5 Tips to Optimize your YouTube Thumbnails

As the editor for the ONU Film Club, it is my responsibility to upload our content to YouTube with all necessary aspects added for exposure and search engine optimization. This includes editing the video, writing the description, adding tags, changing any settings and my personal favorite- creating the thumbnail. 

If you think of YouTube as a video library, the thumbnail is the equivalent to a book cover. This means that no matter how frequently you hear the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” judging the thumbnail is exactly what you will do. It profoundly influences the decision on whether you watch or don’t watch a video. With a year of experience now under my belt, and many tips and tricks thrown at me, here are five tips to optimize your YouTube thumbnails.

1. Take Advantage of Your Resources

There are so many different ways to create a YouTube thumbnail, but there are some sites that make it easier, Canva.com is one of these resources. It even includes the right dimensions for a thumbnail with hundreds of templates and graphics to choose from to set your channel aesthetic. Canva is free to use, but some graphics require a dollar per use. I use this every time I create a new thumbnail.

2. Make Them Pop!

If you’re in a bookstore, it is unlikely that you will go for the book with the solid color. Unless the title is what catches your eye, it is cover art that makes you think a book may be interesting. What makes a thumbnail pop is font combined with large text, vivid colors and a large or cutout visual. Take these for example:

3. Words Matter

If you are going to put text in a thumbnail- keep it short. It should not have more than eight to ten words. This is because a thumbnail is generally fairly small in size on a user’s screen. So keep it brief, especially if the text is different from the title of your video. 

4. Name it

This isn’t entirely a tip for a thumbnail, but it is important for search engine optimization. So always name your thumbnail image file the same as the title of your video! And remember: you can’t upload an image over two megabytes.

5. Pick PNG over JPG

Quality is everything. Having YouTube thumbnails makes your channel look professional and important, don’t ruin that with a very pixelated thumbnail. At the very least, if you must resort to a JPEG, make sure your image dimensions are 1280 by 720 pixels.

These tips may seem obvious, but they are also very important and easy to get wrong. So don't get too stumped! With practice, you will know what style of thumbnail attracts the audience you want and they will come running.