A thumbnail or a quick snapshot on a YouTube channel promises to get your video all the rage. The small size image on the face of the YouTube channel is the first impression customers get when coming across your video content. That's the first thing that your audience sees when browsing YouTube. The fonts you use and the style of your thumbnails play a significant role in their decisions to further watch the video. Choosing the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails will increase your content reach and traffic. Thus, a YouTube thumbnail is a clickable small-size shot that viewers can choose to watch by clicking.

Opposing the famous saying, "don't judge a book by its cover", many do judge things by appearance and exterior looks. So do the video watchers on YouTube. A carefully selected video thumbnail will significantly impact the click-through rate on a YouTube video.

As a creator, you should make a separate thumbnail for your video to capture the target's attention; otherwise, YouTube will do it by choosing an unfavorable still shot from the video. Consider the statistics that the daily amount of video watch time on YouTube is 1 billion hours. It would be a huge loss not to have a viral content piece. To make it outstanding, you should ensure your thumbnail has the following elements:

• A clear video subject
• A trustworthy image of a person
• Branding elements (name, logo, color, etc.)
• Optimized for different devices
• Have 1280x720 resolution (with a minimum width of 640 pixels)
• Limit the size to 2MB

Your video's nice headline doesn't attract a video watcher, but the visuals grab their attention and encourage them to click through. You obviously wouldn't like a random weird shot to be featured on the face of the YouTube video. That's why it is vital to discover the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails and use them to your advantage and drive more traffic to your channel.

Best Fonts for YouTube Thumbnails That Will Increase Video Traffic

Impact

To start the list of the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails is Impact. It is all for the Impact it makes. Its boldness brings the Impact to the video. It is a simple but bold font. It simplifies the reader's understanding of the text on the small thumbnail image. This is among the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails to use in review channels or makeup tutorials.

Bangers

Gaming fans are fans of the bangers font. The shadow gives the font a 3D look and makes it stand out. YouTuber Rclbeauty101 is famous for its use. It is an attention-grabbing font for a thumbnail. This font can catch the attention of anime lovers or comic book lovers since it is known as a comic book-style font.

Caribold

Borders and emphasis - that is what is striking about Caribold as one of the selected best fonts for YouTube thumbnails. A dark shadow outlining the font makes it stand out on the background image. Different types of channels use this font; however, it is prevalent in how-to or tutorial videos.

River Drive

River Drive is one of the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails to give your video content an energizing and refreshing air. You can use this font free for personal purposes; however, there is a need to purchase a license to use the font for promotional purposes. To use the font, you don't need expert editing skills. You can make adjustments so that the font appears as part of the background. A lifestyle, travel, or music channel will best fit this font. Famous YouTuber Gabriel Conte uses this font a lot to give his content a more aesthetic look.

Bernhard

Simplicity and elegance are all about the Bernhard font. The letters of the font are elegant and stylish. Initially, this font was a script font, which has now become one of the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails. The font is suitable both for lifestyle and more serious topical channels, like book reviews, historical, or documentaries.

League Spartan

The newbies on YouTube will love this font. It is usually used when starting a new channel. How-to videos make good use of the League Spartan font for thumbnails. The League Spartan is a bold sans-serif font. The font is good for any content, from serious to funny, and will suit all.

5 Tips to Create Effective YouTube Thumbnails

A preview image should stand out in the vast amount of YouTube content since it guarantees the potential audience will click through. Along with the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails that we singled out, there are tips to help you make a great first impression.

A still image

The ideal YouTube thumbnail is possible to get with a still image. If you don't set it yourself, YouTube automatically selects a still image shot from the video. Yet, you should pray the automatic selection is enough to make an impression. That's why choosing a particular snapshot for the thumbnail is a great idea. You should pick a shot that reflects your content matter precisely for maximum attention. An offbeat picture with you making an unusual facial expression will be more intriguing for your viewers to click on the video.

Custom Graphic

To make the content stand out, creators use custom graphics. Custom graphics are used for a specific aim, usually for a campaign. They include logos, banners, and graphics, depending on what the video campaign aims to achieve. On YouTube, custom graphics are used in thumbnails to convey the video's message with one image. Using custom graphics, ensure they clearly feature the core benefits the viewer will get from the video.

Video and Graphic Mix

The still image and the graphic will make a perfect mic for your YouTube thumbnail. To grab maximum attention and engage more people with your content, combine a still video image and graphic. In this mix, influencers and vloggers usually feature themselves, a face, a persona.

Captivating and Simple Titles

More people read the thumbnail titles than the actual video titles. The titles on thumbnails are big and grab attention. As important as the image, the title is also indispensable in hooking the audience. The watcher browsing the abundant YouTube content should pick out your video content, and the right thumbnail design will make them do so. The magic that makes the thumbnail title ideal is its simplicity and clarity. You need to consider also that consumers like creativity and fun. The balance should be between your creativity and authenticity.

Contrast and consistency

An original title you showcase on the thumbnail will only be helpful if your audience can read or understand the writing. Not the handwriting but how the fonts look. They may not even be seen. Here contrast comes into play. Keeping the color balance is decisive in how successful your thumbnail will be in contributing to the click rate. For a powerful visual effect, you should opt for contrast in colors. Choose opposite colors from the color wheel. Consider that the colors match; don't look ugly when putting them next to each other. Keep a wise balance in using the stronger color. Apply it less, focusing on the lighter tone.

Next is to be consistent with your color scheme. Consistency is essential in branding. Thus, you make a distinctive character for your channel, which stands out in the content abundance of YouTube. Choose your branded colors, keep the balance and use them in all your thumbnails. Consistency also refers to the design choices, like layouts, fonts, sizes, and styles. Being consistent guarantees trust from your viewers. And with your distinctive characteristics, you will ensure they recognize your content.

Final Words

Uploading quality video content on YouTube yet doesn't suffice for engagement. Watchers need something more—the attention grabber. On YouTube, what strikes the eyes of the audience is the preview-the idea of what the content will be about, what value it will convey, and what to expect. The thumbnail is the success factor for your YouTube video content. There is no doubt about the role that the right chosen and best fonts for YouTube thumbnails play in boosting traffic to your channel. Even though YouTube automatically generates the thumbnails for the videos you upload, it is better not to leave it to fate.

As a creator, you should carefully choose the most intriguing, excitative, and provoking thumbnail image and mix it with the best fonts for YouTube thumbnails for an unbeaten payoff. In this article, we discussed the best fonts for different purposes and types of content. The fonts covered are the ones that successful YouTubers typically use in their content. Additionally, the tips should help create a winning first impression through thumbnails. It is time to let thumbnails push your content to virality.