Videos - Do you use personalized thumbnails?
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Thumbnails are a great way of telling your (potential) viewers what your video is about and why they should watch it. It is therefore important that these stand out from the others.
A thumbnail can draw attention by:
- Using bright colors and avoiding using the YouTube colors (white, black, red) so you don’t blend in
- Using big bold titles (30 characters maximum, remember a thumbnail is small)
- Feature your main keyword in the title
YouTube offers resources to create better custom thumbnails including image size and resolution, policies, etc.
Exception: Customized thumbnails are not required for unlisted videos. Since these videos are intended for a specific audience and won't appear in public search results or recommendations, the default auto-generated thumbnail is sufficient to save time and resources.
Creating a visual identity
Establishing a unique visual style for thumbnails is great for grouping similar videos together and encouraging click-throughs. This has the added benefit of increasing brand recognition and strengthening the connection between grouped content.
❌ Figure: Bad example - Bad example - Automatically generated thumbnails are not engaging and inconsistent
✅ Figure: Good example - Good example - Consistent thumbnail styles elevate branding and helps viewers identify similar content