"In 2024, How to Size Your Videos  YouTube's Best Practices Unveiled"

"In 2024, How to Size Your Videos YouTube's Best Practices Unveiled"

Joseph Lv13

How to Size Your Videos: YouTube’s Best Practices Unveiled

Best YouTube Thumbnail Size: How to Make a Thumbnail for YouTube in 2024

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You must have heard the phrase, Never judge a book by its cover. But actually, we do judge everything by its cover. The same is the case with Youtube videos. No matter how good the content of your video is if you are unable to convey that with the thumbnail of your video, it will not bring any good to your channel. If you are looking forward to growing your channel and attracting more viewers, then having an appealing and eye-catching thumbnail is one of the most important factors. There are several things to be considered while creating a custom thumbnail if you want to make your videos look stunning and engaging. By following all these points, you can increase the chances of your channel’s growth.


In this article, we have 5 chapters for you:


Best YouTube Thumbnail Size

Being a content creator, you never know which device is being used by the viewer to watch your videos. It can be a smartphone, laptop, pc, or smart TV. It is very important to keep all these devices in mind while choosing a Youtube thumbnail size. For the best possible results, consider the following points while making a thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

  • To cover all the devices perfectly, set the thumbnail resolution to 1280x720
  • Save the thumbnail in JPG, GIF, or PNG format
  • Try not to cross the 2MB limit
  • Make sure to use a 16:9 aspect ratio for perfect results throughout the devices

youtube-thumbnail-size


How Important is a Custom Thumbnail?

Custom Thumbnail is a tool through which the viewers can understand everything about a video. It tells the viewers what to expect from a video, what not to expect, and what the video is all about. no matter if you create amazing content, if the thumbnail is not good enough to covey that to the viewers, all your hard work will be of no use and will not bring any good to your channel and its growth. According to Google ,90% of best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. It shows the importance of custom thumbnails.

piechart-importance-of-custom-thumbnail.png


Best Practice From Experiences

Now, since we know the importance of having a custom thumbnail, it is important to know how to make a thumbnail for Youtube look perfect, appealing, and eye-catching at the same time. There are some points to be considered while creating a thumbnail for Youtube. We will provide you with the best practices that we have learned throughout our journey of using Youtube and growing it from zero.

7 best practices can help you make your Youtube thumbnail stand out from the crowd and make its way out.

  1. Show your face

In a world full of machines and computers, people love to listen and interact with people instead of computer-generated voices and a voice without a face. Showing your face on a Youtube thumbnail makes it more appealing to users to click and listen to the person who is being shown in the thumbnail. Humans are more inclined towards faces. When there is a human element in a video, it increases its effectiveness. Check out the pics below, which one are you most likely to click through?

comparison-of-showing-face-or-not

  1. Use Simple Fonts

With your face, it is necessary to put some text on your Youtube thumbnail to let viewers know what this video is all about without clicking or watching it. Don’t use fancy fonts on Youtube thumbnail. It makes it hard for the viewers to read and understand what to expect in the video, especially for those watching YouTube on their 5 inches screen smartphone, ultimately decreasing the chances of your video being clicked and watched. I personally recommend you to use give these fonts a go while making YouTube thumbnail.

simple-fonts-recommended

  1. Use Phrases, not sentence

If you have ever noticed, Youtube thumbnails are very small in size, making it hard for viewers to notice any small elements. According to YouTube , more than 70% of Youtube watch time comes from mobile devices. While adding text in a thumbnail, instead of using sentences, make sure to use only words and make them large in size that can easily be noticed on small screens. Summurise your video in no more than 5 words.

piechart-youtube-watchtime-percentage

use-phrases-not-sentences

  1. Put every stuff on left side

When we navigate to a Youtube thumbnail and place the cursor on it, it shows us two icons, “Watch Later” and “Add to Queue,” located on its right size. Come on, you don’t want your beautiful thumbnail that cost you a few hours be covered. To avoid these icons from hiding your important stuff of thumbnail, make sure to put everything on the right side of your thumbnail.

put-stuff-on-left

  1. Have a unique and Consistent style

Try to make all your thumbnails follow the same style. Following the same style for all your Youtube thumbnails will make your channel look unique and all your videos identical. It will be easy for viewers to identify your videos when they see them. It gives your channel a touch of its unique brand.

unique-and-consistent-style

  1. Use elements to grab the attention

To make your Youtube thumbnail more appealing to the viewers, add circles and arrows to grab viewers’ attention to something very important in the video. It will increase the curiosity in the viewers and make them click your videos to learn more.

use-elements-to-grab-attention

  1. Choose the right tool

This whole process seems to be very hectic and time taking, but do you know, you can do everything on just one software? There is no need to edit a video in a different software then make a thumbnail in another software. With Filmora X, you can perform all these tasks on a single platform with so many amazing features. Whether you want to remove the background of your image or add attractive titles to it, Filmora X has got you covered.

  1. Avoid clickbait and irrelevant pics and title

It is one of the old tricks that so many people on Youtube use. It undoubtedly brings you clicks and more views, but once the viewer realizes that you have used irrelevant pictures or texts to attract them**. I**n reality, your video doesn’t contain any information related to it, you are going to lose their trust. They are never going to click on your videos again. Even if you don’t use such a trick anymore. Try to avoid such activities. Avoiding such activities can make your channel grow in the long term. Only use the text and images that are relevant to your content and stick to that.

  1. Choose your preview window wisely

Do you know that Youtube can show a 3-second preview of your video when someone hovers the cursor over it? It is one of the best ways to show the viewers the content of your video even when they don’t click on your video. These three seconds will help them decide whether to click on your video or not. This preview is selected by the system from the first half of your video according to its relevance and similarity with the topic. That’s why it is very important to add related information in the first half of the video, otherwise, Youtube will choose it randomly. If the preview is not selected for two days, it means your video is not eligible for it.

choose-preview-wisely


How to Make a Fortnite Thumbnail Super Fast and Free?

Many of you might be interested in how to make a fortnite thumbnail, so here it is. To make a Fortnite thumbnail for free, we are going to use Filmora X. Filmora X contains all kinds of features and elements that are required for a perfect and eye-catching thumbnail. To get started, make sure to download and install the latest version of Filmora X.

  1. Before we start making Fortnite Thumbnails, we have to take a screenshot of the gameplay. Open Fortnite and go to the Career tab. Here you will find Replays.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step1

  1. It contains all your recent gameplays. We can use it to take a screenshot. If you are using a console, you will find 10 recent gameplays here. But if you are a PC user, you can find the last 100 gameplays. Select the gameplay you want to take a screenshot from.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step2

  1. For our preferred angle, choose “Drone Free Camera” mode from the bottom right corner of the screen. It will allow us to use our preferred angle without any restriction. Choose an angle and take a screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step3

  1. Open Filmora X, make sure to select the 16:9 screen ratio. Import the screenshot that you have taken from Fortnite.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step4

  1. Place it into the timeline to start working on it.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step5

  1. Now to separate the character from the background, go to the Effects. Under effects, you can find a tab named AI Portraits. Click on AI Portrait. Now drag the Human Segmentation and drop it on the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step6

  1. It will ask you to purchase it. But there is no need to do that. Just hit Try It.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step7

  1. This effect will remove the background of your screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step8

  1. Now you can add a background of your choice. You can upload an image or choose a simple color from Filmora’s Media tab and drag it below the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step9

  1. To add text to the screenshot, go to Titles. Here you can find a wide range of different and unique titles to choose from for your Fortnite Thumbnail. Choose any of the titles and place them accordingly.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step10

  1. To make it more attractive, we can add icons and other elements from Filmora’s Element tab. You can also download the stickers from the internet and use them.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step11

  1. After completing the thumbnail, click on the Snapshot icon located below the preview tab of Filmora. Or press “CTRL+ALT+S”. It will save a screenshot into the media panel of Filmora.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step12

  1. Right-click on the screenshot and navigate to “Reveal in Explorer”. It will open the folder that contains all the screenshots taken from Filmora. Now you can use it as a Fortnite Thumbnail.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step13


How to Add a Custom YouTube Thumbnail to Your Video in YouTube

Once you have successfully created a custom thumbnail, you can use it in your videos on Youtube.

  1. Open Youtube Studio and upload your video. While uploading the video, you can see a section named “Thumbnail”. Under this section, click on “Upload Thumbnail”.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step1

  1. Select the thumbnail that you have made. Just like the one Fortnite thumbnail that we have created using Filmora X.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step2

  1. The thumbnail will be uploaded and attached to the video. Now you can process all the settings and publish the video.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step3

Conclusion

Thumbnail is the first thing that helps the viewer decide whether to click on a video or ignore it. Which increases the importance of having a well-structured and attractive thumbnail. By following the above guide, you can make an astonishing and clickable thumbnail in no time. For better and quick results, we recommend you using Filmora X. It allows you to perform all the tasks from video editing to thumbnail creation on a single platform.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You must have heard the phrase, Never judge a book by its cover. But actually, we do judge everything by its cover. The same is the case with Youtube videos. No matter how good the content of your video is if you are unable to convey that with the thumbnail of your video, it will not bring any good to your channel. If you are looking forward to growing your channel and attracting more viewers, then having an appealing and eye-catching thumbnail is one of the most important factors. There are several things to be considered while creating a custom thumbnail if you want to make your videos look stunning and engaging. By following all these points, you can increase the chances of your channel’s growth.


In this article, we have 5 chapters for you:


Best YouTube Thumbnail Size

Being a content creator, you never know which device is being used by the viewer to watch your videos. It can be a smartphone, laptop, pc, or smart TV. It is very important to keep all these devices in mind while choosing a Youtube thumbnail size. For the best possible results, consider the following points while making a thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

  • To cover all the devices perfectly, set the thumbnail resolution to 1280x720
  • Save the thumbnail in JPG, GIF, or PNG format
  • Try not to cross the 2MB limit
  • Make sure to use a 16:9 aspect ratio for perfect results throughout the devices

youtube-thumbnail-size


How Important is a Custom Thumbnail?

Custom Thumbnail is a tool through which the viewers can understand everything about a video. It tells the viewers what to expect from a video, what not to expect, and what the video is all about. no matter if you create amazing content, if the thumbnail is not good enough to covey that to the viewers, all your hard work will be of no use and will not bring any good to your channel and its growth. According to Google ,90% of best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. It shows the importance of custom thumbnails.

piechart-importance-of-custom-thumbnail.png


Best Practice From Experiences

Now, since we know the importance of having a custom thumbnail, it is important to know how to make a thumbnail for Youtube look perfect, appealing, and eye-catching at the same time. There are some points to be considered while creating a thumbnail for Youtube. We will provide you with the best practices that we have learned throughout our journey of using Youtube and growing it from zero.

7 best practices can help you make your Youtube thumbnail stand out from the crowd and make its way out.

  1. Show your face

In a world full of machines and computers, people love to listen and interact with people instead of computer-generated voices and a voice without a face. Showing your face on a Youtube thumbnail makes it more appealing to users to click and listen to the person who is being shown in the thumbnail. Humans are more inclined towards faces. When there is a human element in a video, it increases its effectiveness. Check out the pics below, which one are you most likely to click through?

comparison-of-showing-face-or-not

  1. Use Simple Fonts

With your face, it is necessary to put some text on your Youtube thumbnail to let viewers know what this video is all about without clicking or watching it. Don’t use fancy fonts on Youtube thumbnail. It makes it hard for the viewers to read and understand what to expect in the video, especially for those watching YouTube on their 5 inches screen smartphone, ultimately decreasing the chances of your video being clicked and watched. I personally recommend you to use give these fonts a go while making YouTube thumbnail.

simple-fonts-recommended

  1. Use Phrases, not sentence

If you have ever noticed, Youtube thumbnails are very small in size, making it hard for viewers to notice any small elements. According to YouTube , more than 70% of Youtube watch time comes from mobile devices. While adding text in a thumbnail, instead of using sentences, make sure to use only words and make them large in size that can easily be noticed on small screens. Summurise your video in no more than 5 words.

piechart-youtube-watchtime-percentage

use-phrases-not-sentences

  1. Put every stuff on left side

When we navigate to a Youtube thumbnail and place the cursor on it, it shows us two icons, “Watch Later” and “Add to Queue,” located on its right size. Come on, you don’t want your beautiful thumbnail that cost you a few hours be covered. To avoid these icons from hiding your important stuff of thumbnail, make sure to put everything on the right side of your thumbnail.

put-stuff-on-left

  1. Have a unique and Consistent style

Try to make all your thumbnails follow the same style. Following the same style for all your Youtube thumbnails will make your channel look unique and all your videos identical. It will be easy for viewers to identify your videos when they see them. It gives your channel a touch of its unique brand.

unique-and-consistent-style

  1. Use elements to grab the attention

To make your Youtube thumbnail more appealing to the viewers, add circles and arrows to grab viewers’ attention to something very important in the video. It will increase the curiosity in the viewers and make them click your videos to learn more.

use-elements-to-grab-attention

  1. Choose the right tool

This whole process seems to be very hectic and time taking, but do you know, you can do everything on just one software? There is no need to edit a video in a different software then make a thumbnail in another software. With Filmora X, you can perform all these tasks on a single platform with so many amazing features. Whether you want to remove the background of your image or add attractive titles to it, Filmora X has got you covered.

  1. Avoid clickbait and irrelevant pics and title

It is one of the old tricks that so many people on Youtube use. It undoubtedly brings you clicks and more views, but once the viewer realizes that you have used irrelevant pictures or texts to attract them**. I**n reality, your video doesn’t contain any information related to it, you are going to lose their trust. They are never going to click on your videos again. Even if you don’t use such a trick anymore. Try to avoid such activities. Avoiding such activities can make your channel grow in the long term. Only use the text and images that are relevant to your content and stick to that.

  1. Choose your preview window wisely

Do you know that Youtube can show a 3-second preview of your video when someone hovers the cursor over it? It is one of the best ways to show the viewers the content of your video even when they don’t click on your video. These three seconds will help them decide whether to click on your video or not. This preview is selected by the system from the first half of your video according to its relevance and similarity with the topic. That’s why it is very important to add related information in the first half of the video, otherwise, Youtube will choose it randomly. If the preview is not selected for two days, it means your video is not eligible for it.

choose-preview-wisely


How to Make a Fortnite Thumbnail Super Fast and Free?

Many of you might be interested in how to make a fortnite thumbnail, so here it is. To make a Fortnite thumbnail for free, we are going to use Filmora X. Filmora X contains all kinds of features and elements that are required for a perfect and eye-catching thumbnail. To get started, make sure to download and install the latest version of Filmora X.

  1. Before we start making Fortnite Thumbnails, we have to take a screenshot of the gameplay. Open Fortnite and go to the Career tab. Here you will find Replays.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step1

  1. It contains all your recent gameplays. We can use it to take a screenshot. If you are using a console, you will find 10 recent gameplays here. But if you are a PC user, you can find the last 100 gameplays. Select the gameplay you want to take a screenshot from.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step2

  1. For our preferred angle, choose “Drone Free Camera” mode from the bottom right corner of the screen. It will allow us to use our preferred angle without any restriction. Choose an angle and take a screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step3

  1. Open Filmora X, make sure to select the 16:9 screen ratio. Import the screenshot that you have taken from Fortnite.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step4

  1. Place it into the timeline to start working on it.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step5

  1. Now to separate the character from the background, go to the Effects. Under effects, you can find a tab named AI Portraits. Click on AI Portrait. Now drag the Human Segmentation and drop it on the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step6

  1. It will ask you to purchase it. But there is no need to do that. Just hit Try It.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step7

  1. This effect will remove the background of your screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step8

  1. Now you can add a background of your choice. You can upload an image or choose a simple color from Filmora’s Media tab and drag it below the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step9

  1. To add text to the screenshot, go to Titles. Here you can find a wide range of different and unique titles to choose from for your Fortnite Thumbnail. Choose any of the titles and place them accordingly.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step10

  1. To make it more attractive, we can add icons and other elements from Filmora’s Element tab. You can also download the stickers from the internet and use them.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step11

  1. After completing the thumbnail, click on the Snapshot icon located below the preview tab of Filmora. Or press “CTRL+ALT+S”. It will save a screenshot into the media panel of Filmora.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step12

  1. Right-click on the screenshot and navigate to “Reveal in Explorer”. It will open the folder that contains all the screenshots taken from Filmora. Now you can use it as a Fortnite Thumbnail.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step13


How to Add a Custom YouTube Thumbnail to Your Video in YouTube

Once you have successfully created a custom thumbnail, you can use it in your videos on Youtube.

  1. Open Youtube Studio and upload your video. While uploading the video, you can see a section named “Thumbnail”. Under this section, click on “Upload Thumbnail”.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step1

  1. Select the thumbnail that you have made. Just like the one Fortnite thumbnail that we have created using Filmora X.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step2

  1. The thumbnail will be uploaded and attached to the video. Now you can process all the settings and publish the video.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step3

Conclusion

Thumbnail is the first thing that helps the viewer decide whether to click on a video or ignore it. Which increases the importance of having a well-structured and attractive thumbnail. By following the above guide, you can make an astonishing and clickable thumbnail in no time. For better and quick results, we recommend you using Filmora X. It allows you to perform all the tasks from video editing to thumbnail creation on a single platform.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You must have heard the phrase, Never judge a book by its cover. But actually, we do judge everything by its cover. The same is the case with Youtube videos. No matter how good the content of your video is if you are unable to convey that with the thumbnail of your video, it will not bring any good to your channel. If you are looking forward to growing your channel and attracting more viewers, then having an appealing and eye-catching thumbnail is one of the most important factors. There are several things to be considered while creating a custom thumbnail if you want to make your videos look stunning and engaging. By following all these points, you can increase the chances of your channel’s growth.


In this article, we have 5 chapters for you:


Best YouTube Thumbnail Size

Being a content creator, you never know which device is being used by the viewer to watch your videos. It can be a smartphone, laptop, pc, or smart TV. It is very important to keep all these devices in mind while choosing a Youtube thumbnail size. For the best possible results, consider the following points while making a thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

  • To cover all the devices perfectly, set the thumbnail resolution to 1280x720
  • Save the thumbnail in JPG, GIF, or PNG format
  • Try not to cross the 2MB limit
  • Make sure to use a 16:9 aspect ratio for perfect results throughout the devices

youtube-thumbnail-size


How Important is a Custom Thumbnail?

Custom Thumbnail is a tool through which the viewers can understand everything about a video. It tells the viewers what to expect from a video, what not to expect, and what the video is all about. no matter if you create amazing content, if the thumbnail is not good enough to covey that to the viewers, all your hard work will be of no use and will not bring any good to your channel and its growth. According to Google ,90% of best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. It shows the importance of custom thumbnails.

piechart-importance-of-custom-thumbnail.png


Best Practice From Experiences

Now, since we know the importance of having a custom thumbnail, it is important to know how to make a thumbnail for Youtube look perfect, appealing, and eye-catching at the same time. There are some points to be considered while creating a thumbnail for Youtube. We will provide you with the best practices that we have learned throughout our journey of using Youtube and growing it from zero.

7 best practices can help you make your Youtube thumbnail stand out from the crowd and make its way out.

  1. Show your face

In a world full of machines and computers, people love to listen and interact with people instead of computer-generated voices and a voice without a face. Showing your face on a Youtube thumbnail makes it more appealing to users to click and listen to the person who is being shown in the thumbnail. Humans are more inclined towards faces. When there is a human element in a video, it increases its effectiveness. Check out the pics below, which one are you most likely to click through?

comparison-of-showing-face-or-not

  1. Use Simple Fonts

With your face, it is necessary to put some text on your Youtube thumbnail to let viewers know what this video is all about without clicking or watching it. Don’t use fancy fonts on Youtube thumbnail. It makes it hard for the viewers to read and understand what to expect in the video, especially for those watching YouTube on their 5 inches screen smartphone, ultimately decreasing the chances of your video being clicked and watched. I personally recommend you to use give these fonts a go while making YouTube thumbnail.

simple-fonts-recommended

  1. Use Phrases, not sentence

If you have ever noticed, Youtube thumbnails are very small in size, making it hard for viewers to notice any small elements. According to YouTube , more than 70% of Youtube watch time comes from mobile devices. While adding text in a thumbnail, instead of using sentences, make sure to use only words and make them large in size that can easily be noticed on small screens. Summurise your video in no more than 5 words.

piechart-youtube-watchtime-percentage

use-phrases-not-sentences

  1. Put every stuff on left side

When we navigate to a Youtube thumbnail and place the cursor on it, it shows us two icons, “Watch Later” and “Add to Queue,” located on its right size. Come on, you don’t want your beautiful thumbnail that cost you a few hours be covered. To avoid these icons from hiding your important stuff of thumbnail, make sure to put everything on the right side of your thumbnail.

put-stuff-on-left

  1. Have a unique and Consistent style

Try to make all your thumbnails follow the same style. Following the same style for all your Youtube thumbnails will make your channel look unique and all your videos identical. It will be easy for viewers to identify your videos when they see them. It gives your channel a touch of its unique brand.

unique-and-consistent-style

  1. Use elements to grab the attention

To make your Youtube thumbnail more appealing to the viewers, add circles and arrows to grab viewers’ attention to something very important in the video. It will increase the curiosity in the viewers and make them click your videos to learn more.

use-elements-to-grab-attention

  1. Choose the right tool

This whole process seems to be very hectic and time taking, but do you know, you can do everything on just one software? There is no need to edit a video in a different software then make a thumbnail in another software. With Filmora X, you can perform all these tasks on a single platform with so many amazing features. Whether you want to remove the background of your image or add attractive titles to it, Filmora X has got you covered.

  1. Avoid clickbait and irrelevant pics and title

It is one of the old tricks that so many people on Youtube use. It undoubtedly brings you clicks and more views, but once the viewer realizes that you have used irrelevant pictures or texts to attract them**. I**n reality, your video doesn’t contain any information related to it, you are going to lose their trust. They are never going to click on your videos again. Even if you don’t use such a trick anymore. Try to avoid such activities. Avoiding such activities can make your channel grow in the long term. Only use the text and images that are relevant to your content and stick to that.

  1. Choose your preview window wisely

Do you know that Youtube can show a 3-second preview of your video when someone hovers the cursor over it? It is one of the best ways to show the viewers the content of your video even when they don’t click on your video. These three seconds will help them decide whether to click on your video or not. This preview is selected by the system from the first half of your video according to its relevance and similarity with the topic. That’s why it is very important to add related information in the first half of the video, otherwise, Youtube will choose it randomly. If the preview is not selected for two days, it means your video is not eligible for it.

choose-preview-wisely


How to Make a Fortnite Thumbnail Super Fast and Free?

Many of you might be interested in how to make a fortnite thumbnail, so here it is. To make a Fortnite thumbnail for free, we are going to use Filmora X. Filmora X contains all kinds of features and elements that are required for a perfect and eye-catching thumbnail. To get started, make sure to download and install the latest version of Filmora X.

  1. Before we start making Fortnite Thumbnails, we have to take a screenshot of the gameplay. Open Fortnite and go to the Career tab. Here you will find Replays.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step1

  1. It contains all your recent gameplays. We can use it to take a screenshot. If you are using a console, you will find 10 recent gameplays here. But if you are a PC user, you can find the last 100 gameplays. Select the gameplay you want to take a screenshot from.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step2

  1. For our preferred angle, choose “Drone Free Camera” mode from the bottom right corner of the screen. It will allow us to use our preferred angle without any restriction. Choose an angle and take a screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step3

  1. Open Filmora X, make sure to select the 16:9 screen ratio. Import the screenshot that you have taken from Fortnite.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step4

  1. Place it into the timeline to start working on it.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step5

  1. Now to separate the character from the background, go to the Effects. Under effects, you can find a tab named AI Portraits. Click on AI Portrait. Now drag the Human Segmentation and drop it on the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step6

  1. It will ask you to purchase it. But there is no need to do that. Just hit Try It.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step7

  1. This effect will remove the background of your screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step8

  1. Now you can add a background of your choice. You can upload an image or choose a simple color from Filmora’s Media tab and drag it below the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step9

  1. To add text to the screenshot, go to Titles. Here you can find a wide range of different and unique titles to choose from for your Fortnite Thumbnail. Choose any of the titles and place them accordingly.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step10

  1. To make it more attractive, we can add icons and other elements from Filmora’s Element tab. You can also download the stickers from the internet and use them.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step11

  1. After completing the thumbnail, click on the Snapshot icon located below the preview tab of Filmora. Or press “CTRL+ALT+S”. It will save a screenshot into the media panel of Filmora.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step12

  1. Right-click on the screenshot and navigate to “Reveal in Explorer”. It will open the folder that contains all the screenshots taken from Filmora. Now you can use it as a Fortnite Thumbnail.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step13


How to Add a Custom YouTube Thumbnail to Your Video in YouTube

Once you have successfully created a custom thumbnail, you can use it in your videos on Youtube.

  1. Open Youtube Studio and upload your video. While uploading the video, you can see a section named “Thumbnail”. Under this section, click on “Upload Thumbnail”.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step1

  1. Select the thumbnail that you have made. Just like the one Fortnite thumbnail that we have created using Filmora X.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step2

  1. The thumbnail will be uploaded and attached to the video. Now you can process all the settings and publish the video.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step3

Conclusion

Thumbnail is the first thing that helps the viewer decide whether to click on a video or ignore it. Which increases the importance of having a well-structured and attractive thumbnail. By following the above guide, you can make an astonishing and clickable thumbnail in no time. For better and quick results, we recommend you using Filmora X. It allows you to perform all the tasks from video editing to thumbnail creation on a single platform.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You must have heard the phrase, Never judge a book by its cover. But actually, we do judge everything by its cover. The same is the case with Youtube videos. No matter how good the content of your video is if you are unable to convey that with the thumbnail of your video, it will not bring any good to your channel. If you are looking forward to growing your channel and attracting more viewers, then having an appealing and eye-catching thumbnail is one of the most important factors. There are several things to be considered while creating a custom thumbnail if you want to make your videos look stunning and engaging. By following all these points, you can increase the chances of your channel’s growth.


In this article, we have 5 chapters for you:


Best YouTube Thumbnail Size

Being a content creator, you never know which device is being used by the viewer to watch your videos. It can be a smartphone, laptop, pc, or smart TV. It is very important to keep all these devices in mind while choosing a Youtube thumbnail size. For the best possible results, consider the following points while making a thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

  • To cover all the devices perfectly, set the thumbnail resolution to 1280x720
  • Save the thumbnail in JPG, GIF, or PNG format
  • Try not to cross the 2MB limit
  • Make sure to use a 16:9 aspect ratio for perfect results throughout the devices

youtube-thumbnail-size


How Important is a Custom Thumbnail?

Custom Thumbnail is a tool through which the viewers can understand everything about a video. It tells the viewers what to expect from a video, what not to expect, and what the video is all about. no matter if you create amazing content, if the thumbnail is not good enough to covey that to the viewers, all your hard work will be of no use and will not bring any good to your channel and its growth. According to Google ,90% of best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. It shows the importance of custom thumbnails.

piechart-importance-of-custom-thumbnail.png


Best Practice From Experiences

Now, since we know the importance of having a custom thumbnail, it is important to know how to make a thumbnail for Youtube look perfect, appealing, and eye-catching at the same time. There are some points to be considered while creating a thumbnail for Youtube. We will provide you with the best practices that we have learned throughout our journey of using Youtube and growing it from zero.

7 best practices can help you make your Youtube thumbnail stand out from the crowd and make its way out.

  1. Show your face

In a world full of machines and computers, people love to listen and interact with people instead of computer-generated voices and a voice without a face. Showing your face on a Youtube thumbnail makes it more appealing to users to click and listen to the person who is being shown in the thumbnail. Humans are more inclined towards faces. When there is a human element in a video, it increases its effectiveness. Check out the pics below, which one are you most likely to click through?

comparison-of-showing-face-or-not

  1. Use Simple Fonts

With your face, it is necessary to put some text on your Youtube thumbnail to let viewers know what this video is all about without clicking or watching it. Don’t use fancy fonts on Youtube thumbnail. It makes it hard for the viewers to read and understand what to expect in the video, especially for those watching YouTube on their 5 inches screen smartphone, ultimately decreasing the chances of your video being clicked and watched. I personally recommend you to use give these fonts a go while making YouTube thumbnail.

simple-fonts-recommended

  1. Use Phrases, not sentence

If you have ever noticed, Youtube thumbnails are very small in size, making it hard for viewers to notice any small elements. According to YouTube , more than 70% of Youtube watch time comes from mobile devices. While adding text in a thumbnail, instead of using sentences, make sure to use only words and make them large in size that can easily be noticed on small screens. Summurise your video in no more than 5 words.

piechart-youtube-watchtime-percentage

use-phrases-not-sentences

  1. Put every stuff on left side

When we navigate to a Youtube thumbnail and place the cursor on it, it shows us two icons, “Watch Later” and “Add to Queue,” located on its right size. Come on, you don’t want your beautiful thumbnail that cost you a few hours be covered. To avoid these icons from hiding your important stuff of thumbnail, make sure to put everything on the right side of your thumbnail.

put-stuff-on-left

  1. Have a unique and Consistent style

Try to make all your thumbnails follow the same style. Following the same style for all your Youtube thumbnails will make your channel look unique and all your videos identical. It will be easy for viewers to identify your videos when they see them. It gives your channel a touch of its unique brand.

unique-and-consistent-style

  1. Use elements to grab the attention

To make your Youtube thumbnail more appealing to the viewers, add circles and arrows to grab viewers’ attention to something very important in the video. It will increase the curiosity in the viewers and make them click your videos to learn more.

use-elements-to-grab-attention

  1. Choose the right tool

This whole process seems to be very hectic and time taking, but do you know, you can do everything on just one software? There is no need to edit a video in a different software then make a thumbnail in another software. With Filmora X, you can perform all these tasks on a single platform with so many amazing features. Whether you want to remove the background of your image or add attractive titles to it, Filmora X has got you covered.

  1. Avoid clickbait and irrelevant pics and title

It is one of the old tricks that so many people on Youtube use. It undoubtedly brings you clicks and more views, but once the viewer realizes that you have used irrelevant pictures or texts to attract them**. I**n reality, your video doesn’t contain any information related to it, you are going to lose their trust. They are never going to click on your videos again. Even if you don’t use such a trick anymore. Try to avoid such activities. Avoiding such activities can make your channel grow in the long term. Only use the text and images that are relevant to your content and stick to that.

  1. Choose your preview window wisely

Do you know that Youtube can show a 3-second preview of your video when someone hovers the cursor over it? It is one of the best ways to show the viewers the content of your video even when they don’t click on your video. These three seconds will help them decide whether to click on your video or not. This preview is selected by the system from the first half of your video according to its relevance and similarity with the topic. That’s why it is very important to add related information in the first half of the video, otherwise, Youtube will choose it randomly. If the preview is not selected for two days, it means your video is not eligible for it.

choose-preview-wisely


How to Make a Fortnite Thumbnail Super Fast and Free?

Many of you might be interested in how to make a fortnite thumbnail, so here it is. To make a Fortnite thumbnail for free, we are going to use Filmora X. Filmora X contains all kinds of features and elements that are required for a perfect and eye-catching thumbnail. To get started, make sure to download and install the latest version of Filmora X.

  1. Before we start making Fortnite Thumbnails, we have to take a screenshot of the gameplay. Open Fortnite and go to the Career tab. Here you will find Replays.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step1

  1. It contains all your recent gameplays. We can use it to take a screenshot. If you are using a console, you will find 10 recent gameplays here. But if you are a PC user, you can find the last 100 gameplays. Select the gameplay you want to take a screenshot from.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step2

  1. For our preferred angle, choose “Drone Free Camera” mode from the bottom right corner of the screen. It will allow us to use our preferred angle without any restriction. Choose an angle and take a screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step3

  1. Open Filmora X, make sure to select the 16:9 screen ratio. Import the screenshot that you have taken from Fortnite.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step4

  1. Place it into the timeline to start working on it.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step5

  1. Now to separate the character from the background, go to the Effects. Under effects, you can find a tab named AI Portraits. Click on AI Portrait. Now drag the Human Segmentation and drop it on the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step6

  1. It will ask you to purchase it. But there is no need to do that. Just hit Try It.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step7

  1. This effect will remove the background of your screenshot.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step8

  1. Now you can add a background of your choice. You can upload an image or choose a simple color from Filmora’s Media tab and drag it below the screenshot in the timeline.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step9

  1. To add text to the screenshot, go to Titles. Here you can find a wide range of different and unique titles to choose from for your Fortnite Thumbnail. Choose any of the titles and place them accordingly.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step10

  1. To make it more attractive, we can add icons and other elements from Filmora’s Element tab. You can also download the stickers from the internet and use them.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step11

  1. After completing the thumbnail, click on the Snapshot icon located below the preview tab of Filmora. Or press “CTRL+ALT+S”. It will save a screenshot into the media panel of Filmora.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step12

  1. Right-click on the screenshot and navigate to “Reveal in Explorer”. It will open the folder that contains all the screenshots taken from Filmora. Now you can use it as a Fortnite Thumbnail.

 make-fortnite-thumbnail-step13


How to Add a Custom YouTube Thumbnail to Your Video in YouTube

Once you have successfully created a custom thumbnail, you can use it in your videos on Youtube.

  1. Open Youtube Studio and upload your video. While uploading the video, you can see a section named “Thumbnail”. Under this section, click on “Upload Thumbnail”.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step1

  1. Select the thumbnail that you have made. Just like the one Fortnite thumbnail that we have created using Filmora X.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step2

  1. The thumbnail will be uploaded and attached to the video. Now you can process all the settings and publish the video.

how-to-add-custom-youtube-thumbnail-to-video-step3

Conclusion

Thumbnail is the first thing that helps the viewer decide whether to click on a video or ignore it. Which increases the importance of having a well-structured and attractive thumbnail. By following the above guide, you can make an astonishing and clickable thumbnail in no time. For better and quick results, we recommend you using Filmora X. It allows you to perform all the tasks from video editing to thumbnail creation on a single platform.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Unlock the Power of Social Sharing for Your YouTube Videos

How to Get Your YouTube Video Seen - 6 Easy Steps

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

With an estimated 60 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute you might be left wondering how to get your YouTube video seen in the huge sea of content. The good news is that a large number of these videos are not optimized in the correct format and taking some extra time to make sure that every video you post is well optimized for YouTube’s search engine can give you an instant advantage.

Here’s how you can get your YouTube video ranked higher in search results and attract more views in 6 easy steps.

Download Win Version Download Mac Version

1. Find Good Keywords for Your YouTube Videos

The keywords that you choose to use with your video will be the greatest factors in determining whether your video will actually be found by viewers searching for content like yours on YouTube. You need to be intelligent and choose strong keywords that are highly related to both your video and your niche on YouTube. Without the use of good keywords, your video will simply become lost in the endless stream of content being uploaded to YouTube, and audiences who might enjoy it will never get a chance to see it.

Consider doing some keyword research into your video’s subject using the Google Keyword Planner in or a variety of otherkeyword tools . Make sure the most important keywords are in your tags, title, and description.

2. Make Full Use of Your Video’s Tags

Tags are essential. A lot of creators either skip tags or only put in 1-5, and their actions will benefit you if you choose to use a lot.

Loading up your tags with keywords that are relevant to your video and genre will help your video appear in the viewer’s search results, which will earn you a lot more views. When users are looking for specific information, like how to recover lost data, just including things like ‘lost data’, ‘data recovery’, and even the full phrase ‘how to recover lost data’ in your video’s tags will give you a greater chance to actually appear in search engine results.

Including the maximum amount of tags possible will help to give YouTube the maximum amount of information to use in order to place your video in the results of different searches or to have it come up as ‘related’ to other videos. Users that only post 3 or 4 tags with each video could be missing out on countless amounts of traffic for their content.

3. Post a Transcript in Your Video Description

If you have a script or a transcript for your entire video you should consider posting it in the description of your video in order to improve your search engine ranking. This can also help for users that would like to have a written article to accompany your video and for indexing your video in search engine results. There are so many people that don’t make proper use of their video descriptions on YouTube that doing so will give you an advantage.

4. Write Searchable YouTube Video Tiles

By including your 1 or 2 most important keywords in the title of your video you will help YouTube sort your video into the correct search results. Generally, your most important keywords will be things like the name of the game you’re playing or the brand of makeup you’re reviewing.

Try to write titles that are searchable and which also get potential viewers excited about your content. Do not try to be mysterious or clickbait-y in your video title. Big channels can be very successful with those strategies because they’re already guaranteed a certain number of views, but this will almost always backfire for small channels.

Phrases such as ‘review’, ‘how-to’, and ‘tutorial’ get searched for a lot, so always include them in your titles when they apply to your videos.

5. Optimize your Video Description for YouTube SEO

Video descriptions should generally include around 4000 characters (about 900 words) in which you describe the content of your YouTube video, include important keywords, provide links to your other social media accounts, and ask viewers to subscribe. Using up all the space in your description is a good way to ensure you’re getting the maximum search value out of it.

If you use a lot of products in your videos (i.e. you make cooking videos, so your favorite frying pan is in a lot of shots) then it is a good idea to look into affiliate programs. Amazon has one of the best. If you become an affiliate you can post links to the products you use in your video description and, if a viewer follows one and buys something (even if it’s not the thing you liked to) you’ll earn a commission. This won’t help you with search rankings, but it’s a nice bonus.

6. Use Custom Video Thumbnails

A custom thumbnail is an excellent way to make your videos stand out (check out these awesome thumbnail makers ). A good thumbnail is its own piece of quality, customized, visual content that has the power to draw in audiences from search engine results. Make sure to take thumbnail-specific photos and perfect those images with text and graphics in Photoshop or a free alternative like Canva.

Custom thumbnails come with new metadata for your video and they can often be indexed in Google image searches along with the video content that you create. This means that you will have access to a text search via Google (your video title and description), video searches via Google, a video search via YouTube, and an image search via Google too.

In order tocreate a thumbnail that stands out and attracts more views, you should first search for your video’s title on YouTube and see what kinds of thumbnails come up. You want your thumbnail to be enough like the results that viewers recognize it as being on the same topic, and different enough that it doesn’t fade into the crowd (a good strategy is to use a splash of color the other creators haven’t included).

If you are interested in generating more traffic to any YouTube video be sure to follow these 6 steps for how to get your YouTube video seen (and check out 4 more here! ).

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

With an estimated 60 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute you might be left wondering how to get your YouTube video seen in the huge sea of content. The good news is that a large number of these videos are not optimized in the correct format and taking some extra time to make sure that every video you post is well optimized for YouTube’s search engine can give you an instant advantage.

Here’s how you can get your YouTube video ranked higher in search results and attract more views in 6 easy steps.

Download Win Version Download Mac Version

1. Find Good Keywords for Your YouTube Videos

The keywords that you choose to use with your video will be the greatest factors in determining whether your video will actually be found by viewers searching for content like yours on YouTube. You need to be intelligent and choose strong keywords that are highly related to both your video and your niche on YouTube. Without the use of good keywords, your video will simply become lost in the endless stream of content being uploaded to YouTube, and audiences who might enjoy it will never get a chance to see it.

Consider doing some keyword research into your video’s subject using the Google Keyword Planner in or a variety of otherkeyword tools . Make sure the most important keywords are in your tags, title, and description.

2. Make Full Use of Your Video’s Tags

Tags are essential. A lot of creators either skip tags or only put in 1-5, and their actions will benefit you if you choose to use a lot.

Loading up your tags with keywords that are relevant to your video and genre will help your video appear in the viewer’s search results, which will earn you a lot more views. When users are looking for specific information, like how to recover lost data, just including things like ‘lost data’, ‘data recovery’, and even the full phrase ‘how to recover lost data’ in your video’s tags will give you a greater chance to actually appear in search engine results.

Including the maximum amount of tags possible will help to give YouTube the maximum amount of information to use in order to place your video in the results of different searches or to have it come up as ‘related’ to other videos. Users that only post 3 or 4 tags with each video could be missing out on countless amounts of traffic for their content.

3. Post a Transcript in Your Video Description

If you have a script or a transcript for your entire video you should consider posting it in the description of your video in order to improve your search engine ranking. This can also help for users that would like to have a written article to accompany your video and for indexing your video in search engine results. There are so many people that don’t make proper use of their video descriptions on YouTube that doing so will give you an advantage.

4. Write Searchable YouTube Video Tiles

By including your 1 or 2 most important keywords in the title of your video you will help YouTube sort your video into the correct search results. Generally, your most important keywords will be things like the name of the game you’re playing or the brand of makeup you’re reviewing.

Try to write titles that are searchable and which also get potential viewers excited about your content. Do not try to be mysterious or clickbait-y in your video title. Big channels can be very successful with those strategies because they’re already guaranteed a certain number of views, but this will almost always backfire for small channels.

Phrases such as ‘review’, ‘how-to’, and ‘tutorial’ get searched for a lot, so always include them in your titles when they apply to your videos.

5. Optimize your Video Description for YouTube SEO

Video descriptions should generally include around 4000 characters (about 900 words) in which you describe the content of your YouTube video, include important keywords, provide links to your other social media accounts, and ask viewers to subscribe. Using up all the space in your description is a good way to ensure you’re getting the maximum search value out of it.

If you use a lot of products in your videos (i.e. you make cooking videos, so your favorite frying pan is in a lot of shots) then it is a good idea to look into affiliate programs. Amazon has one of the best. If you become an affiliate you can post links to the products you use in your video description and, if a viewer follows one and buys something (even if it’s not the thing you liked to) you’ll earn a commission. This won’t help you with search rankings, but it’s a nice bonus.

6. Use Custom Video Thumbnails

A custom thumbnail is an excellent way to make your videos stand out (check out these awesome thumbnail makers ). A good thumbnail is its own piece of quality, customized, visual content that has the power to draw in audiences from search engine results. Make sure to take thumbnail-specific photos and perfect those images with text and graphics in Photoshop or a free alternative like Canva.

Custom thumbnails come with new metadata for your video and they can often be indexed in Google image searches along with the video content that you create. This means that you will have access to a text search via Google (your video title and description), video searches via Google, a video search via YouTube, and an image search via Google too.

In order tocreate a thumbnail that stands out and attracts more views, you should first search for your video’s title on YouTube and see what kinds of thumbnails come up. You want your thumbnail to be enough like the results that viewers recognize it as being on the same topic, and different enough that it doesn’t fade into the crowd (a good strategy is to use a splash of color the other creators haven’t included).

If you are interested in generating more traffic to any YouTube video be sure to follow these 6 steps for how to get your YouTube video seen (and check out 4 more here! ).

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

With an estimated 60 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute you might be left wondering how to get your YouTube video seen in the huge sea of content. The good news is that a large number of these videos are not optimized in the correct format and taking some extra time to make sure that every video you post is well optimized for YouTube’s search engine can give you an instant advantage.

Here’s how you can get your YouTube video ranked higher in search results and attract more views in 6 easy steps.

Download Win Version Download Mac Version

1. Find Good Keywords for Your YouTube Videos

The keywords that you choose to use with your video will be the greatest factors in determining whether your video will actually be found by viewers searching for content like yours on YouTube. You need to be intelligent and choose strong keywords that are highly related to both your video and your niche on YouTube. Without the use of good keywords, your video will simply become lost in the endless stream of content being uploaded to YouTube, and audiences who might enjoy it will never get a chance to see it.

Consider doing some keyword research into your video’s subject using the Google Keyword Planner in or a variety of otherkeyword tools . Make sure the most important keywords are in your tags, title, and description.

2. Make Full Use of Your Video’s Tags

Tags are essential. A lot of creators either skip tags or only put in 1-5, and their actions will benefit you if you choose to use a lot.

Loading up your tags with keywords that are relevant to your video and genre will help your video appear in the viewer’s search results, which will earn you a lot more views. When users are looking for specific information, like how to recover lost data, just including things like ‘lost data’, ‘data recovery’, and even the full phrase ‘how to recover lost data’ in your video’s tags will give you a greater chance to actually appear in search engine results.

Including the maximum amount of tags possible will help to give YouTube the maximum amount of information to use in order to place your video in the results of different searches or to have it come up as ‘related’ to other videos. Users that only post 3 or 4 tags with each video could be missing out on countless amounts of traffic for their content.

3. Post a Transcript in Your Video Description

If you have a script or a transcript for your entire video you should consider posting it in the description of your video in order to improve your search engine ranking. This can also help for users that would like to have a written article to accompany your video and for indexing your video in search engine results. There are so many people that don’t make proper use of their video descriptions on YouTube that doing so will give you an advantage.

4. Write Searchable YouTube Video Tiles

By including your 1 or 2 most important keywords in the title of your video you will help YouTube sort your video into the correct search results. Generally, your most important keywords will be things like the name of the game you’re playing or the brand of makeup you’re reviewing.

Try to write titles that are searchable and which also get potential viewers excited about your content. Do not try to be mysterious or clickbait-y in your video title. Big channels can be very successful with those strategies because they’re already guaranteed a certain number of views, but this will almost always backfire for small channels.

Phrases such as ‘review’, ‘how-to’, and ‘tutorial’ get searched for a lot, so always include them in your titles when they apply to your videos.

5. Optimize your Video Description for YouTube SEO

Video descriptions should generally include around 4000 characters (about 900 words) in which you describe the content of your YouTube video, include important keywords, provide links to your other social media accounts, and ask viewers to subscribe. Using up all the space in your description is a good way to ensure you’re getting the maximum search value out of it.

If you use a lot of products in your videos (i.e. you make cooking videos, so your favorite frying pan is in a lot of shots) then it is a good idea to look into affiliate programs. Amazon has one of the best. If you become an affiliate you can post links to the products you use in your video description and, if a viewer follows one and buys something (even if it’s not the thing you liked to) you’ll earn a commission. This won’t help you with search rankings, but it’s a nice bonus.

6. Use Custom Video Thumbnails

A custom thumbnail is an excellent way to make your videos stand out (check out these awesome thumbnail makers ). A good thumbnail is its own piece of quality, customized, visual content that has the power to draw in audiences from search engine results. Make sure to take thumbnail-specific photos and perfect those images with text and graphics in Photoshop or a free alternative like Canva.

Custom thumbnails come with new metadata for your video and they can often be indexed in Google image searches along with the video content that you create. This means that you will have access to a text search via Google (your video title and description), video searches via Google, a video search via YouTube, and an image search via Google too.

In order tocreate a thumbnail that stands out and attracts more views, you should first search for your video’s title on YouTube and see what kinds of thumbnails come up. You want your thumbnail to be enough like the results that viewers recognize it as being on the same topic, and different enough that it doesn’t fade into the crowd (a good strategy is to use a splash of color the other creators haven’t included).

If you are interested in generating more traffic to any YouTube video be sure to follow these 6 steps for how to get your YouTube video seen (and check out 4 more here! ).

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

With an estimated 60 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute you might be left wondering how to get your YouTube video seen in the huge sea of content. The good news is that a large number of these videos are not optimized in the correct format and taking some extra time to make sure that every video you post is well optimized for YouTube’s search engine can give you an instant advantage.

Here’s how you can get your YouTube video ranked higher in search results and attract more views in 6 easy steps.

Download Win Version Download Mac Version

1. Find Good Keywords for Your YouTube Videos

The keywords that you choose to use with your video will be the greatest factors in determining whether your video will actually be found by viewers searching for content like yours on YouTube. You need to be intelligent and choose strong keywords that are highly related to both your video and your niche on YouTube. Without the use of good keywords, your video will simply become lost in the endless stream of content being uploaded to YouTube, and audiences who might enjoy it will never get a chance to see it.

Consider doing some keyword research into your video’s subject using the Google Keyword Planner in or a variety of otherkeyword tools . Make sure the most important keywords are in your tags, title, and description.

2. Make Full Use of Your Video’s Tags

Tags are essential. A lot of creators either skip tags or only put in 1-5, and their actions will benefit you if you choose to use a lot.

Loading up your tags with keywords that are relevant to your video and genre will help your video appear in the viewer’s search results, which will earn you a lot more views. When users are looking for specific information, like how to recover lost data, just including things like ‘lost data’, ‘data recovery’, and even the full phrase ‘how to recover lost data’ in your video’s tags will give you a greater chance to actually appear in search engine results.

Including the maximum amount of tags possible will help to give YouTube the maximum amount of information to use in order to place your video in the results of different searches or to have it come up as ‘related’ to other videos. Users that only post 3 or 4 tags with each video could be missing out on countless amounts of traffic for their content.

3. Post a Transcript in Your Video Description

If you have a script or a transcript for your entire video you should consider posting it in the description of your video in order to improve your search engine ranking. This can also help for users that would like to have a written article to accompany your video and for indexing your video in search engine results. There are so many people that don’t make proper use of their video descriptions on YouTube that doing so will give you an advantage.

4. Write Searchable YouTube Video Tiles

By including your 1 or 2 most important keywords in the title of your video you will help YouTube sort your video into the correct search results. Generally, your most important keywords will be things like the name of the game you’re playing or the brand of makeup you’re reviewing.

Try to write titles that are searchable and which also get potential viewers excited about your content. Do not try to be mysterious or clickbait-y in your video title. Big channels can be very successful with those strategies because they’re already guaranteed a certain number of views, but this will almost always backfire for small channels.

Phrases such as ‘review’, ‘how-to’, and ‘tutorial’ get searched for a lot, so always include them in your titles when they apply to your videos.

5. Optimize your Video Description for YouTube SEO

Video descriptions should generally include around 4000 characters (about 900 words) in which you describe the content of your YouTube video, include important keywords, provide links to your other social media accounts, and ask viewers to subscribe. Using up all the space in your description is a good way to ensure you’re getting the maximum search value out of it.

If you use a lot of products in your videos (i.e. you make cooking videos, so your favorite frying pan is in a lot of shots) then it is a good idea to look into affiliate programs. Amazon has one of the best. If you become an affiliate you can post links to the products you use in your video description and, if a viewer follows one and buys something (even if it’s not the thing you liked to) you’ll earn a commission. This won’t help you with search rankings, but it’s a nice bonus.

6. Use Custom Video Thumbnails

A custom thumbnail is an excellent way to make your videos stand out (check out these awesome thumbnail makers ). A good thumbnail is its own piece of quality, customized, visual content that has the power to draw in audiences from search engine results. Make sure to take thumbnail-specific photos and perfect those images with text and graphics in Photoshop or a free alternative like Canva.

Custom thumbnails come with new metadata for your video and they can often be indexed in Google image searches along with the video content that you create. This means that you will have access to a text search via Google (your video title and description), video searches via Google, a video search via YouTube, and an image search via Google too.

In order tocreate a thumbnail that stands out and attracts more views, you should first search for your video’s title on YouTube and see what kinds of thumbnails come up. You want your thumbnail to be enough like the results that viewers recognize it as being on the same topic, and different enough that it doesn’t fade into the crowd (a good strategy is to use a splash of color the other creators haven’t included).

If you are interested in generating more traffic to any YouTube video be sure to follow these 6 steps for how to get your YouTube video seen (and check out 4 more here! ).

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Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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  • Title: "In 2024, How to Size Your Videos YouTube's Best Practices Unveiled"
  • Author: Joseph
  • Created at : 2024-05-31 13:49:17
  • Updated at : 2024-06-01 13:49:17
  • Link: https://youtube-stream.techidaily.com/in-2024-how-to-size-your-videos-youtubes-best-practices-unveiled/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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