A thumbnail is a static image that shows up when you search for videos on youtube. YouTube has given creators the option to create their own custom thumbnail images and put them on top of their videos. Adding custom thumbnails is EXTREMELY important when trying to optimize your YouTube Channel.
Here are the benefits and tips when creating custom thumbnails and placing them on your videos:
- Your video will stand out from the rest if your thumbnail is bright and eye catching.
- Your video will become more “Clickable” due to the fact that the viewer is attracted to the thumbnail image.
- Adding similar custom thumbnails to videos that are part of a series allow you to easily differentiate videos and the viewer will know what the next video in the series is.
In order to add a custom thumbnail to your videos there are a couple places where you can do it.
The first location is when you are uploading a video you will see the custom thumbnail option at the bottom of the upload screen, and the second is when you are finished uploading your video and then you go back in to edit the video.
By clicking on the custom thumbnail link you will now have the option to upload the custom thumbnail from your computer.
When it comes to creating a custom thumbnail, there are a number of great software tools. Here are the ones that I have used and all of them are various prices BUT all of them can get the job done.
*** Take note that if you want your thumbnail to look the best that it can you need to create a 1920X1080 (Pixel) size image. This will have the best effect and will look the best due to YouTube’s max default image size.
