Thumbnails on YouTube

Do you know YouTube thumbnails can bring more views and boost click-through rates? 

YouTube thumbnails play an essential role in the success of any YouTube channel, as it is the first impression in the search results. Therefore, designing the video thumbnail is a necessary part of your YouTube marketing strategy. 

YouTube SEO still tops the chart when it comes to driving traffic, but thumbnails are the second most crucial factor that helps you in driving more traffic, clicks, and the number of free YouTube views

So making the right thumbnail for your YouTube videos can give your channel’s success a massive boost. 

Reasons Why You Should Focus on YouTube Thumbnails as a Channel Owner

Here are the reasons why you should create attractive YouTube video thumbnails for your YouTube channel. 

1. Click-through Rate

Click-through rate can be defined as the number of total clicks on a video divided by the number of overall thumbnail impressions. 

In short, an appealing video thumbnail can increase the number of clicks and free YouTube views. Therefore, it’s essential to understand that designing an attractive video thumbnail can improve your overall statistics. 

Apart from the stats, the click-through rate also signals the YouTube algorithm if people like this video or not. The more the number of clicks, the more the number of votes you will get from the YouTube algorithm, and the higher the rankings will be. 

According to YouTube officials, anything between 2 to 10 percent is considered to be a good CTR.  

2. Views

Nobody likes to click or view a video with a shabby thumbnail. It’s evident that if your video thumbnail is not relevant or adequately designed, the user won’t click or view your video. No matter how informative your video content is. 

Thumbnails bring more views. They force people to click and view the video content. Many video content creators create attractive video thumbnails with a targeted text on it, for example, Rank #1 on YouTube in 18 hours with a shocking face reaction. 

People become curious about these lines and end up clicking and watching the video.  

3. Rankings

Thumbnails can indirectly affect your search rankings. Thumbnails directly affect click-through rates. A higher click-through rate and more top watching time of the video indicates the YouTube algorithm that users like this video. 

With each signal, YouTube gives a little boost to your search result rankings. On the other hand, if your video has an average or no thumbnail, it might not get the desired number of clicks. Though CTR is not the only factor for rankings, it certainly is a significant one. 

Wrapping Up

Choosing the right thumbnails for your YouTube videos is essential. It not only affects click-through rate but also increases free YouTube views and video rankings. 

You will realize that you stand above many content creators just by replacing your old thumbnail with an appealing video thumbnail. 

Make sure you use bright colors, write attractive headlines full of strong emotions, and faces that can lead to more clicks. 

Either you can create tools to create these thumbnails, or you can hire someone to do it for you.