When you want more YouTube views, it makes sense to design enticing, high-quality thumbnails. The only problem? It’s hard to design images that make thousands of people feel something on a deep, emotional level. There are challenges along the way, such as running out of ideas or not knowing 

If you’ve run out of ideas, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we share 12 types of YouTube thumbnails people love to click on!

One way to get people interested in your thumbnail is by displaying 

 that keeps them up at night. “Can I afford a house right now with my current income?” “Will eating organic produce transform my health?” The more relevant the question is to your audience, the more likely they are to click!

For example, creators Colin and Samir started a 

 to address the most pressing concerns of YouTube creators. So far, each thumbnail displays an actual question from their audience.

In fact, one of their popular videos has a thumbnail that reads, “Will YouTube Shorts pay us more than TikTok?” And that is definitely a hot-button issue for their viewers.

We often say the best thumbnails draw people in with their emotional appeal. But for some viewers, facts and statistics can be enticing, too! This method works well in niches that rely on numbers and data, such as sports, science, and history.

 make videos about “NBA moments” that lead to shock, controversy, or at least a good laugh. Some of those moments include record-breaking stats for different players, so adding those numbers to the thumbnail is a way to get viewers interested in the video.

After all, it’s a bit surprising to learn that a player achieved 50 points and 40 rebounds in one game!

Thumbnails that compare an object or place in its before-and-after state — a bare room or a failing garden, for example — is an instant win on YouTube. People love seeing transformations, especially when the final form is far from the original. When you show this transformation in a thumbnail, you prove to viewers that the video is worth watching.

For example, take a look at this thumbnail from Bernardo Bacalhau’s video, “

.” The before and after shots aren’t even close! With such a beautiful upgrade, you can’t help but press play and watch the journey unfold.

Before and after shots of a renovated van

Thumbnails that follow the “versus” format compare two items in the same category. For example, you might display two video games about action and fighting or two washing machines that are both energy efficient. In both cases, you’re helping viewers understand what will be compared and why they should care.

The Vox channel has a great example of this. They did an excellent video 

 of the 1800s to the ones we ride today, and you can see the difference just by looking at the thumbnail.

A thumbnail showing rollercoasters in two different eras

If you’re going to put text on a thumbnail, consider a quote or sound bite from the video itself. That will give viewers a subtle preview of what to expect when they press play. Plus, the more interesting the sound bite is, the more enticing the video becomes.

 from Alpha Leaders is about Kobe Bryant’s incredible work ethic. The thumbnail exposes a little-known fact, claiming that he 

 to squeeze in longer, harder basketball practices. The video has 3.4 million views!

YouTube thumbnail showing a Kobe Bryant quote

Did you know that headshots aren’t just for vloggers or creators building a personal brand? Sometimes, showing your face in a YouTube thumbnail just makes sense.

But it’s about more than showing dramatic facial expressions. To keep things interesting, most people edit around their faces to convey a unique twist in the video and get more views.

That’s what Shelby Church did for her viral video, “

” The thumbnail shows her face, but it also shows some hologram-like images projecting from her glasses. It’s more engaging than a bare headshot!

Thumbnail of a woman wearing smart glasses

Do you make action-packed videos on YouTube? If so, you want your thumbnail to give off a similar vibe. Try taking a screen capture of the most exciting scene in your video, then edit the entire image to look bold, colorful, and adventurous. This approach will make your video stand out from the competition!

 is an expert at making live-action thumbnails, so follow his lead by checking out the thumbnail below!

Three people on an island for a video challenge

Showing products in your thumbnail is a good idea if you have a tech channel, gaming channel, or like reviewing new merchandise in general. You could talk about the latest mascara, the most fragrant candles, or the best skillets for searing steak. Either way, showing a product in your thumbnail helps viewers decide whether to click or not.

As an example, take a look at the image below. Mrwhosetheboss has a table full of Nintendo consoles, and you can probably guess that he’s reviewing all of them in 

. Seeing all those consoles is exciting because you know an in-depth review is coming!

A man smiling beside a pile of gaming consoles

A funny title and thumbnail can catch viewers off guard in a good way. They might laugh, chuckle, or think, 

 It sounds insignificant at first, but this is precisely the type of reaction you want — for viewers to stop what they’re doing and think about your video. That’s the first step to making them click.

If you need inspiration, Kelly Stamps has some of the wittiest thumbnails on YouTube. Check out the one below, which she used for her video, “

The Actual Cost of Becoming an Influencer

A humorous YouTube thumbnail against the New York City skyline

Nature has a way of captivating us all, from the red rock formations in Arizona to the clear blue waters of Jamaica. People travel thousands of miles to see those wonders, so it can’t hurt to show a little nature in your YouTube thumbnails.

Need an example? DownieLive has one of the best thumbnails on YouTube right now. For his video, “

,” icy mountains in Alaska meet the tropical waves of Miami.

A thumbnail showing landscapes of Alaska and Florida

If you’re planning a heartfelt video, don’t forget to add a touching moment to the thumbnail too. People love to see good deeds, random acts of kindness, or cute moments between children and animals. It proves that a bit of emotion can take you far on YouTube!

For example, check out the thumbnail below where 

A man showing his grandpa the car he bought for him

We’ll be honest: Making thumbnails for tutorials is not easy. On the one hand, you want the image to convey what will happen in the video, which is a step-by-step lesson. On the other hand, you don’t want the photo itself to be bland or boring. So how do you spice things up?

To start, take a little inspiration from Rose & Anzai Country Life. Surprisingly, the thumbnail for their 

 video breaks all the rules of a traditional cooking channel. You don’t see a kitchen or anyone cooking at all. Instead, you see the family enjoying the finished meal, which appeals to the heart and not the head!

Thumbnails play a significant role in getting you more views, so be intentional about each one. Make sure the thumbnail is an accurate reflection of the video and that it draws people in with stunning images, questions, stats, and emotional themes. And if you run out of ideas, come back to this article to get inspired again!

Of course, every YouTube thumbnail needs an amazing video title. 

So here's a nine-point guide on how to name your YouTube videos!

Need some fresh ideas for your YouTube thumbnails? Explore these popular image styles to get more views on your content today!

12 Types of YouTube Thumbnails People Love to Click On

Which piece of content should you make first: the YouTube thumbnail or the YouTube video?

We pitched this question to creators on the YouTube Community tab a few weeks ago. Out of 19,000 responses, 

 chose “YouTube videos” first. Only 2,660 said they begin with a thumbnail.

That’s a big gap, but we’re not surprised. To many people, it makes sense to create a video first because 

You can’t upload a graphic without first uploading a video. Maybe that’s why the “thumbnail first” mentality feels odd, like introducing Robin before Batman.

But as our survey proves, some creators are doing just that. The real question is why?

1. Without the Right Thumbnail, No One Clicks Your Video Anyway

Technically, viewers don’t know a good video when they see one. They might 

 the video has what they’re looking for, but people don’t know until they click and watch.

The quality of your thumbnail helps viewers decide what to do. If something on the graphic resonates with them, they’ll click and give your video a chance. If the thumbnail is unappealing, the video gets an abysmal number of views.

YouTube Thumbnail Guide - 9 Ways to Boost Click-Through Rate

That means you could film the best YouTube video ever, but no one would know if the thumbnail is subpar.

That’s one benefit of creating the graphic first and video second. If you design a good preview image, you increase your chances of getting more views. But if the design fails, that's OK too. The video can wait until you improve the thumbnail.

2. A Thumbnail Helps You Brainstorm Video Titles

Do you struggle to write titles for your videos? If you’ve tried every hack imaginable, the next step is to give up for a while. Yes, you read that right. Take a break from organizing your words and craft visual concepts instead.

It’s easier to describe something when you can see it in real-time.

 Take the best parts of your video idea – the emotions you want to convey, the value you want to give – and create a thumbnail portraying those qualities. This visual aid helps you describe your content and write a better video title.

9 Ways to Write Exciting YouTube Titles for Your Videos

Ask yourself: Which emotions should people feel while watching?

Create a draft thumbnail portraying those emotions.

Pull inspiration from the graphic to describe your video emotionally.

Turn the description into a click-worthy title.

Getting people to click your videos is the ultimate YouTube goal. This method of creating thumbnails first and connecting them to your title is one way of doing that.

3. There’s Less Work to Do After Filming/Editing

Some creators spend hours making a thumbnail for 

 video. If our survey is correct, and 86% of people like to do that last, how does that affect creators’ energy?

Think of all the things you do before making a thumbnail:

You’re demanding a lot from your brain when you make 

– a mentally draining task – one of your last steps.

Imagine how it feels to upload a video as soon as it’s edited. There’s no need to create graphics at the last minute or brainstorm titles; you feel calm and happy because the next immediate step is posting your content.

, including thumbnail creation. That way, you expend energy at the right time for the right tasks.

Making thumbnails before you press record is an excellent productivity hack.

Want to up your game even more? Here are four tips for posting more YouTube videos in less time.

Making a thumbnail before you record a video seems odd, but the practice benefits your YouTube channel. Here's how.

3 Good Reasons to Make YouTube Thumbnails Before You Film

We know that having a good thumbnail is critical as it really makes a difference between a successful video that brings in loads of views and subscribers and a video that does not.

But what EXACTLY makes a good thumbnail? What should your thumbnail contain and what should it not?

On this episode of TubeTalk, Justin Evans from 

 shares his insights so you can level-up your thumbnail game! Take a listen and learn:

1. About unique and original images
2. How to research the competition
3. How much text should you use
4. What about branding?
5. Why you should Zoom out

Take a listen as the vidIQ team discuss what we've learned from 2020, and what 

video strategies we'll take with us into 2021.

Catch up on the Latest YouTube News With TubeTalk

TubeTalk is one of the most popular and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to TubeTalk on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode!

You can also find the complete list of all the

On this episode of TubeTalk, we're all about what makes an outstanding YouTube custom thumbnail.

5 Tips for a Winning YouTube Custom Thumbnail

By now, you may have noticed that the Shorts player in the YouTube app doesn't show custom thumbnails. Instead, YouTube chooses a random frame from your video, which becomes the image preview for your Short. 

Notice how all the videos below have random thumbnails:

On channel pages, including the YouTube Shorts featured section on your homepage.

YouTube Shorts that appear in YouTube search, whether on mobile or desktop.

So while the Shorts player doesn't support thumbnails, you can upload one that shows up in other areas.

How to Upload a Custom Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts 

Uploading a YouTube Shorts thumbnail is the same process as adding one to a regular video. Kind of. There's just a tiny step you may be overlooking.

Head to a desktop computer and open your channel's 

Find the YouTube Short you just uploaded (it should be at the top of your uploads list). Click the 

. Here, YouTube gives you the option to add a custom thumbnail to your Short.

 before you can upload custom thumbnails.

How to Enable Custom Thumbnails On YouTube

Should You Create Thumbnails for YouTube Shorts?

Creating a YouTube Short on your phone and then grabbing a laptop to add a thumbnail is a hassle. Are all those extra steps even worth it?

It depends on the content you're creating, but we'd say 

 Viewers can watch a Short in multiple areas of YouTube, so it makes sense to optimize the video for different viewing scenarios.

The most common place to watch a YouTube Short is the Shorts player itself. This featured display area lets viewers cycle through videos of 60 seconds or less in a TikTok-style fashion. When a video is randomly featured there, you can expect it to get 

. Or, as we mentioned before, viewers can watch a YouTube Short on channel pages or watch pages as a regular video.

You'll know when this has happened because the 

video's analytics will show the following traffic sources

If you see viewing percentages from the traffic sources above, your Short has reached the "regular" side of YouTube. And as we mentioned before, regular videos 

How Many Views Will You "Lose" Without a YouTube Shorts Thumbnail?

To understand how vital these thumbnails are, take a look at "

." It's a popular YouTube Short from Dan, our gaming expert. 

Dan optimized the video for two viewing experiences by creating the thumbnail below. It only shows up when people are watching outside of the YouTube Shorts player.

“How to Make a Map in Minecraft 1.16.3” has already surpassed 1 million views. But before it was that successful, most of the views came from users watching it as a YouTube Short (around 80%). 

Viewers watching it as a regular video accounted for less than 150,000 views.

Nevertheless, that’s a significant number. Imagine hundreds of thousands of viewers deciding whether to watch a YouTube Short, and the deciding factor is whether they see a nice, custom thumbnail or a random freeze-frame. It's possible that without a custom thumbnail, those viewers wouldn’t have clicked so enthusiastically.

The Best Way to Increase YouTube Shorts Views

Let’s say you want to increase views for videos watched as a YouTube Short. What should you do?

 That's the only thing you can control when a viewer is swiping at warp speed through random videos. Make your title concise, irresistible, and less than 40 characters.

Think less about search engine optimization and create emotional triggers. 

Your video should be short, snappy, and have a "light bulb" moment that entertains or enlightens viewers. It’s all about in-the-moment shock value because no one is "searching" for YouTube Shorts.

Remember, a great thumbnail should be your priority when it comes to regular videos.

For YouTube Shorts, the title and entertainment value are most important. At the same time, the extra views from adding a thumbnail are significant, so you may have to think deeply before deciding against one.

Want to keep viewers watching your Shorts for longer? Here's how to earn more Watch Time by looping YouTube Shorts.

YouTube Shorts have come a long way, but not so far that it's easy to upload a custom thumbnail. Here's the extra step you're overlooking, and why you need it to get more views.

YouTube Shorts Thumbnails: How to Upload Them for a Boost In Views

 and best practices, we spoke to one of the very best thumbnail artists in the business, 

 are the creators behind the wildly popular 

 series. Creating stand-out custom thumbnails for their content is an integral part of the process, and Vy gave us a sneak peek into what works across their YouTube channels.

Over the past few years, Vy and her team have been testing and refining the type of thumbnails that drive viewers to click through to watch. It’s a strategy that’s worked to generate a combined 

 across the five YouTube channels Vy manages. She gives us some exclusive insights into the use of color, graphics and text to create the perfect image.

#1Use Color to Make Custom Thumbnails Pop

Take a look at any of Vy and Chad’s YouTube channels and the first thing that hits you about the custom thumbnails is the extraordinary use of color. As experts in the game this is absolutely intentional.

Vy explains that the content they create appeals to a younger demographic who respond really well to bright and vibrant colors. In order to maximise the appeal of the thumbnails, Vy and her team play with, enhance, and even radically change the colors on the image until the get the results they know will work.

Using just Photoshop, colors are saturated, backgrounds are blurred to make the foreground objects stand out, and drop shadows and outer glows are used to further make those objects or text pop. Vy will also separate out the background and foreground on different layers for added image clarity and depth. To break this process down further, let’s take a look at the thumbnail Vy and her team created for ‘

You can see the image-editing expertise fully in action on this thumbnail. Vy has used a fairly blurred 2 color background on one layer, with herself and the hacker on another layer. The two figures have been outlined using the outer glow tool so they stand out, drawing the viewer's attention to Vy’s bright jacket and the white mask of the hacker.

The jacket is actually blue denim but Vy changes the color for every thumbnail she wears it for based on the other colors she's using. The team mix and match complementary colors based on the background and the objects in the thumbnail, and Vy will often change the color of the jacket so it’s the opposite to what anyone else in the thumbnail is wearing. So while it looks like Vy owns 30 denim jackets of the same design, it’s actually just the one clothing item that’s been manipulated to bring out the very best in the custom thumbnail.

Vy and the team also use colors to create a sense of consistency across their thumbnails with splashes of the same color popping up across different images. This creates a motif that runs through their thumbnails and reinforces the branding and familiarity of the channels.

#2 Keep Text on Custom Thumbnails to an Absolute Minimum

Another thing you’ll notice from the thumbnails created across Vy’s, Chad’s and the Project Hacker YouTube channels is that text is kept to an absolute minimum, or not used at all.

Obviously this creates extra pressure on the designer who has to get the focus of the content over without spelling it out for the viewer. Vy and her team are world-class experts at this and know exactly when to use text only when necessary. When they do, it’s big and bright and it counts.

Vy confirms that a lot of rookie mistakes she sees with custom thumbnails on YouTube is trying to cram in as much text as possible. Unfortunately, it becomes almost impossible to read when you shrink the thumbnail down. When the graphic becomes too busy the viewer is going to have a hard time understanding what your video is about and they may not even click through to find out.

Vy’s team have solid rules for text use: use three words or less for any thumbnail, keep that text precise, and only ever use if it makes the story complete. Also, think about the colors you use for the text to make it stand out. And don’t repeat the title in the thumbnail - ever!

Another vital component of the successful custom thumbnails that Vy and her team create is the use of emotion to draw viewers in. If just one person is in the thumbnail, they will use the face that shows the stronger emotion, and if there are two or more people, each will have a slightly different emotion to foster attention. This is incredibly important for capturing the eyeballs of the younger audiences scrolling through the YouTube feed on their mobile devices.

Another very effective way of conveying a strong emotion in a person is to actually show the whites of their eyes. Vy spends a lot of time on faces and knows how to make the most out of them. In the thumbnail for ‘

’ Vy accentuated Chad’s green iris and the whites of his eyes with Photoshop’s Saturation tool to make them really come alive. This really helps when it comes to the human connection.

But Vy goes even further to create a sense of emotion with viewers. Not only does she want to attract viewers with facial expressions, but also with a sense of action and purpose from the people featured in the image. As this is rarely achieved from someone just standing still, she makes sure that Chad, herself, or the Hacker are in some kind of motion - like running or fighting back. The aim is to create a need for the audience to find out what happens next.

#4 Don’t Make the Custom Thumbnail an Afterthought

The art of the thumbnail is something Vy’s team considers before shooting even begins. The topic of the video, and the story around it is a critical starting point for the graphic. The base image isn’t taken from a screenshot, it’s shot separately and taken from one of many images created during the photoshoot.

Vy will take multiple shots from multiple angles so she has a wide range of creative assets to work from. Thumbnails are never an afterthought for the team, and are as important as creating the main video content.

#5 Keep on Testing Thumbnails - and Replace if You Need To

Vy will monitor click through rate very closely after uploading a video, and is quick to respond if she feels a thumbnail it isn’t working as well as she expects. She tracks the click through rates of all of their custom thumbnails in a spreadsheet and analyses the data for performance insights. But as an expert, she’ll use her experience and instinct to change up a thumbnail within the first 48 hours if the video isn’t getting the views - even before she can confirm the CTR. Talking of 

Huge thanks to Vy for letting vidIQ in on her insights and process around creating the best custom thumbnails on YouTube. As you can see, creators who are pulling in millions of views never leave their thumbnail to chance. And you shouldn't either. For a recap of this expert's guide to creating stunning YouTube custom thumbnails, check out our video below:

Want To Get More YouTube Views & Subscribers?

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

We give you 5 expert tips on why creating the best YouTube custom thumbnails should NEVER be an afterthought if you want to grow views and subscribers fast.

Why YouTube Custom Thumbnails Should NEVER Be an Afterthought: 5 Expert Tips

At vidIQ we receive a lot of questions regarding click through rate (CTR) including “I have X% click through rate, is that any good”? It's a reasonable question if you’re new to YouTube analytics and one creators should certainly ask themselves. For instance, would you prefer a click through rate of 7.8% with 106 views or a click through rate of 2.8% with over 100,000 views? And what exactly is the difference?

, we’ve focused on the essentials of how to create thumbnails that people will click on, but what is the end result? That is the click through rate. It is one of the newest and most powerful analytics on YouTube, but it can be downright confusing and detrimental to the growth of your channel if not understood properly. Lots of creators get fixated on the CTR number and often compare themselves to other channels or to what YouTube is telling them is a good number. So when is click through important and when isn’t it?

In simple terms, click through rate is the number of clicks, divided by the number of thumbnail impressions, or how many times your thumbnail is seen on YouTube.

For example, if your thumbnail is seen 1,000 times on YouTube and 100 people click on it, that's a click through rate of 10%. Now that all sounds simple, but it gets pretty messy pretty quickly because it's quite complex to count all of these impressions. YouTube themselves admit they don't count every time a thumbnail is seen - for example, when it appears on an external website, through an email, or a push notification, of if less than 50% of a thumbnail is seen on screen.

So, when it comes to YouTube analytics, your click through rate, and your views, the math will never add up. This is, of course, beyond your control. If the numbers don't add up, just be aware that there is a margin of error.

So, what is a good click through rate? YouTube's official Help Center answer is this: 

half of all channels and videos on YouTube have an impressions click through rate that can range between 2% and 10%

. However, you need to be very careful about how you interpret these numbers. First of all, the smaller the channel or video, the smaller the numbers, the smaller sample size, which means that you can get bigger spikes, whether it be 30% click through rates or 1% click through rates.

Secondly, the age of a video can affect its click through rates. When you first release a video, it's hitting all of your subscribers and its getting an extra boost from YouTube, so you may get a higher click through rate. But what if your video starts off with a high click through rate and then all of a sudden you get a boost from YouTube, get lots of extra views, and the click through rate goes down? Is that what you want? Quite simply: Yes. As YouTube explains, if a video gets a lot of impressions, for example if it gets promoted on a Home Page or Watch Next, it's natural for the click through rate to be lower than for videos where most of the impressions are from sources like your channel page.

I mean, what would you prefer? YouTube to share your content amongst your friends, your family, your subscribers, your close-knit community who are more likely to click on your content or for YouTube to share your content amongst the entire platform's audience where they might be less invested in your content, but you're bound to get a lot more clicks. I know which I would prefer.

Also, another thing that video creators tend to do is panic when they see one analytical number and YouTube is suggesting they should have a completely different one. This is why magic numbers can be so dangerous. Imagine if YouTube revealed what the ideal, average watch-time for a video should be or the ideal audience retention percentage should be. Once there is an official benchmark out there in the world, everybody strides towards that number. And it doesn't matter where you are in your journey or how far you've got to leap to reach that number, if you don't meet it, you feel unfulfilled. You feel like a failure, so let's stop for a second. Take a step back and work out how we can set some realistic goals to improve click through rate.

Realistic CTR Goals for Your YouTube Channel

Let's start with this question: when it comes to YouTube analytics, who are you competing against? Is it the big YouTubers who inspired you to start your own channel? Is it channels who make similar content to you and that are of a similar size? Or are you competing against numbers that YouTube have recommended you should be hitting? If you said yes to any of these, I'm afraid you've got this all wrong.

The ONLY analytics you should be comparing against are your own because, put very simply, those are the only numbers you have complete control over. Now, just in case you don't know where the click through rate analytics are, let me show you. In the new Creator Studio, click on the Analytics section and from here, you want to click on the reach viewers tab at the top and then from these boxes, you can click on impressions click through rate and this will show you what it is for the last 28 days.

As you can see, our current click through rate is 4.8%, which according to YouTube, is below average. However, what they doesn't take into account was where we were this time last year. Back then, the click through rate on our channel was in a much worse state, averaging between just two and three percent. That's when we really started to focus on our thumbnail game - by assessing where we were and improving that number.

Getting potential viewers to look at your impactful thumbnails and reading your intriguing titles is so important. When it comes to CTR and 

, more is better, YouTube rewards you when you improve these two numbers.

How do YouTube custom thumbnails impact your click through rate? And when is click through rate important and when isn’t it?

What Every YouTube Creator Needs to Know About Custom Thumbnails and Click Through Rate

Welcome to another in our exclusive series about getting the most out of 

, but what about the thumbnails you have used for the videos you’ve already published?. Your previous endeavors in the world of creating imagery probably wasn't that great. At vidiQ our thumbnails have certainly evolved in the past year - now we are more consistent with colors, and use much less text.

We know for a fact that our thumbnails are better than what they used to be because of data. If we look at our YouTube click-through rate analytics, it tells us that people are twice as likely to click on our videos now than they were this time last year. So, should you go back through your old videos and update the thumbnails to the skills you have now in the hope that you will get more clicks and more views? Well, this case study might answer that question.

Vevo: Updating YouTube Custom Thumbnails Generated Millions of Extra Views

Even VEVO, one of the largest providers of musical content on YouTube, 

admitted to their own failing when it came to custom thumbnails

. Nine months ago, they decided to embark on a hugely ambitious project to update the thumbnails on thousands of their videos, including this one for 

. The thumbnail went from looking like on the one on the left to the one on the tight:

The short term effect was quite staggering. After the initial surge of views things were starting to flatline, but that switch in thumbnail was just the injection the video needed. The switch-up gave the video an immediate jolt in views, as well as more evergreen momentum afterwards. Vevo confirm that the thumbnail change for that specific video resulted in a 4000% increase in views over a two week period.

Now, obviously a sample size of just one is going to give you some pretty extraordinary results, but what about if you do this over 4000 videos. Well, that's exactly what Vevo did and this is what happened. On average, there was a marked increase in views over a 20 day period, before leveling off to an improved rate of over 5%, compared to how the videos performed prior to the thumbnail change.

Why You Should Update Your YouTube Custom Thumbnails to Generate More Views

So, this is a no brainer, isn't it? I need to go through all of the terrible thumbnails I was making three years ago, update them all, and I'm guaranteed views. Not so fast. It's important to remember that pretty much every video Vevo releases comes with some traction of view velocity, so that even a few years down the line, that video will be getting hundreds of thousands or views.

Uploading eye-catching custom thumbnails for your YouTube videos is vital, but will changing old thumbnails help generate more views? Check out these insights from Vevo.

YouTube Custom Thumbnails

12 Types of YouTube Thumbnails People Love to Click On

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3 Good Reasons to Make YouTube Thumbnails Before You Film

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5 Tips for a Winning YouTube Custom Thumbnail

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YouTube Shorts Thumbnails: How to Upload Them for a Boost In Views

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Why YouTube Custom Thumbnails Should NEVER Be an Afterthought: 5 Expert Tips

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What Every YouTube Creator Needs to Know About Custom Thumbnails and Click Th...

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How Updating Custom Thumbnails Generated Millions of Extra Views for Vevo

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10 Reasons Why Some Custom Thumbnails Work and Others Don't

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How to Download a YouTube Thumbnail (New Method)

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How to Make Custom Thumbnails - The Essential Guide!

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How to Enable Custom Thumbnails On YouTube

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