Captivate Audiences: Unveiling Secrets for Striking YouTube Banners

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The art on your YouTube channel – banners, thumbnails, icons, and watermarks – will help to determine how viewers feel about your vlog. If your art does not look like it all goes together then people will get a sloppy, amateurish, impression of your channel. However, if your different pieces of channel art all seem to complement each other and match the tone and theme of your channel then it will help viewers to have a pleasant browsing experience. They will get the impression that you take your YouTube channel seriously and that they can trust you as a source of information, comedy, or general entertainment.

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

YouTube Banners and Thumbnails are two of the most important pieces of channel art you will need. This article will explain the best practices for both, and suggest sites where you will be able to build your own banners and thumbnails for free.

1. YouTube Banners

Quick Tips:

The image you upload for your YouTube banner should be 2560 x 1440px (pixels).
The ‘safe area’ for text, logos, and other important visual information (like faces) is 1546 x 423px.

Your banner is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about channel art. Banners are the headers that rest at the tops of channel pages on YouTube. Your banner should be 2560 x 1440 px, although not all of it will always be visible. On a desktop computer or mobile device only a 1546 x 423 px ‘safe area’ will be visible. When viewed on a TV screen your entire image will be visible. YouTube does support PNG, but if your PNG file does not upload properly (as has been the case for some YouTubers) then changing your file type to JPEG might help.

YouTube Banners are extremely important to the success of your channel. If you do not have a banner then it looks like you do not really care about your vlog. If you have a basic banner that is not at all personalized then it certainly looks like you care, but it might also look like you are new to YouTube.

The best banners are customized to reflect the kind of experience you want viewers to have on your channel. The banner of a comedic YouTube channel might use bright colors, where the banner for a gaming channel will probably use darker colors similar to the ones that are in the games the vlogger plays. Connecting your banner to the theme of your channel is part of how you define the style of your vlog. It is the difference between being a Beauty Guru and a general YouTuber who gives makeup tips sometimes.

Including a photo of yourself, or your logo if you have one, is a great way to personalize your banner.

2. YouTube Thumbnails

Quick Tips:

Search for your video’s topic to see the thumbnails your thumbnail will be competing against.
Make any text huge so people can read it on their smartphone screens.
Emojis, colored boarders, and graphics are all potential ways to stand out.

Thumbnails are often ignored by newer YouTubers. YouTube selects a thumbnail for every one of your videos and it is always a still image from that video. You can choose which frame you want to use and a lot of people feel like that is good enough. When you create a custom thumbnail, however, you get to not only choose your image but insert a title.

If you are choosing the images you are using for thumbnails you can make sure they are always similar frames. This will help people identify your videos quickly in searches. Using titles in your thumbnails will also help searchers identify your videos, if you always use the same title style. Another benefit of titles is that they capture the attention of people looking for your specific topic. Remember when building your thumbnails that they will appear smaller on YouTube than they probably are while you edit them. On mobile devices, they will look even smaller. So, if you are going to use text in your thumbnail, make sure it is huge.

One thumbnail taboo that you should never break is using an image that has nothing to do with your video. Using an image of a cute cat for a vlog post that has nothing to do with cats is misleading and will anger viewers. You may draw in a lot of viewers who want to see a cat video, but they will leave right away when they do not see a cat and they will never watch anything by you again.

3.Where To Create Banners and Thumbnails

There are sites online that will allow you to edit images and use them in templates for YouTube banners. You can also use these services to edit your thumbnails. Two of the most popular, free, online photo editors are PicMonkey.com and Canva.com.

Canva has templates you can use to create YouTube banners, as well as a variety of stock images you can use in combination with your own when creating channel art. It is free to edit images on Canva, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each to access. This service has both a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. PicMonkey is free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 per month, and yearly subscriptions are $2.75 per month.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Unveiling Your Online Income: An All-Encompassing Guide on Measuring YouTube Growth & Earnings

It’s not the easiest way to earn money online, but YouTube is one of the best ways. YouTube is a powerful channel to promote your video and get more traffic.

The most common question is how much YouTubers earn on 100, 1000, or 10,000 views. We’re going to answer that question in this article and explain how to calculate YouTube views to money.

First off, we’re going to talk about how YouTube works.

Next, we’ll examine the importance of YouTube views, plus how to calculate them.

YouTube Money Calculator
Aux mode
Tunepocket

Estimated your YouTube earning by YouTube revenue reports
How much money can you make on YouTube?
Bonus tip: Increase YouTube earnings with a powerful video editing software

Part 1: The rules to know for each means earning money from YouTube

As a YouTube creator, finding ways to earn money from your content cannot be easy. Some creators make a living solely off their channels. Others supplement their income with affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and ad revenue. But if you want to earn money from YouTube truly, you need to understand which monetization methods work best for you and your content.

Here’s what you should know when using each method and why you should consider doing so:

Methods	Viewers/Clicks/Impressions	Earnings/Commission
YouTube Ads $1 CPM	1 million Ad views	Average rate per ad=0.18Total ~ $5000
Brand Sponsorships	5K Sub 5K-30K Sub 30K-500K Sub 500K-1M+ Sub	$300 $700 $950 $3500
Affiliate Marketing 30%-35% commission	If 100 people buys $20 product through affiliate link. Total $2000	$2000*35%= $700
Crowdfunding (Patreon, Indiegogo, GoFundMe) $5	100 subscribers funds the channel	100*5=$500
Merchandise Shelf $5 Shirt	100 subscribers purchases your merch	100*5=$500
Channel Memberships $5/month	100 loyal subscribers join membership	100*5=$500

YouTube Ads

The video ads on the platform aren’t lucrative and can be used to supplement your income in the form of AdSense earnings. An actual advertiser pays 0.18 per ad view on average (as shown above). That means 1000 ad views equals $18 and $3-$5 per 1000 views.

Brand Sponsorships

Brands can sponsor your videos to reach their target audience. YouTube videos are a big part of our lives, and brands are becoming increasingly aware of how useful these videos can be. To be eligible for sponsorship, your channel must be of 5000 subscribers.

Affiliate Marketing

YouTubers help brands increase sales by encouraging their viewers to shop at the company’s store or visit its specific product pages. They then earn a commission (30%-35%) on products that people buy after clicking an affiliate link.

Crowdfunding

Today many people use crowdfunding websites to raise money for personal, channel-related projects. Most YouTubers are doing it to generate steady cash flow. Some of them use this source to fund their YouTube videos so that it increases quality and engagement.

Merchandise Shelf

Your merchandise represents and feeds your audience’s connection with you. Your product is your business, so you’re first and foremost an entrepreneur. Then design your YouTube marketing strategy to sell your merchandise and generate income.

Channel Membership

YouTube has a plan that allows you to charge your subscribers for membership on your YouTube channel. Members get access to exclusive live chats, badges, emojis, etc. Subscribers must give a set amount every month to a channel that makes a steady monthly income for YouTubers.

Part 2: Calculate YouTube income by YouTube Money Calculator

How much money do you earn on YouTube? There is no simple way to answer this question, but a YouTube income calculator can give you a rough estimate. It shows you whether you’re getting enough money to keep producing videos or if you need to look for additional ways of making money from your channel.

The tools below provide a detailed breakdown of the earnings from a specific YouTube video or channel based on audience engagement, views, and other factors.

YouTube Money Calculator

Pros

Does not ask for much information, just a URL
It has flexibility to check earnings by channel and video separately

Cons

Calculate earnings based on views only

How-to-steps

Step1 To check earnings by channel, import the channel URL and click the search icon.

Step2 You’ll see the result showing, ‘Number of total Subscribers’, ‘Number of Total Video Views’, ‘Total estimated earnings’, and ‘Average Earnings per Video’.

Step3 If you want to check earnings by video, below you’ll see another search bar where you can paste the specific video URL.

Step4 The result will show you the ‘Number of Total Video Views’, and ‘Estimated Video earnings’.

Aux mode

Pros

Easy interface, with a view slider
Does Not require any information

Cons

Based on your video view count only

How-to-steps

Go to AUX MODE

Step1 You can type total video views or, increase or decrease total views with the arrows.

Step2 Below you’ll find a slider, you can slide forward to increase views and vice versa.

Step3 On your right, you’ll find estimated results in real time. You can also enter your email address to recieve the result in you inbox.

Tunepocket

Pros

Slider interface shows real time result
It shows all results based on views, existing video, and revenue of whole channel

Cons

None

How-to-steps

Step1 The first calculator on the page is based on daily views. Drag the slider according to your video views and below you’ll find estimated earnings including daily, monthly, and annually.

Step2 Scroll down and you’ll find another calculator that requires specific video URL. Copy and paste the URL of YouTube video and get results based on views.

Step3 The last calculator is about the estimated revenue for a channel. You need to paste the channel URL to find the results. It includes, Number of Total Subscribers, Number of Total Videos, Number of Total Video Views, Channel Title, and Estimated Total Earnings

Part 3: Estimated your YouTube earning by YouTube revenue reports

To better understand the best strategies and tactics to optimize your video content, use YouTube analytic reports to help you get a clearer understanding of how your YouTube channel performs. To check your revenue report:

Step1 Login to your YouTube Studio

Step2 In the left menu, select Analytics.

Step3 From the top menu, select Revenue.

RPM

The RPM is calculated based on how much traffic you’re getting from YouTube compared to all your other sources combined. RPM is calculated as total revenue divided by total views times 1000.

Playback-based CPM

Your CPM (Cost Per Thousand) report tells you how much each ad was worth in terms of the percentage of each play a video was spent. The playback-based CPM report shows your estimated average gross revenue per 1000 playbacks where one or more ads are shown.

Monthly estimated revenue

This is a simple report showing the statistics of your video earnings over the last 6 months. It can fluctuate by invalid traffic, content disputes and ad campaign types.

Revenue sources

You must use this report to see your estimated revenue from each revenue source if you have different revenue sources.

Transaction revenue

The transactions reports show you how much your members and fans have spent in transactions. It shows estimated earnings from channel memberships and merch.

Top-earning videos

This top-earning videos report will show you the most profitable videos and their estimated revenue.

Ad type

If you use different types of Ads for your videos, this report will help you find the percentage of your Ads revenue from each ad type.

Part 4: How much money can you make on YouTube?

The answer to that question can vary widely depending on the type of content you produce and the demographics of your target market. However, we’ve found that a single video ad can be worth anywhere from around $100 to $5,000.

It’s safe to say that most YouTubers earn between $1,000 and $10,000 per month from their ads alone. But there are many other factors to take into consideration when calculating the money, you can make on YouTube:

The number of views your videos get

The key to making money from videos on YouTube is views. The more views you have, the more chance of getting paid will increase. So you need to create videos that will get viewers to click.

According to Forbes’s estimation, you can make $3-$5 per 1000 views. e.g., a video with 1,000,000 views can make around $5,000 on views only.

The engagement level of your audience

When building a YouTube channel, the key to success lies in engaging with your audience. After all, if they don’t like what you’re offering, they will not watch your videos. So you’ve got to have a message that resonates and is useful.

Your channel type

The YouTube algorithm is set up to favor channels with a high volume of views per video and high-quality content rather than low-quality channels that generate a lot of traffic but don’t produce quality videos. So, if you want to increase your revenue from your YouTube videos, try to focus on high-quality content.

Your monetization method

Several monetization methods exist, including Subscription, advertising, affiliate marketing, paid search, and sponsorships. Each monetization method requires a slightly different setup and management, resulting in different revenue.

The country you are in

It is important to know that in some countries, making money off YouTube is extremely difficult. For example, in certain countries, monetizing your videos is impossible without using illegal methods, which will get you into legal trouble.

Some other factors, e.g., it’s worth comparing the RPM of your country and other countries, different rules and prices of YouTube Ads depending on your country.

Bonus tip: Increase YouTube earnings with a powerful video editing software

Are you tired of your boring, run-of-the-mill videos? Are you looking for ways to improve your YouTube earnings? Then let’s look at some of the best editing software to help create your next great content.

Wondershare Filmora is a powerful yet easy-to-use video editing software that makes it easier than ever to make awesome videos. Filmora offers more than 50 cutting-edge tools and effects that make it easier to edit any media source, including videos, photos, and music and share the result in just minutes. Use Filmora’s powerful features like keyframing, motion tracking, split screen, instant mode, VFX, templates etc., to make your video stand out.

Here’s a demo of the software, editing YouTube Shorts:

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step1 Open Filmora 11 application.

Step2 Open Project Settings

Step3 Change Aspect Ratio, Resolution, and Frame rate

Step4 Drag video to the timeline

Step5 Right-click and select Crop to Fit

Step6 Right-Click again and select Crop and Zoom

Step7 Adjust the frame

Step8 Lastly Export you file

Bottom line

People want to watch a video when searching for the answers to a question. The best videos are designed to help users accomplish their specific goals while providing them with something they can take away and use for themselves. You need to put up good videos to keep viewers coming back.

To do that, use the game-changing Filmora 11 (mentioned in the article) to create engaging YouTube videos and amaze your audience. Slowly but surely, your audience will increase and then all the guidance in this article will help you easily analyze, calculate and increase your YouTube revenue.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Part 1: The rules to know for each means earning money from YouTube

Here’s what you should know when using each method and why you should consider doing so:

Methods	Viewers/Clicks/Impressions	Earnings/Commission
YouTube Ads $1 CPM	1 million Ad views	Average rate per ad=0.18Total ~ $5000
Brand Sponsorships	5K Sub 5K-30K Sub 30K-500K Sub 500K-1M+ Sub	$300 $700 $950 $3500
Affiliate Marketing 30%-35% commission	If 100 people buys $20 product through affiliate link. Total $2000	$2000*35%= $700
Crowdfunding (Patreon, Indiegogo, GoFundMe) $5	100 subscribers funds the channel	100*5=$500
Merchandise Shelf $5 Shirt	100 subscribers purchases your merch	100*5=$500
Channel Memberships $5/month	100 loyal subscribers join membership	100*5=$500