YouTube thumbnails are crucial for capturing viewers’ attention and encouraging them to watch your video. One study found that a boring or poor-quality thumbnail can stop people from even considering watching the video.

A well-designed thumbnail can boost your videos’ views, increase your engagement, and even improve your channel’s visibility. This tutorial will show you how to design eye-catching YouTube thumbnails using a template.

Designing Thumbnails

Thumbnails are like signposts that tell viewers what to expect from a video. They must be compelling and capture the energy of the content while adhering to YouTube’s guidelines on dimensions, text size, and font type. The best thumbnails are consistent, with a theme that unites them with a recognizable logo or other visual element. They should also make use of contrasting colors and clear typography to ensure visibility at all screen sizes.

The right visuals can be the difference between a video that gets watched and one that’s ignored. But creating effective thumbnails requires an eye for design and Photoshop skills most part-time creators don’t have. Enter video thumbnail maker apps that provide the perfect solution for fast and easy creation of high-quality thumbnails. With templates, images, graphics, fonts and more, you can make your own video thumbnail in minutes and download it to upload to YouTube. The app can even resize your designs for optimal performance on every platform.

Layouts

Creating an engaging thumbnail that draws viewers in requires careful layout planning. You want to ensure that the most important information — whether it’s a face, product or text hook — is visible and clearly displayed. Some creators find success with asymmetrical or diagonal compositions, while others go for more playful images that reflect the video’s energy.

Consider using a tool that offers a variety of layout options and customizable elements. This allows you to explore the potential of different designs, making it easier to find one that works for your YouTube video thumbnails. Additionally, many of these tools integrate analytics, allowing you to track the performance of your thumbnails and improve them over time. This can help you drive more engagement and click-through rates for your videos. vidIQ is a great example of a thumbnail generator that incorporates these features. It analyzes your video content and recommends visuals and layouts that resonate with your audience. Discover more at YouTube thumbnails generator!

Images

A YouTube thumbnail should grab viewers’ attention, but it also needs to be respectful of their privacy and copyright. Use only photos or graphics you own or have permission to use.

Consider using a bold text style, with contrasting colors, to make the message of your video clear at a glance. Some creators find success with asymmetrical layouts or diagonal compositions. Others experiment with using a mix of images and text, or even playful fonts like giant emojis.

Remember that it’s often a matter of trial and error. Create multiple options for each video and analyze click-through rates to determine which designs perform best. Then, try to stick with those aesthetics. If you’re able to do so, your videos will stand out from the crowd and grow more quickly.

Text

A high-quality video thumbnail is the first thing people see and judge before deciding to watch your content. This is why it’s crucial to make sure the thumbnail clearly conveys what your video is all about, and if it’s worth their time.

Use a YouTube thumbnail maker to create a professional, attention-grabbing video cover. Choose a template and customize its photos, icons, shapes, lines, fonts and colors to match your vision. You can also add engaging data widgets like percentage radials and charts to visually demonstrate numbers and stats.

With Snappa, you can design a YouTube thumbnail that’s perfectly optimized for clicks. We have a library of professionally-designed thumbnail templates that are ready to be used. Our enticing YouTube thumbnail designs are not only for YouTube, but you can use them for social media posts, blog images, infographics, and display ads. Plus, all photos and graphics are licensed for commercial use, so you can feel free to upload them to your design.