Hello everybody and welcome back to my Channel, the place where you'll find all the best
tips tricks and tools to help you market your brand online. In this video I'm going
to be sharing with you my 7 top tips to help you create YouTube Thumbnail images in Canva,
increase your click-through rate and grow your Channel. I've got a bonus Nicky Ninja tip towards
the end of the video so make sure you stay tuned. Each day people consume over 1 billion hours of
video on YouTube and generate billions of views so your thumbnail images are going to have to be
really good to make an impact and help you stand out amongst a sea of videos. In addition
the YouTube algorithm has recently changed. There are two very important metrics to keep
an eye on when trying to get your videos ranked on YouTube. The first one is click-through-rate
and the second one is watch time. Attractive and eye-catching YouTube thumbnails are absolutely
key to increasing your click-through-rate. Their primary purpose is to instantly hook attention,
let viewers know what your video is about and encourage viewers to click through and
watch your videos. So unless your thumbnail images are created with these points in mind
your click-through-rate is going to be relatively low. And a low click-through-rate
will inform the YouTube algorithm that people aren't particularly interested in your videos
and it will stop suggesting them to your target audience. So here are my 7 top tips to help you
create better YouTube thumbnail images in Canva. Tip #1: for B2B business owners who don't have
a visible product to share show your face. It will help your audience feel connected to you
on an emotional level. Being open and honest about who you are will also help to build trust.
You could easily take a selfie using a smartphone or an app on a laptop. If you don't like the
background in your photo you can easily remove it in Canva in just a few clicks. You can then
swap it for an alternative photo, a plain colour or a texture. I created a video specifically about
how to remove a background in Canva so I'll leave the link in the description box below and you can
check it out later. Tip #2: content placement. When I'm creating a thumbnail for YouTube
95% of the time I will have my face on the RH side of the thumbnail. This leaves a space on
the left hand side for your text. Which leads me to Tip #3: snag interest. The text you place
on a thumbnail image needs to be brief, relevant and capture attention immediately.
Imagine you're driving down a motorway and there's an advertising board on the roadside.
You will literally have just a few seconds to read it and understand what the advertising
is all about. So think about this when you're creating your thumbnail image.
Try not to use more than 4 or 5 words at the most. The text overlay doesn't have to match your title.
Use your text overlay to convey the benefits of watching your video.
Do not under any circumstances use your thumbnail images as click bait. You should never mislead
your audience into thinking that your video is about one thing when actually it's about something
completely different. The net effect is that when viewers click to watch your video they'll realise
that the content doesn't match what's promised on the thumbnail image and they'll immediately click
away. This will really hurt your watch time which is a key metric when growing a successful YouTube
channel. Tip #5: be bold. Make sure the text on your thumbnail image really stands out using a
couple of simple design tips. Make sure there is a clear space on your thumbnail image to place your
text overlay. If there isn't a natural clear space then use a text box to make the text really pop.
Remember that nearly 41% of YouTube videos are still watched on mobile devices so make sure
the text on your thumbnail image is big and bold enough to be seen on a small screen. Use fonts
that are clear and easy to read at a glance. I use my own brand font Oswald to create text overlay
for my thumbnail images but you can equally use a font such as Montserrat or Ultra. So stay
clear of script fonts because although they're pretty they're much harder to read at a glance.
Use contrast to make your text really stand out from the background. Experiment with bold bright
colours. You can easily create all these effects with a free Canva account. Tip #6: use graphics.
Mix things up a bit and add a little variety to your thumbnail images by including things
like icons and illustrations. They will also help you explain what your video is
about without including more text. I used all of these techniques to help me create
a thumbnail image which has so far given me a pretty high click-through-rate of 7%. Tip #7:
create your own visual brand style. Create your own visual brand style on YouTube and then stick
to it. This is so important because your audience will be able to recognise instantly one of your
thumbnail images and click through to watch your video. You want to stick to using the same brand
font and colours in particular. And here is my Nicky Ninja bonus tip! Once you've decided
on your own YouTube thumbnail style start saving your designs as a template in Canva. That way
you don't have to create a new thumbnail image from scratch every time you publish a new video.
All you need to do is change the text, maybe a photograph and you're done. It will also ensure
that you maintain a consistent visual brand style for every thumbnail image you create for YouTube.
That's it for this week. I look forward to seeing your beautiful thumbnail images in YouTube. If you
enjoyed this tutorial please support my channel by giving it a like, sharing it with your friends
and of course subscribing to my channel. Thank you so much for watching, I will see you next time.