Author

Paul Lowe

Paul Lowe writes about refreshing YouTube thumbnails with click-through rate data. A former video editor for small channels, he ends every article with a concrete test you can run on your own channel. He also writes Win at a Glance, a weekly newsletter about thumbnails.

Guide

Shorts

YouTube Shorts Thumbnail Size and Safe Zone

YouTube recommends 2160 x 3840 Shorts thumbnails at 9:16, but many surfaces crop them closer to 3:2. How to size…
Guide

Use cases

YouTube Thumbnail Examples, Taken Apart

Ten common YouTube thumbnail patterns taken apart: why each works, when it fails and which videos it suits, so you…
Guide

Grow a channel

YouTube Thumbnail Best Practices: A Complete Checklist

YouTube thumbnail best practices in one checklist: specs, one focal point, contrast, short text, an honest promise, standing out and…
Guide

How it works

How to A/B test thumbnails without fooling yourself

How to A/B test YouTube thumbnails without fooling yourself: a hypothesis, one change at a time, YouTube’s built-in test, fair…
Guide

How it works

What Is a Good Click-Through Rate on YouTube?

YouTube says half of channels and videos have an impressions CTR between 2% and 10%. Why the range is wide…
Guide

Concepts

How to create YouTube thumbnails that win clicks

A step by step method for YouTube thumbnails that read at a glance, set a clear promise and win the…
Guide

Concepts

YouTube Thumbnail Size: Dimensions, Ratio and Specs

YouTube now recommends 3840 x 2160 thumbnails at 16:9, minimum width 640, in JPG or PNG up to 50 MB.…
Guide

Comparisons

What is the best tool for making YouTube thumbnails?

The best YouTube thumbnail maker depends on your bottleneck. Template editors, professional editors, AI generators and performance tools compared by…