We have released a new book, "Social Media Content Marketing: How to get into the head of subscribers and make them fall in love with your brand."
Today we will talk about the visual component of a good channel: the design for YouTube. After all, as they say: "they meet on clothes." And our goal is not only a warm meeting, but quite a commercial benefit.
Both beginners and well-known companies have long used video hosting for this very purpose. If you are still not on their lists, then it's time to correct this situation right now. Imagine that an unknown voice from above told you: "Get up and go ... conquer the expanses of YouTube."
Why do we need pictures for the YouTube header and what depends on the design
It would seem, what is the use of a properly and stylishly designed background image? After all, this is “taste”, “you can’t please everyone”, “and in general, who cares about pictures if we have videos about the work of a car service”?
In fact, many. Almost everyone.
Of course, much attention must be paid to the subject of the videos, and the selection of keywords, as well as the annotation settings, the description and design of the channel as a whole. We have already told you about all this in articles.
But to come to success, this is not enough. You need to be different from the rest. Want to be another sausage factory with cows or a bouncy bunch of pink sausages in the background?
No. You need to stand out, be remembered, attract, beckon, make you admire, like, go to the site and, most importantly, buy.
Official statistics state that its audience is more than a billion users, and the number of people who start watching all the videos of the resource's homepage as if watching home TV has tripled over the past year.
All this gives you incredible benefits of using this platform to promote your brand through video content, so why not take advantage of it?
A well-designed header of your channel is one of the commercial ranking factors. It increases the click-through rate of videos, brand awareness, helps to attract and interest new users in your products or services, which means sales, clicks, traffic, popularity and envy of competitors.
How to make a design for YouTube: photo 2560 x 1440
The appearance of your channel is your face. No more, no less. It should fully reflect the type of activity of your company, favorably represent your brand and speak of good taste.
Immediately after creation, you will not have any image - it will be replaced by a simple gray background. The same as mine. To start the transformation, just click on "Add Channel Art".
Then you will see various options for adding a photo: you can download an image from a PC, use a photo from the gallery, or use standard images.
While we have not yet created anything ingenious, I will choose the most iridescent of them as an example. Black and white foliage.
YouTube immediately shows me how it will look on various types of devices. Everything suits me, I save.
As a result, I get this design.
If you are less accommodating than I am, and you don’t like the placement of the picture, then you can crop it however you wish. Click on the button of the same name.
A window like this will appear. In it, you can independently set the size of the displayed area. To view the various design options available, click on View on Devices.Adjust the picture and save the result.
Here is such a simple instruction that helps you deal with the technical side of the process. But what about the creative side? Here everything is somewhat more complicated.
The background picture should distinguish you from the rest, be unique, memorable, of high quality: without incorrect cropping and scaling.
In addition, she should present you as advantageously as possible - do everything possible to interest the user.
What characteristics should you pay attention to
- File weight
No more than 4 MV. Otherwise, we will simply be denied.
- Format
The most preferred is jpg. Which is quite logical, because to fit into 4 MB a photo of this size in any other resolution is an almost impossible mission (unless you are a fan of monochrome or one-color fill).
Natalia Petrachkova
Lead Copywriter
In addition to these nuances, it is important not to forget one more thing.
The image that you have chosen to set in the header will not be shown in full. In this case, it all depends on the type of device from which the user will access it.
Visitors from TVs, tablets, computers and smartphones are at risk of seeing different information about you. To prevent this from happening, use a safe zone.
- Image size
The ideal image resolution for a YouTube channel background is 2560 x 1440 pixels. Images of exactly this size are equally well displayed on small displays of smartphones and on large monitors of computers and TVs.
How competently you use the desktop (desktop different screens) users, depends on what information and in what capacity they see.
- The central part (1546 x 423) is the most protected. Everything that is posted in this area will appear to users who log in from all types of devices.
- If you add side segments to it, you can see which format is preferred for tablets (1855 x 423).
- The entire central part (2560 x 423) will appear only to users logged in from a computer.
- But the full image (2560 x 1440 in size) can only be seen from TVs.
This knowledge will help you correctly group the information in the picture about your company so that all potential customers can read it.
What information is in question, now I will tell.
Features of designing a picture in a Youtube header: from one extreme to another
When designing your background image, it's important to stay sane -do not go overboard with small details, do without controversial color combinations and what falls under the law on Internet censorship.
So, what is allowed, and what is better not to do?
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Quality pictures
Choose photos in good resolution, those that do not need to be stretched and cropped. Blurry, pixelated, mis-cropped images are bad.
By the way, here is what I will see from a smartphone in a similar situation.
Well, at least Vlad himself can be seen well, but everything else is incomprehensible.
High-quality, stylish, unique pictures are good. As an example, here is the channel of the Moscow Central Department Store.
The view from the phone is also quite decent.
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Useful information
Don't miss the opportunity to use your channel's background image as a promotional platform. So you will immediately let your customers know who you are, what you do, how to find you, most importantly, add such information correctly.
Another example of the clever use of background image space. The picture does not overlap the basic information about the areas of the courses provided, contacts have been added. Everything together looks quite harmonious.
The picture in the channel header can be used as a platform for announcements of promotions, seasonal offers, launching new activities, and much more. Just make changes and upload a new image. For example, like this.
In addition, regularly updating the background screen saver will allow you to promote certain products. For example, implement seasonal offers. In autumn, you can put an advertisement for rubber boots and stylish raincoats in the header of your store. Or here is a good example of how to advertise the release of a winter line of cosmetics by making the appropriate design.
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Moderation
This point is quite subjective. However, many will agree that any design should be tasteful. Remember that sometimes the rule "the simpler the better" works best. For example, if you are not strong in working with photo editors.
It should be noted that sometimes brightness and unusualness can still set you apart from other channels and attract the attention of users, becoming your calling card.
But in these cases, it is important to soberly assess not only your Photoshop skills and sense of taste, but also the target audience of your channel and its subject matter.
And here's a pretty neat picture.
- Related Image
Another deadly sin is the selection of pictures that have nothing in common with your type of activity. Of course, no one forces you to think in a standard way and insert a background with the name of your company, typed in large in the center, into the header. You need to attract customers with your business: results, work, and much more. But not by the sea, beach and sand of distant countries (unless you have a travel agency).
It's no secret that viewing your Youtube channel by users brings a certain profit or serves as an advertisement for commercial and industrial enterprises. And the more views and likes there are, the more income will go to your budget, and your link to the video will be in the top of the search engine. There are many ways to promote your own channel, one of which is the right graphic design. This procedure takes a little time, but the results of the work done can exceed all your expectations.
- YouTube channel page structure
- Choosing a background image for your own YouTube channel
- Techniques that should not be used when graphic designing a channel
YouTube channel page structure
The youtube page has buttons and panels that will always remain visible and not subject to any modification. First of all, this applies to the top line with the buttons of the main youtube page: download, alerts, as well as the search bar. All fields that can be edited are below the specified line.
It should be noted that the recommended working area of the variable area is 2560x1440 pixels. This fact should be taken into account if you insert a static image (photo, picture, etc.). If the inserted image is larger or smaller than the specified size, it will be automatically edited (may be cropped or stretched), which will lead to not quite the desired results.
You need to design a background (it is also called a background image, a header, a banner, a splash screen), as well as a logo (avatar) of your channel.
Choosing a background image for your own YouTube channel
As a background image, you should not choose a picture that you just like. It is important to choose just such a background that most closely matches the profile orientation of the channel. For example, if most of the videos are thematically related to the repair of computers or laptops, a background image with a sea beach will not be useful, it is better to place a photo with a laptop, system unit or computer components.
Also you can use special services for background design(caps) channel.
In order to fit the image to the required dimensions, you need to use one of the graphic editors, for example, Adobe Photoshop, in which you can select the required width without losing proportions. In this case, the image will be reflected exactly as you planned. The image must not exceed 4 MB. In some cases, when conservativeness is required, it will be best to insert a solid color or combine the color background with the picture.
Inserting a background image
To insert a background image, just go to your channel, and then click the "Add Channel Image" button. In the subsequent window, you can drag the photo to the specified area or click the "select image from computer" button. If you did not find suitable images on your computer, you can use the standard youtube video hosting gallery.
Embedding a logo on a YouTube channel
As you know, youtube is owned by Google. In addition to this service, the company has to its credit the social network Google+, its own browser and email client. All these services are interconnected by a common login and password during authorization. In addition, these services have a common logo. In other words, by inserting the logo on the youtube channel, it will be displayed in other services. This, in principle, is not a problem, unless it concerns the intersection of the commercial and personal sides. Before creating your own channel, it is best to create a completely new profile (register an email account) specifically for the youtube channel.
It is best to use a themed drawn image as a logo. It should have distinct outlines, because the amount of space allocated for the logo is quite small, and if a lot of details are shown on it, the logo will look more like a blur. For enterprises and companies, the most appropriate option would be to insert a company logo. To insert or change the logo, you need to click on the profile button in the upper right corner and click on the “change” item. You will then be prompted to select a picture on your computer.
Techniques that should not be used when graphic designing a channel
In youtube, as in any other service, there are certain restrictions that cannot be ignored in any case. By placing an image or phrase on the workspace that is not allowed by the rules, firstly, you will play into the hands of your competitors, your image will be significantly damaged, and in the worst case, your channel will be blocked.
Some of the most significant restrictions are:
- placement of pictures with elements of porn;
- inscriptions with racist slogans;
- foul language.
Try to avoid such situations, because it is difficult to gain authority from subscribers, but you can lose it very easily.
Watch a video on how to create a channel:
A stylish and beautifully decorated profile of your youtube channel will help you attract a large number of subscribers, which will help to significantly increase the rating of your channel, your video will be in the top when issuing search engine results, and advertisers will strive to place ads on your channel that you will receive significant percentage of profit.
To run your channel and enjoy it, you need to know what the picture (cover), header, icon and video should have. That is why, in the morning, I set out to write a useful post. I hope the article will justify my hopes, and people who constantly visit the site and the Clear TV channel will be able to find out:
- which youtube image size choose;
- correct cap sizes for youtube;
— what is the size of the youtube video(maximum).
Like it or not, the size of youtube plays a rather significant role in terms of development and attracting new visitors to the channel. I advise you to either write down all the parameters on a piece of paper, or add this article to your bookmarks.
youtube header sizes
The YouTube header is the face of the channel. I agree that many exaggerate its role, but I think that the title page should look beautiful. I confess honestly, for all the time I created about 3-5 hats.
Header dimensions for youtube (in pixels): 2560×1440. I say right away that the design is displayed differently on a computer, mobile device, TV.
So that the size of the header for youtube does not become the cause of lost time, I advise you to pay attention to the following concepts:
— visible header area: 2048x1152 pixels. By choosing the recommended size for the header 2560x1440 and placing the most important information within 2048x1152 (if you take it by eye, it is in the center), be sure that the image will be fully visible on most devices.
The file size for the header on YouTube should not exceed 4 MB.
Maximum video size on Youtube
I used to think that there are no restrictions on Youtube, but I was wrong - the maximum size of an uploaded video should not exceed 128 GB.
If you can't add videos longer than 15 minutes, try going to the "Channel" section, then select "Status and Features" and read what you need to do to add longer videos (from 15 minutes).
What is the size of the youtube video
YouTube players have an aspect ratio of 16:9. Clips of a different format will be displayed without distortion, although the empty space will be filled with a black background.
Here is the optimal size for a youtube video to choose:
2160p: 3840×2160;
1440p: 2560×1440;
1080p: 1920x1080;
720p: 1280x720;
People who record videos from the screen can choose 1280x720. By the way, this format is registered in Camtasia Studio.
youtube channel icon size
What you have to mess with much less is the channel icon. It is enough to upload an image of a round or square shape, which, when zoomed out, will be distinguishable (visible) in the format: JPG, BMP, PNG.
Well, the size of the channel icon on youtube is desirable to choose 600x600 or 400x400 pixels. Once downloaded, it will be compressed to a size of 98x98. Hint: to see in advance how it will all look on the channel, you can set the image size to 98×98 before uploading.
Image size for youtube
A picture for youtube in the understanding of many users is a personalized icon for a particular video. It is not difficult to guess that the size of a youtube image will be similar to the size of a YouTube video. In figures - 1280×720 pixels and no more than 2 MB. Formats: JPG, GIF, PNG and BMP.
I think now you know:
- what is the optimal image size for youtube to choose;
- the correct size of the header for youtube (visible area);
- what is the maximum size of a video on youtube (dimensions, weight).
