YouTube Thumbnail

Apr 22, 2023

YouTube thumbnails are sprinkled all over YouTube as sort of preview images of the videos. Creators on YouTube carefully choose the perfect custom thumbnail for their creative content; many of them spend hours crafting the best possible image.

YouTube Thumbnail Definition & Meaning

A YouTube thumbnail is an image that serves as a preview of a YouTube video and helps set the audience’s expectations as they access the content.

YouTube thumbnails are snapshots of YouTube videos or custom images that YouTube creators use to entice people to view their uploads.

What Is a YouTube Thumbnail?

A YouTube thumbnail offers a quick glance at a small portion of the content of a YouTube video. Along with the video’s title, the thumbnail catches the attention of the audience and encourages them to click the video. In addition, a thumbnail helps a video to be recognized by the YouTube algorithm.

10 Types of YouTube Thumbnails

Sports YouTube Thumbnail

YouTube channels that cover sports events have some of the best sports YouTube thumbnails on the platform. Their thumbnails have illustrations of sports balls, sports club logos, and other stuff related to sports. Other sports thumbnails include information about the sports event such as the date, time, venue, and participating teams.

Influencer YouTube Thumbnail

Online influencers spend a lot of their time creating their high-quality influencer YouTube thumbnails. Their thumbnails have unique aesthetics that are in line with their brand and personality. Influencer thumbnails both serve as preview images to videos and invitations for YouTube users to subscribe to the channel.

Food Blogger YouTube Thumbnail

Food blogger YouTube thumbnails feature mouthwatering snapshots of delicious dishes and thirst-quenching drinks. Food bloggers smartly use such thumbnails to lure viewers to their content and boost their viewerships by a mile. Their thumbnails have simple themes and simple designs; it’s the elegant photographs of the dishes that glorify them.

Fitness YouTube Thumbnail

Fitness YouTube channels have hundreds or thousands of Fitness YouTube thumbnails to show for. They showcase stunning images of fitness trainers and trainees performing various exercises and fitness poses. Fitness influencers design their YouTube thumbnails to encourage their viewers to not only click their videos but also start an active lifestyle.

Restaurant YouTube Thumbnail

Some restaurant owners promote their businesses on YouTube; hence the existence of professional restaurant YouTube thumbnails. Their thumbnails feature their business icons and amazing photos of some of the best dishes on their menu. Restaurant YouTube thumbnails perfectly complement food videos on YouTube and effectively catch the attention of foodies.

Fashion YouTube Thumbnail

Fashion YouTube thumbnails have elegant layouts and flawlessly present the stylish brand of online fashion influencers. Their design, layout, and aesthetics appeal to modern audiences, especially those who are passionate about fashion clothing items. Fashion YouTube thumbnails are works of art and it takes the talent of an expert graphic editor to create them.

Shopping YouTube Thumbnail

A lot of YouTubers occasionally vlog their shopping activities to share them with their followers and subscribers. They upload their vlogs and complement them with fancy shopping YouTube thumbnails. The outline of their thumbnails features snapshots of their shopping videos and video title text with artistic fonts.

Travel YouTube Thumbnail

Travel YouTube thumbnails are all over YouTube thanks to the content of travel vloggers. The general audience on YouTube is particularly enamored by their thumbnails because they display amazing photos of tourist spots, landmarks, beaches, and the outdoors. A travel video with a well-made travel thumbnail is sure to rake in millions of views.

Christmas YouTube Thumbnail

During the Yuletide season, YouTube is full of Christmas-themed videos each partnered with its own beautiful Christmas YouTube thumbnails. Such thumbnails embody the spirit of Christmas with their clipart of Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Santa Clause, snowflakes, and presents. They’re the perfect kind of thumbnails for YouTube content creators looking to upload content celebrating the best season of the year.

YouTube Gaming Thumbnail

YouTube is dominated by gaming channels such as Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, and TheRadBrad which contribute countless gaming videos on a weekly basis. Their videos alone are appealing but what lures audiences to them are their YouTube gaming thumbnails filled with stills of the latest gameplay footage. Gaming thumbnails effectively stir excitement among gamers, especially if they’re showcasing images of a newly-released AAA game.

YouTube Thumbnail Uses, Purpose, Importance

YouTube thumbnails aren’t there just for show and to add aesthetic value to YouTube videos. They’re necessary for increasing views and helping channels obtain more subscribers.

Preview of Videos

The most known function of YouTube thumbnails is that they serve as previews of videos. They show snapshots of the video and include text that provides context about what to expect in the content. In a way, thumbnails are like movie posters and the movie they’re promoting is a YouTube video.

Increase Clicks and Views

YouTube videos without custom-made thumbnails don’t look appealing, and as a result, they won’t earn that many views. On the other hand, videos with witty and engaging thumbnails can draw in countless clicks and rake in thousands or even millions of views. Custom thumbnails give the impression that a video is artistically and professionally made which attracts the audience.

Earn the Favor of the YouTube Algorithm

The YouTube algorithm tends to favor videos with catchy thumbnails and puts them on the suggestion list to be seen by a broader audience. This is one of the major reasons why YouTubers take time to create their thumbnails before publishing their content. They aim for their videos to reach not just their subscribers but virtually all of YouTube.

Establish a Video’s Brand

The customized design of a YouTube thumbnail helps establish the YouTube channel’s brand in the video. It gives the video an identity as it’s displayed on the suggestion lists or on the search results. It helps a video to be easily recognized as a work made by a specific content creator which can boost its viewership.

Make Videos Easy to Remember

Videos with excellent thumbnails are easier to remember for viewers. So if ever they wish to rewatch them soon, they can easily find them again. Music videos, in particular, tend to be rewatched by viewers multiple times which is why it’s important that they have fantastic thumbnails.

What’s in a YouTube Thumbnail? Parts?

Video Snapshots

Video snapshots are the most attention-grabbing component of YouTube thumbnails. They’re typically arranged in the center of a thumbnail like a collage and they show what to expect in the video. For some viewers, watching the snapshots alone is enough to make them click on the video.

Title Text

As the name suggests, this part of a YouTube thumbnail shows the title of the YouTube Video. It’s the most recognizable text in a thumbnail because of its enlarged font size and special font style. The title text is often positioned on the sides of the thumbnail next to the borders, not usually in the center so it doesn’t overlap with the snapshots.

Background

The background of YouTube thumbnails is typically overlooked by the viewers but they’re important to the design. The right background can optimize the quality of a thumbnail and glorify the text, images, and other graphics attached to it. The background can be any plain color or an illustration.

Clipart

Some thumbnails have clipart to contribute to the aesthetics and help implement the channel’s branding to the video. Clipart objects are easy to insert using any user-friendly YouTube thumbnail creator/editor app.

How to Design a YouTube Thumbnail

1. Follow the standard YouTube thumbnail size.

2. Identify the type of YouTube thumbnail that’s best for your video.

3. Select only the best YouTube Thumbnail Templates.

4. Personalize the thumbnail template by uploading your snapshots and writing the video title.

5. Add more clipart or digital images to the thumbnail.

6. Save and upload your custom YouTube thumbnail along with your video.

YouTube Thumbnail vs. Background

A YouTube thumbnail is an image in YouTube’s suggestion list or search results that serve as a preview of a video’s content.

A background is a color or the vista that you can see on the backdrop of a photograph, an illustration, a poster, or any other hand-made/digital artwork.

What’s the Difference Between a YouTube Thumbnail, a Wallpaper, and a Theme?

YouTube thumbnails are clickable preview images of YouTube videos that display snapshots and text that promote their content.

Wallpapers are digital illustrations commonly used as desktop backgrounds, home screen backgrounds on mobile devices, and lock screen backgrounds; they depict memes, people, places, and other objects of interest.

Themes are the general motif or the universal design of an artwork, a digital platform, or an event venue.

YouTube Thumbnail Size

A YouTube thumbnail will not achieve the quality it needs if it’s not sized right. With that said, it’s important for YouTube content creators the follow the standard YouTube thumbnail size.

• 1280 x 720 pixels

YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples

It’s easy to mistakingly create a thumbnail that looks similar to other thumbnails on YouTube. What’s even more challenging is crafting a unique and ingenious thumbnail that stands outs. Thankfully, there are plenty of YouTube thumbnail ideas that anyone can get inspiration from.

• Save the Date YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Menu YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• YouTube Series Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• YouTube Live Stream Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Art Tips YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Yoga Poses YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Makeup YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Cooking Guide YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Furniture Trends YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples
• Corporate Business YouTube Thumbnail Ideas and Examples

YouTube Thumbnail FAQs