{"id":59826,"date":"2021-09-11T08:40:34","date_gmt":"2021-09-11T15:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/?p=59826"},"modified":"2021-08-31T08:41:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T15:41:34","slug":"the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistently reliable growth: use better (and custom!) thumbnail images.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The thumbnail image for your YouTube video is just as important as the video\u2019s title when you\u2019re looking to increase your views. A successful thumbnail image will jump out at users and help you stand out amidst a long line of recommendations and search results. And, because your thumbnail is what shows up on Google\u2019s search results, they\u2019re absolutely essential when it comes to maximizing your impressions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this post, we\u2019re going to talk about everything you need to know about creating the perfect custom thumbnail for your YouTube video, including a free template that you can use in Photoshop or any of the free design services offered online to ensure that your thumbnail is the optimal size.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Your Custom YouTube Thumbnail\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most important quality about a successful thumbnail is luckily one of the easiest ones to get right. What\u2019s the ideal size for a custom thumbnail?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to Google\u2019s recommendations, your image should ideally be 1280 x 720 pixels, with a width of at least 640 pixels. A ratio of 16:9 is most commonly used in YouTube players and previews.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">These dimensions may be surprising but they make sense! It\u2019s important to keep in mind that while your thumbnail will be small when showing up in your potential viewer\u2019s search results, it will be expanded to a full video\u2019s size when it appears as a suggestion for what they should watch next. Because of this, you want to use a larger image that can be scaled down instead of a smaller image being scaled up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here are some other important technical details to keep in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your thumbnail must be in .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG image formats<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your thumbnail file must be under YouTube\u2019s 2MB limit<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to Design a Custom Thumbnail for Your Business<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While it can be tempting to use one of the thumbnails YouTube automatically pulls from your video, it\u2019s important to recognize that you\u2019re limiting your video\u2019s potential in doing so. Creating and consistently using custom thumbnails will help your video look professionally made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a few options when it comes to choosing a background image for your thumbnail:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use a custom-made image that features simple graphics, such as your video\u2019s title. This image could show your business\u2019 name or logo in one of the corners.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use a still-shot from your video. You can still add graphics, logos, and text on top of this image.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take photographs or stills from your video and apply them to more graphic images or a solid background. This is a popular option if your thumbnail contains images of people.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, it\u2019s important to add text to your thumbnail to best convey what the video is about. No matter how beautiful your image is, it\u2019s not going to communicate that your video is a tutorial looking to solve your audience\u2019s problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By capturing a core idea and transforming it into a compelling title that can be summed up into a few key words, you\u2019ll be able to create a thumbnail that will capture the attention of your target audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s important to keep in mind that when adding text to your thumbnail, you need to avoid the bottom right hand side of your image. This is where YouTube puts the timestamp on all of their videos, so your viewers won\u2019t be able to read your text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remember that your image is just that- an image. Users are able to see the title of your video as it\u2019s displayed right next to the thumbnail of your video. Use the opportunity to add keywords and create additional context for your content within your thumbnail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Download Your Free YouTube Thumbnail Template<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Designing a custom thumbnail is hard enough without having to worry about getting the correct dimensions. We want to offer a .PSD and .PNG file for you to download for free and use as a free thumbnail template.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re using Photoshop to design your custom thumbnail, download the .PSD file!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re using any free online design services, download the .PNG file! The .PNG file is also compatible with Photoshop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When designing your custom thumbnail, you should strive for consistency. By adding the same distinctive branding to each of your video thumbnails, it will be incredibly easy for your audience to recognize your videos quickly and click on your content in the video suggestions that appear on the right side of the page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adding engaging thumbnails to your YouTube videos will help drive clicks and views while building valuable brand recognition for your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistently reliable growth: use better (and custom!) thumbnail images.\u00a0 The thumbnail image for your YouTube video is just as important as the video\u2019s title when you\u2019re looking to increase your views. A successful thumbnail image will &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Custom Thumbnails\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/masterthumbnails\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shannon Craig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shannon Craig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shannon Craig\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9ca09058140000947a88ce79acb05d5a\"},\"headline\":\"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\"},\"wordCount\":824,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\",\"name\":\"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/\",\"name\":\"Custom Thumbnails\",\"description\":\"Custom YouTube Thumbnails, Graphic Design for YouTubers &amp; More | CustomThumbnails.com | Custom Thumbnails\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Custom Thumbnails\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/custom-thumbnails-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/custom-thumbnails-logo.png\",\"width\":118,\"height\":56,\"caption\":\"Custom Thumbnails\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/masterthumbnails\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9ca09058140000947a88ce79acb05d5a\",\"name\":\"Shannon Craig\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/635e7765c277f9259ef232a98d7d35099cfefbe045366eb4eddc93668f8f98b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/635e7765c277f9259ef232a98d7d35099cfefbe045366eb4eddc93668f8f98b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shannon Craig\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails","description":"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails","og_description":"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/","og_site_name":"Custom Thumbnails","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/masterthumbnails","article_published_time":"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00","author":"Shannon Craig","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shannon Craig","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/"},"author":{"name":"Shannon Craig","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9ca09058140000947a88ce79acb05d5a"},"headline":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020","datePublished":"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/"},"wordCount":824,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/","url":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/","name":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020 - Custom Thumbnails","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-11T15:40:34+00:00","description":"If you\u2019re looking to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, there\u2019s one tactic that you can use for consistent growth: use custom thumbnail images.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/the-only-youtube-thumbnail-template-you-need-in-2020\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Only YouTube Thumbnail Template You Need in 2020"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/","name":"Custom Thumbnails","description":"Custom YouTube Thumbnails, Graphic Design for YouTubers &amp; More | CustomThumbnails.com | Custom Thumbnails","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#organization","name":"Custom Thumbnails","url":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/custom-thumbnails-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/custom-thumbnails-logo.png","width":118,"height":56,"caption":"Custom Thumbnails"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/masterthumbnails"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9ca09058140000947a88ce79acb05d5a","name":"Shannon Craig","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/635e7765c277f9259ef232a98d7d35099cfefbe045366eb4eddc93668f8f98b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/635e7765c277f9259ef232a98d7d35099cfefbe045366eb4eddc93668f8f98b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shannon Craig"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customthumbnails.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}