Create awesome YouTube thumbnails for your videos

YouTube thumbnails are essential when it comes to branding your business and creating a personal brand. This YouTube thumbnail tutorial will show you how you can update your custom YouTube thumbnail so you can create awesome YouTube thumbnails for your videos.

Create awesome YouTube thumbnails for your videos

I’m going to go over how to brand your YouTube thumbnails. If you’ve been watching my videos these past few weeks, you’ll notice that I’ve been repeating over and over about how important branding is.

That’s because I want you to create recognition and authority. Now, we’re going to extend that to your YouTube thumbnails. If you’re not convinced on branding and don’t use custom thumbnails, then let me give you a fact:

According to YouTube, 90% of the best-performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails.

When it comes to creating awesome YouTube thumbnails for your videos, KEEP IT SIMPLE!

When you’re designing your YouTube thumbnail, the first thing you have to do is remember to keep it simple. Don’t add too much to your thumbnail. Most viewers just glance at your thumbnail to see if it’s what they’re searching for. That means you don’t have to add too much to the thumbnail. I mean it has to be eye-catching, but it doesn’t have to be misleading or too flashy. It just has to have the most important information in the shortest way possible.

It just has to have the most important information in the shortest way possible.

So a short catchy title, less than 5 words, is the best. Like if you’re creating a video on ab exercises, then you can name your video something like ‘Flat abs in 5 minutes’. I would love to get flat abs in 5 minutes.

Keep it consistent

Remember, you’re trying to build brand recognition. That means, use your brand elements in your thumbnail. Make sure to use your brand colors, your fonts, and other brand elements.

Your face is your moneymaker

Like I mentioned a few weeks ago about branding your channel art, if you’re building a personal brand, then add your face to your YouTube thumbnails. Get people used to seeing your face so they can know who you are.

You can either take a picture or pull a still from your video. I like to pose for a few seconds at the beginning of filming so I can use that as my thumbnail later. I try to do at least 5 different poses so that I’ll have a variety to choose from.