We should always add an image of a face in a thumbnail. Sometimes words do not work but our expression does.
We can convince viewers to click on videos with the help of facial expressions. We can show our emotions such as our excitement, happiness, anger, surprise and many more.
There is a psychological reason behind displaying the face image in a thumbnail. It builds the emotional connection between you and your viewers. It makes your video more approachable and genuine.
4. Use Bright Colour In Background
Using dazzling and bright colours in the background can help you make strong connections with your viewers. Bright colours help to grab attention from viewers. In fact, there is only one objective behind creating thumbnails, which is to encourage people to click on our video. And this is why thumnail is important.
In this case, an attractive background plays a vital role. You can use bright red, yellow, orange, pink, and many more. You should make a balance between background colour and text colour. Background and text colours must compliment each other.
5. Design It For Mobiles Too
As we all experience, mobile phones are more handy and compact, so most people switch to mobile phones. Let me guess you are also reading this article on your phone.
There is a high chance that we will receive more than half our reactions from mobile devices. So it becomes important to create a thumbnail according to the small screen. Presence on all screens will enable you to promote your YouTube channel substantially.
The perfect thumbnail size is 1280x720 and your image format should be JPG or PNG.
6. Include A Call To Action Text
Call to action text makes it simple for your YouTube channel to grab attention from users, which ultimately convinces the users, and it also leads to increase in traffic. It doesn’t matter to which niche you belong; the fact is that call to action phrases always work.
A call to action phrase should be short and catchy. It tries to provoke viewers to take desired actions. Watch now, learn now, check right away is an example of a call to action phrase.
7. Honesty matters
Suppose people get little information from your thumbnail and they are convinced to click on it. If they do not get desired information, this will make them feel disappointed.
This disappointment is not good for you and your YouTube channel. It leads to an increased bounce rate. An ideal thumbnail should show a teaser of your video. If your bounce rate is high, then YouTube also stops showing your videos to your potential viewers. So it’s better to be honest and provide correct information in a thumbnail.
If you start being honest with your viewers, it will help you to increase your views, watch time, and subscribers.
8. Competitor Analysis Is Important
If you are a beginner and confused, do not get any ideas about how to create thumbnails, it might be a difficult task for you.
In this case, you should do competitor analysis so you will have basic information about them, such as; title, background colour, and font style, these will help you to create your own customised thumbnail.
Conclusion
Thumbnails play an important role to increase your CTR (click through rate). Optimising thumbnails will never be outdated. Good thumbnail helps to gain viewers’ attention. Creators have a chance to convey what a video is about. If you optimise the thumbnail properly then there is a high chance to increase views on video and in this way you can quickly achieve the milestone of 1000 subscribers. I hope this article helps you out.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. How Do I Know If A Thumbnail Is Good?
The success of your videos depends on the thumbnail. So you should create an attractive thumbnail for each video, but the question arises: how do you know if your thumbnail really works or not? There are some ways you can test your thumbnail and you can find whether your thumbnail works or not.
You can use the Adobe Thumbnail maker to create custom thumbnails for free. You can upload two or three variations of the thumbnail.
Adobe gives you a number of creative options to create attractive thumbnails. You can create, save and reuse whenever required in your YouTube videos. There are plenty of templates you can choose from to create your own thumbnails. You can also design the thumbnails with the help of their design library. This method is based on click through rate (CTR), impression, and watch time.
You can also use YouTube analytics to track real-time data. Upload a video, and monitor it for a couple of days. If that does not work, then try another thumbnail. Creating best thumbnail is the key to promote YouTube video.
2. Which Is The Best App For Thumbnail Creations?
If you do not have graphic design skills but want to create a thumbnail professionally, then one of the easiest ways is to use a thumbnail making tool. There are various tools, but we recommend the best, which are as follows.
1. Canva
2. Adobe Spark Post
3. PixelLab
4. Fotor Photo Editor
3. What Kind Of Thumbnail Gets The Most Clicks?
I know you want to get a lot of clicks. For that, you need to make your thumbnail engaging. So when people scroll and suddenly they get a glimpse of your video content through a thumbnail, if your content is related to their query, then there is a high chance that they will click on your video. Now you will ask how to make a thumbnail engaging.
- You should add high quality images.
- Add relevant text to the thumbnail
- Add the logo of your brand.
- Use vibrant colours.
Pro Tips
- Ideal thumbnail size is 1280x720 pixel
- Image format should be in jpg, GIF or PNG
- Always go for custom thumbnail
- Use contrasting colour in background
- Always write in bold text
- Do not copy from others
- Use thumbnail makers app