Skyrocketing Traffic with These Top 12 YouTube Optimization Techniques

12 Proven Ways to Increase YouTube Views

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

If you want to increase YouTube views on your channel, it’s very important that you follow some of these tips which prove effective for other YouTubers on a daily basis (more interested in subscribers than views? Click here ). There are plenty of simple and completely free ways that you can gain more YouTube views and consistently see more traffic on every video that you produce.

Here are the top 12 ways that you can increase YouTube views on your videos:

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists
2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails
3. Be a Part of the Community
4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends
5. Optimizing Your Content for Keywords
6. Use Keywords in Your Video File Names
7. Write Titles That Are Click-Worthy
8. Use Lots of Tags
9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content
10. Learn from the Success of Your Best Performing Videos
11. Embed Videos in Your Blog/Website
12. Share Your Videos on Social Media

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists

YouTube playlists are an excellent way to chain together your video content and organize your channel, which will both translate into more views.

A quality playlist groups together several videos that are in some way similar. Think about the different ways you could sort your videos – by topic, by type, etc. – and make as many playlists as you can come up with. You can even reuse the same videos on multiple playlists where it makes sense. After you’re done, viewers who want to see all of you Call of Duty Let’s Plays or all of your makeup pallet reviews will be able to find them easily and will spend much more time watching your videos.

By creating a themed playlist of videos that will play one after another you increase the chances of your viewers sticking around to watch multiple videos. Making playlists helps you direct traffic from your more popular videos to the ones that haven’t gotten as many views, and it also helps drive up your watch time. Watch time is an important metric for YouTube’s search engine. When you increase your watch time, you can rank higher in search results and even get more views on YouTube.

2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails

High-quality video thumbnails play a major role in getting views for your YouTube videos. Spending a bit of time in Photoshop or a free online program like Canva on custom thumbnails for every video will help to boost YouTube views and earn you more clicks.

By having specialty thumbnails you will also have another type of content that is indexed by search engines. Every video you post will be searchable by not only text (your description) and video searches, but by image searches as well.

For a list of YouTube thumbnail makers .

3. Be a Part of the Community

Regularly viewing videos from other channels within your genre, especially channels about the same size as yours, and taking the time to leave thoughtful comments can help to build your presence within the online community. Other creators will notice you as you become a regular viewer and this will lead to them going to your channel and watching your videos (without you having to ask!).

You might even be able to create opportunities to collaborate with other creators by first becoming a fan of theirs. Collaboration videos allow you to cross-promote your content and attract new viewers and subscribers.

4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends

New trends are important to jump on , especially when other YouTube creators are having success with videos on a particular set of trends. If there is a worldwide issue going on, a new and popular game, or a meme that everyone is making jokes about, you should consider making your own type of video related to that trend. Trending content almost always earns plenty of views because people search out content related to the trend they’re interested in. Covering a trend can bring in a whole new audience for your channel.

You can find trending topics to make videos on using Google Trends or by checking out the popular channels in your genre to see if there’s a trend they’re all jumping on. When you cover a trend, always try to bring in your own original spin to stand out from the multitude of other videos covering the same trend.

5. Optimizing your Content for Keywords

Every piece of content that you produce for YouTube needs to be appropriately optimized with keywords. This means writing a full description that includes your 3 most important keywords in your first 3 lines, including a large number of appropriate tags and using your most important keyword in your title.

Do some keyword research to figure out what viewers who might enjoy your video will be typing into the search bar. You can start by searching for the topic of your video (i.e. ‘iPhone X review) and seeing what kinds of words are used in the titles and descriptions of the highest-ranked videos (or check out these keyword tools ). You can even see the tags of other people’s videos using a free Chrome extension called VidIQ.

6. Use Keywords in your Video File Names

A commonly overlooked area for optimization is the file names of YouTube videos. Many YouTube creators simply have generic filenames for all of the videos that they upload on the platform, such as ‘youtubevideo54.mp4’. Saving your files with names like this is actually a huge missed opportunity.

Consider renaming your video file to reflect your keyword-optimized video title. Including keywords within your file names will make sure that even the file itself will be indexed properly in a Google video search. This is a very quick, easy, way to increase your search ranking and get more views on YouTube.

7. Write Titles that are Click-Worthy

A title on a YouTube video needs to work just as effectively as any other headline on the internet. You need to be able to capture the attention of your audience and generate excitement while still using important keywords and letting your viewers know exactly what your video is about. Mysterious clickbait titles only work for channels that are already big.

Having the ability to write excellent titles that also carry keyword information that is relevant to your niche will take practice. In order for a title to be click-worthy, it needs to demonstrate a clear benefit for the viewer. A ‘clear benefit’ might be a skill the viewer will learn or information they will gain. Creating a sense of urgency in the title will also help to attract more clicks, and that can be done by using words like ‘now’ or ‘today’.

8. Use Lots of Tags

Every YouTube user is limited to 426 characters for the total number of tags that they can include, and you should try to use as much of that space as you can. The more tags you use, the more potential searches YouTube might add your video to.

It’s important to have high converting tags that will generate a fair amount of viewership. By trying out a wide variety of tags related to your videos in the early days of your YouTube channel you will start to see which perform the best for you. You can then start making videos that target those tags in a more focused manner. As you start to do research into keywords and the types of tags that work best for your channel, you can eventually zero in on some of the best tags that you can use with all of your content moving forward.

9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content

The description that you post alongside your video is often one of the greatest ways that you can index your video in search engine results. Video content is starting to gain an extensive amount of traction especially when it comes to the way that it’s indexed in Google’s video search engine results. In order for your YouTube video to rank well within the search engine results, you need to have a thorough description.

A thorough description means doing keyword research as well as using the maximum number of characters that you can for the description. The largest YouTube descriptions that you might see are around 900 words. That means plenty of opportunities to use keywords within the content and help index the page in search engine results. Google will index the entire description just as it would any other webpage content so including a full transcription of your video or a detailed description of the content that’s in your video will help you to capture a huge audience and increase your YouTube views.

10. Learn From the Success of Your Best Performing Videos

Checking the analytics of your channel regularly is important for creators both big and small. The analytics in your Creator Studio can tell you who’s watching your videos, which videos have the best watch time, and even which videos attract the newest subscribers.

When you know which videos are the most successful at getting people to subscribe, you can figure out why (perhaps it was the way you asked?) and replicate that method in your future videos. This will earn you more views over time because subscribers will watch more of your content.

You should also try to replicate the methods you used to get higher watch times in the videos that perform well in that regard. Improving your watch time will get you higher search engine rankings and more views.

11. Embed Videos in your Blog/Website

Starting your own personal blog or website and embedding your videos within text posts is a great way to get more views. Views gathered outside of YouTube count too, and creating a web page means that there’s one more way for people to find your content in their search results.

If you do not have a blog and do not want to start one, consider whether you can get your videos embedded on someone else’s website or blog. It’s easiest to ask a friend, but you could also try to reach out to a blogger in your niche who doesn’t have their own YouTube channel. Explain that having a video embedded in their post might be useful for their readers, and can help to boost their session time which will be good for their search engine rankings.

12. Share your Videos on Social Media

The YouTube community is quite a large one on its own but it doesn’t hurt to extend your social reach by starting social media pages for your YouTube channel as well. Having an official Twitter or Instagram that is connected to your YouTube account can really help you to share your videos with a wider audience and ensure that you can capture views from many different sources at once.

Social media accounts also help you hold your subscribers’ attention across multiple platforms. Make sure you’re providing some additional value on social media and not just posting links to your videos (i.e. behind the scenes photos).

Building up social media pages will give you plenty of new search engine results with indexed content as well.

Most successful YouTube creators also have links to their social media accounts all across their channel banner and they regularly share their videos as soon as they are posted over their social media accounts so that their followers share their video too.

You should sign up for every social media platform you can think of with your channel name, just so that nobody else can use it, but you only need to actively use the platforms that are relevant to your audience. For example, lifestyle YouTubers should be on Instagram but gamers don’t need to be.

These are all methods that anyone can use for free . Seeing improvements with your YouTube channel isn’t necessarily something that happens overnight but with dedicated work and marketing, you can start to see your channel grow. Consider using some of these strategies to increase YouTube views.

Also want to create an attractive YouTube video? Stay tuned and try Wondershare Filmora!

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

If you want to increase YouTube views on your channel, it’s very important that you follow some of these tips which prove effective for other YouTubers on a daily basis (more interested in subscribers than views? Click here ). There are plenty of simple and completely free ways that you can gain more YouTube views and consistently see more traffic on every video that you produce.

Here are the top 12 ways that you can increase YouTube views on your videos:

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists
2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails
3. Be a Part of the Community
4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends
5. Optimizing Your Content for Keywords
6. Use Keywords in Your Video File Names
7. Write Titles That Are Click-Worthy
8. Use Lots of Tags
9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content
10. Learn from the Success of Your Best Performing Videos
11. Embed Videos in Your Blog/Website
12. Share Your Videos on Social Media

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists

YouTube playlists are an excellent way to chain together your video content and organize your channel, which will both translate into more views.

A quality playlist groups together several videos that are in some way similar. Think about the different ways you could sort your videos – by topic, by type, etc. – and make as many playlists as you can come up with. You can even reuse the same videos on multiple playlists where it makes sense. After you’re done, viewers who want to see all of you Call of Duty Let’s Plays or all of your makeup pallet reviews will be able to find them easily and will spend much more time watching your videos.

By creating a themed playlist of videos that will play one after another you increase the chances of your viewers sticking around to watch multiple videos. Making playlists helps you direct traffic from your more popular videos to the ones that haven’t gotten as many views, and it also helps drive up your watch time. Watch time is an important metric for YouTube’s search engine. When you increase your watch time, you can rank higher in search results and even get more views on YouTube.

2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails

High-quality video thumbnails play a major role in getting views for your YouTube videos. Spending a bit of time in Photoshop or a free online program like Canva on custom thumbnails for every video will help to boost YouTube views and earn you more clicks.

By having specialty thumbnails you will also have another type of content that is indexed by search engines. Every video you post will be searchable by not only text (your description) and video searches, but by image searches as well.

For a list of YouTube thumbnail makers .

3. Be a Part of the Community

Regularly viewing videos from other channels within your genre, especially channels about the same size as yours, and taking the time to leave thoughtful comments can help to build your presence within the online community. Other creators will notice you as you become a regular viewer and this will lead to them going to your channel and watching your videos (without you having to ask!).

You might even be able to create opportunities to collaborate with other creators by first becoming a fan of theirs. Collaboration videos allow you to cross-promote your content and attract new viewers and subscribers.

4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends

New trends are important to jump on , especially when other YouTube creators are having success with videos on a particular set of trends. If there is a worldwide issue going on, a new and popular game, or a meme that everyone is making jokes about, you should consider making your own type of video related to that trend. Trending content almost always earns plenty of views because people search out content related to the trend they’re interested in. Covering a trend can bring in a whole new audience for your channel.

You can find trending topics to make videos on using Google Trends or by checking out the popular channels in your genre to see if there’s a trend they’re all jumping on. When you cover a trend, always try to bring in your own original spin to stand out from the multitude of other videos covering the same trend.

5. Optimizing your Content for Keywords

Every piece of content that you produce for YouTube needs to be appropriately optimized with keywords. This means writing a full description that includes your 3 most important keywords in your first 3 lines, including a large number of appropriate tags and using your most important keyword in your title.

Do some keyword research to figure out what viewers who might enjoy your video will be typing into the search bar. You can start by searching for the topic of your video (i.e. ‘iPhone X review) and seeing what kinds of words are used in the titles and descriptions of the highest-ranked videos (or check out these keyword tools ). You can even see the tags of other people’s videos using a free Chrome extension called VidIQ.

6. Use Keywords in your Video File Names

A commonly overlooked area for optimization is the file names of YouTube videos. Many YouTube creators simply have generic filenames for all of the videos that they upload on the platform, such as ‘youtubevideo54.mp4’. Saving your files with names like this is actually a huge missed opportunity.

Consider renaming your video file to reflect your keyword-optimized video title. Including keywords within your file names will make sure that even the file itself will be indexed properly in a Google video search. This is a very quick, easy, way to increase your search ranking and get more views on YouTube.

7. Write Titles that are Click-Worthy

A title on a YouTube video needs to work just as effectively as any other headline on the internet. You need to be able to capture the attention of your audience and generate excitement while still using important keywords and letting your viewers know exactly what your video is about. Mysterious clickbait titles only work for channels that are already big.

Having the ability to write excellent titles that also carry keyword information that is relevant to your niche will take practice. In order for a title to be click-worthy, it needs to demonstrate a clear benefit for the viewer. A ‘clear benefit’ might be a skill the viewer will learn or information they will gain. Creating a sense of urgency in the title will also help to attract more clicks, and that can be done by using words like ‘now’ or ‘today’.

8. Use Lots of Tags

Every YouTube user is limited to 426 characters for the total number of tags that they can include, and you should try to use as much of that space as you can. The more tags you use, the more potential searches YouTube might add your video to.

It’s important to have high converting tags that will generate a fair amount of viewership. By trying out a wide variety of tags related to your videos in the early days of your YouTube channel you will start to see which perform the best for you. You can then start making videos that target those tags in a more focused manner. As you start to do research into keywords and the types of tags that work best for your channel, you can eventually zero in on some of the best tags that you can use with all of your content moving forward.

9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content

The description that you post alongside your video is often one of the greatest ways that you can index your video in search engine results. Video content is starting to gain an extensive amount of traction especially when it comes to the way that it’s indexed in Google’s video search engine results. In order for your YouTube video to rank well within the search engine results, you need to have a thorough description.

A thorough description means doing keyword research as well as using the maximum number of characters that you can for the description. The largest YouTube descriptions that you might see are around 900 words. That means plenty of opportunities to use keywords within the content and help index the page in search engine results. Google will index the entire description just as it would any other webpage content so including a full transcription of your video or a detailed description of the content that’s in your video will help you to capture a huge audience and increase your YouTube views.

10. Learn From the Success of Your Best Performing Videos

Checking the analytics of your channel regularly is important for creators both big and small. The analytics in your Creator Studio can tell you who’s watching your videos, which videos have the best watch time, and even which videos attract the newest subscribers.

When you know which videos are the most successful at getting people to subscribe, you can figure out why (perhaps it was the way you asked?) and replicate that method in your future videos. This will earn you more views over time because subscribers will watch more of your content.

You should also try to replicate the methods you used to get higher watch times in the videos that perform well in that regard. Improving your watch time will get you higher search engine rankings and more views.

11. Embed Videos in your Blog/Website

Starting your own personal blog or website and embedding your videos within text posts is a great way to get more views. Views gathered outside of YouTube count too, and creating a web page means that there’s one more way for people to find your content in their search results.

If you do not have a blog and do not want to start one, consider whether you can get your videos embedded on someone else’s website or blog. It’s easiest to ask a friend, but you could also try to reach out to a blogger in your niche who doesn’t have their own YouTube channel. Explain that having a video embedded in their post might be useful for their readers, and can help to boost their session time which will be good for their search engine rankings.

12. Share your Videos on Social Media

The YouTube community is quite a large one on its own but it doesn’t hurt to extend your social reach by starting social media pages for your YouTube channel as well. Having an official Twitter or Instagram that is connected to your YouTube account can really help you to share your videos with a wider audience and ensure that you can capture views from many different sources at once.

Social media accounts also help you hold your subscribers’ attention across multiple platforms. Make sure you’re providing some additional value on social media and not just posting links to your videos (i.e. behind the scenes photos).

Building up social media pages will give you plenty of new search engine results with indexed content as well.

Most successful YouTube creators also have links to their social media accounts all across their channel banner and they regularly share their videos as soon as they are posted over their social media accounts so that their followers share their video too.

You should sign up for every social media platform you can think of with your channel name, just so that nobody else can use it, but you only need to actively use the platforms that are relevant to your audience. For example, lifestyle YouTubers should be on Instagram but gamers don’t need to be.

These are all methods that anyone can use for free . Seeing improvements with your YouTube channel isn’t necessarily something that happens overnight but with dedicated work and marketing, you can start to see your channel grow. Consider using some of these strategies to increase YouTube views.

Also want to create an attractive YouTube video? Stay tuned and try Wondershare Filmora!

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

If you want to increase YouTube views on your channel, it’s very important that you follow some of these tips which prove effective for other YouTubers on a daily basis (more interested in subscribers than views? Click here ). There are plenty of simple and completely free ways that you can gain more YouTube views and consistently see more traffic on every video that you produce.

Here are the top 12 ways that you can increase YouTube views on your videos:

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists
2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails
3. Be a Part of the Community
4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends
5. Optimizing Your Content for Keywords
6. Use Keywords in Your Video File Names
7. Write Titles That Are Click-Worthy
8. Use Lots of Tags
9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content
10. Learn from the Success of Your Best Performing Videos
11. Embed Videos in Your Blog/Website
12. Share Your Videos on Social Media

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists

YouTube playlists are an excellent way to chain together your video content and organize your channel, which will both translate into more views.

A quality playlist groups together several videos that are in some way similar. Think about the different ways you could sort your videos – by topic, by type, etc. – and make as many playlists as you can come up with. You can even reuse the same videos on multiple playlists where it makes sense. After you’re done, viewers who want to see all of you Call of Duty Let’s Plays or all of your makeup pallet reviews will be able to find them easily and will spend much more time watching your videos.

By creating a themed playlist of videos that will play one after another you increase the chances of your viewers sticking around to watch multiple videos. Making playlists helps you direct traffic from your more popular videos to the ones that haven’t gotten as many views, and it also helps drive up your watch time. Watch time is an important metric for YouTube’s search engine. When you increase your watch time, you can rank higher in search results and even get more views on YouTube.

2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails

High-quality video thumbnails play a major role in getting views for your YouTube videos. Spending a bit of time in Photoshop or a free online program like Canva on custom thumbnails for every video will help to boost YouTube views and earn you more clicks.

By having specialty thumbnails you will also have another type of content that is indexed by search engines. Every video you post will be searchable by not only text (your description) and video searches, but by image searches as well.

For a list of YouTube thumbnail makers .

3. Be a Part of the Community

Regularly viewing videos from other channels within your genre, especially channels about the same size as yours, and taking the time to leave thoughtful comments can help to build your presence within the online community. Other creators will notice you as you become a regular viewer and this will lead to them going to your channel and watching your videos (without you having to ask!).

You might even be able to create opportunities to collaborate with other creators by first becoming a fan of theirs. Collaboration videos allow you to cross-promote your content and attract new viewers and subscribers.

4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends

New trends are important to jump on , especially when other YouTube creators are having success with videos on a particular set of trends. If there is a worldwide issue going on, a new and popular game, or a meme that everyone is making jokes about, you should consider making your own type of video related to that trend. Trending content almost always earns plenty of views because people search out content related to the trend they’re interested in. Covering a trend can bring in a whole new audience for your channel.

You can find trending topics to make videos on using Google Trends or by checking out the popular channels in your genre to see if there’s a trend they’re all jumping on. When you cover a trend, always try to bring in your own original spin to stand out from the multitude of other videos covering the same trend.

5. Optimizing your Content for Keywords

Every piece of content that you produce for YouTube needs to be appropriately optimized with keywords. This means writing a full description that includes your 3 most important keywords in your first 3 lines, including a large number of appropriate tags and using your most important keyword in your title.

Do some keyword research to figure out what viewers who might enjoy your video will be typing into the search bar. You can start by searching for the topic of your video (i.e. ‘iPhone X review) and seeing what kinds of words are used in the titles and descriptions of the highest-ranked videos (or check out these keyword tools ). You can even see the tags of other people’s videos using a free Chrome extension called VidIQ.

6. Use Keywords in your Video File Names

A commonly overlooked area for optimization is the file names of YouTube videos. Many YouTube creators simply have generic filenames for all of the videos that they upload on the platform, such as ‘youtubevideo54.mp4’. Saving your files with names like this is actually a huge missed opportunity.

Consider renaming your video file to reflect your keyword-optimized video title. Including keywords within your file names will make sure that even the file itself will be indexed properly in a Google video search. This is a very quick, easy, way to increase your search ranking and get more views on YouTube.

7. Write Titles that are Click-Worthy

A title on a YouTube video needs to work just as effectively as any other headline on the internet. You need to be able to capture the attention of your audience and generate excitement while still using important keywords and letting your viewers know exactly what your video is about. Mysterious clickbait titles only work for channels that are already big.

Having the ability to write excellent titles that also carry keyword information that is relevant to your niche will take practice. In order for a title to be click-worthy, it needs to demonstrate a clear benefit for the viewer. A ‘clear benefit’ might be a skill the viewer will learn or information they will gain. Creating a sense of urgency in the title will also help to attract more clicks, and that can be done by using words like ‘now’ or ‘today’.

8. Use Lots of Tags

Every YouTube user is limited to 426 characters for the total number of tags that they can include, and you should try to use as much of that space as you can. The more tags you use, the more potential searches YouTube might add your video to.

It’s important to have high converting tags that will generate a fair amount of viewership. By trying out a wide variety of tags related to your videos in the early days of your YouTube channel you will start to see which perform the best for you. You can then start making videos that target those tags in a more focused manner. As you start to do research into keywords and the types of tags that work best for your channel, you can eventually zero in on some of the best tags that you can use with all of your content moving forward.

9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content

The description that you post alongside your video is often one of the greatest ways that you can index your video in search engine results. Video content is starting to gain an extensive amount of traction especially when it comes to the way that it’s indexed in Google’s video search engine results. In order for your YouTube video to rank well within the search engine results, you need to have a thorough description.

A thorough description means doing keyword research as well as using the maximum number of characters that you can for the description. The largest YouTube descriptions that you might see are around 900 words. That means plenty of opportunities to use keywords within the content and help index the page in search engine results. Google will index the entire description just as it would any other webpage content so including a full transcription of your video or a detailed description of the content that’s in your video will help you to capture a huge audience and increase your YouTube views.

10. Learn From the Success of Your Best Performing Videos

Checking the analytics of your channel regularly is important for creators both big and small. The analytics in your Creator Studio can tell you who’s watching your videos, which videos have the best watch time, and even which videos attract the newest subscribers.

When you know which videos are the most successful at getting people to subscribe, you can figure out why (perhaps it was the way you asked?) and replicate that method in your future videos. This will earn you more views over time because subscribers will watch more of your content.

You should also try to replicate the methods you used to get higher watch times in the videos that perform well in that regard. Improving your watch time will get you higher search engine rankings and more views.

11. Embed Videos in your Blog/Website

Starting your own personal blog or website and embedding your videos within text posts is a great way to get more views. Views gathered outside of YouTube count too, and creating a web page means that there’s one more way for people to find your content in their search results.

If you do not have a blog and do not want to start one, consider whether you can get your videos embedded on someone else’s website or blog. It’s easiest to ask a friend, but you could also try to reach out to a blogger in your niche who doesn’t have their own YouTube channel. Explain that having a video embedded in their post might be useful for their readers, and can help to boost their session time which will be good for their search engine rankings.

12. Share your Videos on Social Media

The YouTube community is quite a large one on its own but it doesn’t hurt to extend your social reach by starting social media pages for your YouTube channel as well. Having an official Twitter or Instagram that is connected to your YouTube account can really help you to share your videos with a wider audience and ensure that you can capture views from many different sources at once.

Social media accounts also help you hold your subscribers’ attention across multiple platforms. Make sure you’re providing some additional value on social media and not just posting links to your videos (i.e. behind the scenes photos).

Building up social media pages will give you plenty of new search engine results with indexed content as well.

Most successful YouTube creators also have links to their social media accounts all across their channel banner and they regularly share their videos as soon as they are posted over their social media accounts so that their followers share their video too.

You should sign up for every social media platform you can think of with your channel name, just so that nobody else can use it, but you only need to actively use the platforms that are relevant to your audience. For example, lifestyle YouTubers should be on Instagram but gamers don’t need to be.

These are all methods that anyone can use for free . Seeing improvements with your YouTube channel isn’t necessarily something that happens overnight but with dedicated work and marketing, you can start to see your channel grow. Consider using some of these strategies to increase YouTube views.

Also want to create an attractive YouTube video? Stay tuned and try Wondershare Filmora!

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

If you want to increase YouTube views on your channel, it’s very important that you follow some of these tips which prove effective for other YouTubers on a daily basis (more interested in subscribers than views? Click here ). There are plenty of simple and completely free ways that you can gain more YouTube views and consistently see more traffic on every video that you produce.

Here are the top 12 ways that you can increase YouTube views on your videos:

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists
2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails
3. Be a Part of the Community
4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends
5. Optimizing Your Content for Keywords
6. Use Keywords in Your Video File Names
7. Write Titles That Are Click-Worthy
8. Use Lots of Tags
9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content
10. Learn from the Success of Your Best Performing Videos
11. Embed Videos in Your Blog/Website
12. Share Your Videos on Social Media

1. Put Your Videos in YouTube Playlists

YouTube playlists are an excellent way to chain together your video content and organize your channel, which will both translate into more views.

A quality playlist groups together several videos that are in some way similar. Think about the different ways you could sort your videos – by topic, by type, etc. – and make as many playlists as you can come up with. You can even reuse the same videos on multiple playlists where it makes sense. After you’re done, viewers who want to see all of you Call of Duty Let’s Plays or all of your makeup pallet reviews will be able to find them easily and will spend much more time watching your videos.

By creating a themed playlist of videos that will play one after another you increase the chances of your viewers sticking around to watch multiple videos. Making playlists helps you direct traffic from your more popular videos to the ones that haven’t gotten as many views, and it also helps drive up your watch time. Watch time is an important metric for YouTube’s search engine. When you increase your watch time, you can rank higher in search results and even get more views on YouTube.

2. Create Custom YouTube Thumbnails

High-quality video thumbnails play a major role in getting views for your YouTube videos. Spending a bit of time in Photoshop or a free online program like Canva on custom thumbnails for every video will help to boost YouTube views and earn you more clicks.

By having specialty thumbnails you will also have another type of content that is indexed by search engines. Every video you post will be searchable by not only text (your description) and video searches, but by image searches as well.

For a list of YouTube thumbnail makers .

3. Be a Part of the Community

Regularly viewing videos from other channels within your genre, especially channels about the same size as yours, and taking the time to leave thoughtful comments can help to build your presence within the online community. Other creators will notice you as you become a regular viewer and this will lead to them going to your channel and watching your videos (without you having to ask!).

You might even be able to create opportunities to collaborate with other creators by first becoming a fan of theirs. Collaboration videos allow you to cross-promote your content and attract new viewers and subscribers.

4. Tackle the Latest YouTube Trends

New trends are important to jump on , especially when other YouTube creators are having success with videos on a particular set of trends. If there is a worldwide issue going on, a new and popular game, or a meme that everyone is making jokes about, you should consider making your own type of video related to that trend. Trending content almost always earns plenty of views because people search out content related to the trend they’re interested in. Covering a trend can bring in a whole new audience for your channel.

You can find trending topics to make videos on using Google Trends or by checking out the popular channels in your genre to see if there’s a trend they’re all jumping on. When you cover a trend, always try to bring in your own original spin to stand out from the multitude of other videos covering the same trend.

5. Optimizing your Content for Keywords

Every piece of content that you produce for YouTube needs to be appropriately optimized with keywords. This means writing a full description that includes your 3 most important keywords in your first 3 lines, including a large number of appropriate tags and using your most important keyword in your title.

Do some keyword research to figure out what viewers who might enjoy your video will be typing into the search bar. You can start by searching for the topic of your video (i.e. ‘iPhone X review) and seeing what kinds of words are used in the titles and descriptions of the highest-ranked videos (or check out these keyword tools ). You can even see the tags of other people’s videos using a free Chrome extension called VidIQ.

6. Use Keywords in your Video File Names

A commonly overlooked area for optimization is the file names of YouTube videos. Many YouTube creators simply have generic filenames for all of the videos that they upload on the platform, such as ‘youtubevideo54.mp4’. Saving your files with names like this is actually a huge missed opportunity.

Consider renaming your video file to reflect your keyword-optimized video title. Including keywords within your file names will make sure that even the file itself will be indexed properly in a Google video search. This is a very quick, easy, way to increase your search ranking and get more views on YouTube.

7. Write Titles that are Click-Worthy

A title on a YouTube video needs to work just as effectively as any other headline on the internet. You need to be able to capture the attention of your audience and generate excitement while still using important keywords and letting your viewers know exactly what your video is about. Mysterious clickbait titles only work for channels that are already big.

Having the ability to write excellent titles that also carry keyword information that is relevant to your niche will take practice. In order for a title to be click-worthy, it needs to demonstrate a clear benefit for the viewer. A ‘clear benefit’ might be a skill the viewer will learn or information they will gain. Creating a sense of urgency in the title will also help to attract more clicks, and that can be done by using words like ‘now’ or ‘today’.

8. Use Lots of Tags

Every YouTube user is limited to 426 characters for the total number of tags that they can include, and you should try to use as much of that space as you can. The more tags you use, the more potential searches YouTube might add your video to.

It’s important to have high converting tags that will generate a fair amount of viewership. By trying out a wide variety of tags related to your videos in the early days of your YouTube channel you will start to see which perform the best for you. You can then start making videos that target those tags in a more focused manner. As you start to do research into keywords and the types of tags that work best for your channel, you can eventually zero in on some of the best tags that you can use with all of your content moving forward.

9. Write a Thorough Description for Every Piece of Content

The description that you post alongside your video is often one of the greatest ways that you can index your video in search engine results. Video content is starting to gain an extensive amount of traction especially when it comes to the way that it’s indexed in Google’s video search engine results. In order for your YouTube video to rank well within the search engine results, you need to have a thorough description.

A thorough description means doing keyword research as well as using the maximum number of characters that you can for the description. The largest YouTube descriptions that you might see are around 900 words. That means plenty of opportunities to use keywords within the content and help index the page in search engine results. Google will index the entire description just as it would any other webpage content so including a full transcription of your video or a detailed description of the content that’s in your video will help you to capture a huge audience and increase your YouTube views.

10. Learn From the Success of Your Best Performing Videos

Checking the analytics of your channel regularly is important for creators both big and small. The analytics in your Creator Studio can tell you who’s watching your videos, which videos have the best watch time, and even which videos attract the newest subscribers.

When you know which videos are the most successful at getting people to subscribe, you can figure out why (perhaps it was the way you asked?) and replicate that method in your future videos. This will earn you more views over time because subscribers will watch more of your content.

You should also try to replicate the methods you used to get higher watch times in the videos that perform well in that regard. Improving your watch time will get you higher search engine rankings and more views.

11. Embed Videos in your Blog/Website

Starting your own personal blog or website and embedding your videos within text posts is a great way to get more views. Views gathered outside of YouTube count too, and creating a web page means that there’s one more way for people to find your content in their search results.

If you do not have a blog and do not want to start one, consider whether you can get your videos embedded on someone else’s website or blog. It’s easiest to ask a friend, but you could also try to reach out to a blogger in your niche who doesn’t have their own YouTube channel. Explain that having a video embedded in their post might be useful for their readers, and can help to boost their session time which will be good for their search engine rankings.

12. Share your Videos on Social Media

The YouTube community is quite a large one on its own but it doesn’t hurt to extend your social reach by starting social media pages for your YouTube channel as well. Having an official Twitter or Instagram that is connected to your YouTube account can really help you to share your videos with a wider audience and ensure that you can capture views from many different sources at once.

Social media accounts also help you hold your subscribers’ attention across multiple platforms. Make sure you’re providing some additional value on social media and not just posting links to your videos (i.e. behind the scenes photos).

Building up social media pages will give you plenty of new search engine results with indexed content as well.

Most successful YouTube creators also have links to their social media accounts all across their channel banner and they regularly share their videos as soon as they are posted over their social media accounts so that their followers share their video too.

You should sign up for every social media platform you can think of with your channel name, just so that nobody else can use it, but you only need to actively use the platforms that are relevant to your audience. For example, lifestyle YouTubers should be on Instagram but gamers don’t need to be.

These are all methods that anyone can use for free . Seeing improvements with your YouTube channel isn’t necessarily something that happens overnight but with dedicated work and marketing, you can start to see your channel grow. Consider using some of these strategies to increase YouTube views.

Also want to create an attractive YouTube video? Stay tuned and try Wondershare Filmora!

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Fantasy Worlds in YouTube Thumbnail Designs

YouTube is a platform where you can make money from videos. But in order to earn, your videos should get lots of views. The thing is that YouTube is a competitive space. So many others are trying to do the same. Thus, you’ll be competing for viewers’ time and attention. How can you win that battle? One way is to add eye-catching YouTube thumbnail backgrounds.

The video thumbnail will leave an impression on viewers looking for something to watch. So ensuring it is high-quality is crucial. In this article, you’ll learn where to find amazing thumbnail backgrounds and how to add them to your thumbnails.

Why Change YouTube Thumbnail Background?

When people are searching for something to watch on YouTube, they’ll look at two (2) things:

1. They’ll check the title to see how relevant it is to what they’re looking for.
2. Two, they’ll check the video thumbnail.

Thumbnail helps them determine off the bat if the video is high quality or not. A poor thumbnail will push them away, while a good one will encourage them to click.

That said, YouTubers should ensure their thumbnails are on point. Your thumbnails should be visually striking. One way to achieve that is by changing the thumbnail background. It allows you to remove unnecessary objects from the image. Additionally, it lets you improve the aesthetic of the thumbnail.

Now the question is: how do you change a YouTube thumbnail background?

Where To Find a New YouTube Thumbnail Background?

Thanks to the resource sites on the Internet, you can always find kickass backgrounds to create an attractive YouTube Thumbnail. Here, we recommend five (5) powerful apps/websites to help you easily find ideal thumbnail backgrounds.

1. Search for Numerous YouTube Thumbnail Backgrounds in Filmora

Pros

• Get access to YouTube Thumbnail Backgrounds within the video editing tool.
• Provides you with millions of stock images to choose from.
• The collection of stock media is constantly updated, giving you more and more options for your thumbnail background.

Cons

• The software itself is not totally free.

Wondershare Filmora is one of the leading video editors in the world. And it does not stop at enabling you to make amazing videos. Filmora also helps you make that video succeed. It provides you with over 4 million stock media! That includes gorgeous photos that you can use as YouTube thumbnail backgrounds.

The best thing is that you can access those images within the video editor. Meaning there’s a streamlined workflow that makes things more convenient.

Where Do the Photos Come From? Wondershare Filmora takes images from the websites Pexels, GIPHY, Pixabay, and Unsplash. Besides those, Filmora also has its own stock media library - Filmstock.

Filmstock was previously known as Filmora Store. It is the effect store for Filmora version 9.1.0 and above. From there, you can find stock media, including videos, images that you can use for your thumbnails, and royalty-free music and sound effects. You can download these resources to turn your videos into art.

2. Use Freepik To Find YouTube Thumbnail Background Images

Pros

• With over 22 million stock media resources, it offers a significant amount of photos, vectors, and graphic resources.
• The website is well-designed and void of pop-ups, making it very easy to search for specific photos.

Cons

• The free version has lots of limitations.
• The premium version is expensive.
• Download times can sometimes be slow.

Freepik is one of the largest image bank websites. It has over 22 million stock media that you can choose from to be your YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. And that collection grows further every day. Therefore, it’s highly likely to have the image you are looking for.

Not just that. Freepik has a special section containing only YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. That expedites your search. Then, you can use the filters to show only the thumbnail background designs that match your vision.

3. Find YouTube Thumbnail Background on Shutterstock for Free

Pros

• One of the largest libraries of stock photos.
• Gives a 30-day free trial that lets you make 10 downloads totally free of charge.
• Includes free images.

Cons

• The free trial lasts only 30 days. It becomes very expensive after that has expired.

Shutterstock is probably the biggest website that offers stock images. It’s so popular Shutterstock is what many people first think of when they need to find stock images.

Shutterstock has been around since 2003. As such, its collection consists of over 200 million stock photos. From that many resources, you’ll surely be able to find something to use for your YouTube thumbnail background. Even after the free trial expires, you can find some free photos from the website.

4. Download Thumbnail Background Images for YouTube in Vecteezy

Pros

• Millions of free resources.
• Cheaper than alternatives.

Cons

• The free version does not give you full commercial rights and requires you to add attribution.
• The free version allows you to download only 10 files a day.

Vecteezy allows you to download stock images for free. However, if you are serious about your YouTubing career, you must upgrade to Pro for full commercial rights. The good thing is that Vecteezy is very affordable. It costs only $7 per month! And that already gives you unlimited downloads.

Now the question is, does it have YouTube thumbnail backgrounds? Yes, it does! Whether you prefer vectors or images, Vecteezy has you covered.

5. Attractive Backgrounds for YouTube Thumbnail – NegativeSpace

Pros

• Photos downloaded from the website are free to use
• NegativeSpace encourages attribution, though, to thank the photographer that took the photo.

Cons

• The collection includes mostly photographs with just a few vectors here and there.
• The website can sometimes be slow to load.

NegativeSpace is the perfect place to get your YouTube thumbnail background if you are on a tight budget. It allows you not only to download the photos but also to use them commercially! And the photos are high-quality too, and they’re meant to be used as backgrounds.

Please note, however, that if you’re looking for vector illustrations, you’d better be on another site. NegativeSpace is built by a community of photographers. So, most of the resources you can download from this website are photos captured by a camera.

How To Change YouTube Thumbnail Background?

Suppose you have downloaded a high-quality image that will work great as a thumbnail background for your YouTube video. What shall you do next? Of course, the next step is to make the actual thumbnail.

Choosing the background image from Filmora is great because it saves you lots of time and resources. The program allows you to select from millions of high-quality options. After selecting, you can use Filmora’s native features to edit the thumbnail. You can even resize the thumbnail background to 1280x720 - YouTube’s suggested thumbnail size.

It is more convenient than you may initially think. Yes, it saves you time and effort because you don’t have to switch to another program to edit the thumbnail. But it also makes the workload easier for your computer. Opening another program will eat more RAM and will slow down the computer.

Filmora’s tools for editing the video thumbnail aren’t too shabby, either. Suppose you have a great image with the main subject where exactly you want it to be. However, you want to change the background to make the subject stand out more. You can use Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature to easily change it.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

What is Filmora’s AI Portrait Feature?

Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature allows you to quickly remove and change the background of an image.

Normally, you would need a green screen or chroma key to do that. Another method is to manually erase the background using an eraser. The AI Portrait feature has an effect called “human segmentation.” It separates the humans in an image from the background. Then, you can delete or change the background with the thumbnail background that you have downloaded. It’s really convenient!

Here is a guide on changing a YouTube thumbnail background using Wondershare Filmora.

1. Put the Thumbnail image in the timeline.

2. Select the thumbnail image. Click “Tools” > “Video” > “AI Portrait.”

3. The AI Portrait tool will remove the background automatically. Click “OK.”

4. Click “Stock Media” > “Photos.” Search for a background image that you like. Download the photo.

5. Drag the new background to the track below your thumbnail image.

6. Select your thumbnail image to adjust its size and position.

7. Click the camera icon to take a snapshot of the still frame you want to use as the YouTube video thumbnail.

8. Select the format and storage path.

9. Find the icon of the snapshot in the Media tab. Right-click and select “Reveal In Explorer” to open your local folder to find the new thumbnail.

The Bottom Line

Your YouTube video thumbnail is almost as important as the video content itself. So you must not neglect it. Ensuring it is high-quality is important. One big step in doing that is selecting a great thumbnail background image. You can find these in many places.

The video editor Wondershare Filmora even allows you to browse for some within the program! Furthermore, Filmora provides you with tools to edit the thumbnail. In turn, it streamlines the whole process. Give it a try to start creating video thumbnails that will make YouTube users click on your video easily.

Wondershare Filmora is one of the leading video editors in the world. And it does not stop at enabling you to make amazing videos. Filmora also helps you make that video succeed. It provides you with over 4 million stock media! That includes gorgeous photos that you can use as YouTube thumbnail backgrounds.

The best thing is that you can access those images within the video editor. Meaning there’s a streamlined workflow that makes things more convenient.

Where Do the Photos Come From? Wondershare Filmora takes images from the websites Pexels, GIPHY, Pixabay, and Unsplash. Besides those, Filmora also has its own stock media library - Filmstock.

Filmstock was previously known as Filmora Store. It is the effect store for Filmora version 9.1.0 and above. From there, you can find stock media, including videos, images that you can use for your thumbnails, and royalty-free music and sound effects. You can download these resources to turn your videos into art.

2. Use Freepik To Find YouTube Thumbnail Background Images

Pros

• With over 22 million stock media resources, it offers a significant amount of photos, vectors, and graphic resources.
• The website is well-designed and void of pop-ups, making it very easy to search for specific photos.

Cons

• The free version has lots of limitations.
• The premium version is expensive.
• Download times can sometimes be slow.

Freepik is one of the largest image bank websites. It has over 22 million stock media that you can choose from to be your YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. And that collection grows further every day. Therefore, it’s highly likely to have the image you are looking for.

Not just that. Freepik has a special section containing only YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. That expedites your search. Then, you can use the filters to show only the thumbnail background designs that match your vision.

3. Find YouTube Thumbnail Background on Shutterstock for Free

Pros

• One of the largest libraries of stock photos.
• Gives a 30-day free trial that lets you make 10 downloads totally free of charge.
• Includes free images.

Cons

• The free trial lasts only 30 days. It becomes very expensive after that has expired.

Shutterstock is probably the biggest website that offers stock images. It’s so popular Shutterstock is what many people first think of when they need to find stock images.

Shutterstock has been around since 2003. As such, its collection consists of over 200 million stock photos. From that many resources, you’ll surely be able to find something to use for your YouTube thumbnail background. Even after the free trial expires, you can find some free photos from the website.

4. Download Thumbnail Background Images for YouTube in Vecteezy

Pros

• Millions of free resources.
• Cheaper than alternatives.

Cons

• The free version does not give you full commercial rights and requires you to add attribution.
• The free version allows you to download only 10 files a day.

Vecteezy allows you to download stock images for free. However, if you are serious about your YouTubing career, you must upgrade to Pro for full commercial rights. The good thing is that Vecteezy is very affordable. It costs only $7 per month! And that already gives you unlimited downloads.

Now the question is, does it have YouTube thumbnail backgrounds? Yes, it does! Whether you prefer vectors or images, Vecteezy has you covered.

5. Attractive Backgrounds for YouTube Thumbnail – NegativeSpace

Pros

• Photos downloaded from the website are free to use
• NegativeSpace encourages attribution, though, to thank the photographer that took the photo.

Cons

• The collection includes mostly photographs with just a few vectors here and there.
• The website can sometimes be slow to load.

NegativeSpace is the perfect place to get your YouTube thumbnail background if you are on a tight budget. It allows you not only to download the photos but also to use them commercially! And the photos are high-quality too, and they’re meant to be used as backgrounds.

Please note, however, that if you’re looking for vector illustrations, you’d better be on another site. NegativeSpace is built by a community of photographers. So, most of the resources you can download from this website are photos captured by a camera.

How To Change YouTube Thumbnail Background?

Suppose you have downloaded a high-quality image that will work great as a thumbnail background for your YouTube video. What shall you do next? Of course, the next step is to make the actual thumbnail.

Choosing the background image from Filmora is great because it saves you lots of time and resources. The program allows you to select from millions of high-quality options. After selecting, you can use Filmora’s native features to edit the thumbnail. You can even resize the thumbnail background to 1280x720 - YouTube’s suggested thumbnail size.

It is more convenient than you may initially think. Yes, it saves you time and effort because you don’t have to switch to another program to edit the thumbnail. But it also makes the workload easier for your computer. Opening another program will eat more RAM and will slow down the computer.

Filmora’s tools for editing the video thumbnail aren’t too shabby, either. Suppose you have a great image with the main subject where exactly you want it to be. However, you want to change the background to make the subject stand out more. You can use Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature to easily change it.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

What is Filmora’s AI Portrait Feature?

Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature allows you to quickly remove and change the background of an image.

Normally, you would need a green screen or chroma key to do that. Another method is to manually erase the background using an eraser. The AI Portrait feature has an effect called “human segmentation.” It separates the humans in an image from the background. Then, you can delete or change the background with the thumbnail background that you have downloaded. It’s really convenient!

Here is a guide on changing a YouTube thumbnail background using Wondershare Filmora.

1. Put the Thumbnail image in the timeline.

2. Select the thumbnail image. Click “Tools” > “Video” > “AI Portrait.”

3. The AI Portrait tool will remove the background automatically. Click “OK.”

4. Click “Stock Media” > “Photos.” Search for a background image that you like. Download the photo.

5. Drag the new background to the track below your thumbnail image.

6. Select your thumbnail image to adjust its size and position.

7. Click the camera icon to take a snapshot of the still frame you want to use as the YouTube video thumbnail.

8. Select the format and storage path.

9. Find the icon of the snapshot in the Media tab. Right-click and select “Reveal In Explorer” to open your local folder to find the new thumbnail.

The Bottom Line

Your YouTube video thumbnail is almost as important as the video content itself. So you must not neglect it. Ensuring it is high-quality is important. One big step in doing that is selecting a great thumbnail background image. You can find these in many places.

The video editor Wondershare Filmora even allows you to browse for some within the program! Furthermore, Filmora provides you with tools to edit the thumbnail. In turn, it streamlines the whole process. Give it a try to start creating video thumbnails that will make YouTube users click on your video easily.

Wondershare Filmora is one of the leading video editors in the world. And it does not stop at enabling you to make amazing videos. Filmora also helps you make that video succeed. It provides you with over 4 million stock media! That includes gorgeous photos that you can use as YouTube thumbnail backgrounds.

The best thing is that you can access those images within the video editor. Meaning there’s a streamlined workflow that makes things more convenient.

Where Do the Photos Come From? Wondershare Filmora takes images from the websites Pexels, GIPHY, Pixabay, and Unsplash. Besides those, Filmora also has its own stock media library - Filmstock.

Filmstock was previously known as Filmora Store. It is the effect store for Filmora version 9.1.0 and above. From there, you can find stock media, including videos, images that you can use for your thumbnails, and royalty-free music and sound effects. You can download these resources to turn your videos into art.

2. Use Freepik To Find YouTube Thumbnail Background Images

Pros

• With over 22 million stock media resources, it offers a significant amount of photos, vectors, and graphic resources.
• The website is well-designed and void of pop-ups, making it very easy to search for specific photos.

Cons

• The free version has lots of limitations.
• The premium version is expensive.
• Download times can sometimes be slow.

Freepik is one of the largest image bank websites. It has over 22 million stock media that you can choose from to be your YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. And that collection grows further every day. Therefore, it’s highly likely to have the image you are looking for.

Not just that. Freepik has a special section containing only YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. That expedites your search. Then, you can use the filters to show only the thumbnail background designs that match your vision.

3. Find YouTube Thumbnail Background on Shutterstock for Free

Pros

• One of the largest libraries of stock photos.
• Gives a 30-day free trial that lets you make 10 downloads totally free of charge.
• Includes free images.

Cons

• The free trial lasts only 30 days. It becomes very expensive after that has expired.

Shutterstock is probably the biggest website that offers stock images. It’s so popular Shutterstock is what many people first think of when they need to find stock images.

Shutterstock has been around since 2003. As such, its collection consists of over 200 million stock photos. From that many resources, you’ll surely be able to find something to use for your YouTube thumbnail background. Even after the free trial expires, you can find some free photos from the website.

4. Download Thumbnail Background Images for YouTube in Vecteezy

Pros

• Millions of free resources.
• Cheaper than alternatives.

Cons

• The free version does not give you full commercial rights and requires you to add attribution.
• The free version allows you to download only 10 files a day.

Vecteezy allows you to download stock images for free. However, if you are serious about your YouTubing career, you must upgrade to Pro for full commercial rights. The good thing is that Vecteezy is very affordable. It costs only $7 per month! And that already gives you unlimited downloads.

Now the question is, does it have YouTube thumbnail backgrounds? Yes, it does! Whether you prefer vectors or images, Vecteezy has you covered.

5. Attractive Backgrounds for YouTube Thumbnail – NegativeSpace

Pros

• Photos downloaded from the website are free to use
• NegativeSpace encourages attribution, though, to thank the photographer that took the photo.

Cons

• The collection includes mostly photographs with just a few vectors here and there.
• The website can sometimes be slow to load.

NegativeSpace is the perfect place to get your YouTube thumbnail background if you are on a tight budget. It allows you not only to download the photos but also to use them commercially! And the photos are high-quality too, and they’re meant to be used as backgrounds.

Please note, however, that if you’re looking for vector illustrations, you’d better be on another site. NegativeSpace is built by a community of photographers. So, most of the resources you can download from this website are photos captured by a camera.

How To Change YouTube Thumbnail Background?

Suppose you have downloaded a high-quality image that will work great as a thumbnail background for your YouTube video. What shall you do next? Of course, the next step is to make the actual thumbnail.

Choosing the background image from Filmora is great because it saves you lots of time and resources. The program allows you to select from millions of high-quality options. After selecting, you can use Filmora’s native features to edit the thumbnail. You can even resize the thumbnail background to 1280x720 - YouTube’s suggested thumbnail size.

It is more convenient than you may initially think. Yes, it saves you time and effort because you don’t have to switch to another program to edit the thumbnail. But it also makes the workload easier for your computer. Opening another program will eat more RAM and will slow down the computer.

Filmora’s tools for editing the video thumbnail aren’t too shabby, either. Suppose you have a great image with the main subject where exactly you want it to be. However, you want to change the background to make the subject stand out more. You can use Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature to easily change it.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

What is Filmora’s AI Portrait Feature?

Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature allows you to quickly remove and change the background of an image.

Normally, you would need a green screen or chroma key to do that. Another method is to manually erase the background using an eraser. The AI Portrait feature has an effect called “human segmentation.” It separates the humans in an image from the background. Then, you can delete or change the background with the thumbnail background that you have downloaded. It’s really convenient!

Here is a guide on changing a YouTube thumbnail background using Wondershare Filmora.

1. Put the Thumbnail image in the timeline.

2. Select the thumbnail image. Click “Tools” > “Video” > “AI Portrait.”

3. The AI Portrait tool will remove the background automatically. Click “OK.”

4. Click “Stock Media” > “Photos.” Search for a background image that you like. Download the photo.

5. Drag the new background to the track below your thumbnail image.

6. Select your thumbnail image to adjust its size and position.

7. Click the camera icon to take a snapshot of the still frame you want to use as the YouTube video thumbnail.

8. Select the format and storage path.

9. Find the icon of the snapshot in the Media tab. Right-click and select “Reveal In Explorer” to open your local folder to find the new thumbnail.

The Bottom Line

Your YouTube video thumbnail is almost as important as the video content itself. So you must not neglect it. Ensuring it is high-quality is important. One big step in doing that is selecting a great thumbnail background image. You can find these in many places.

The video editor Wondershare Filmora even allows you to browse for some within the program! Furthermore, Filmora provides you with tools to edit the thumbnail. In turn, it streamlines the whole process. Give it a try to start creating video thumbnails that will make YouTube users click on your video easily.

Wondershare Filmora is one of the leading video editors in the world. And it does not stop at enabling you to make amazing videos. Filmora also helps you make that video succeed. It provides you with over 4 million stock media! That includes gorgeous photos that you can use as YouTube thumbnail backgrounds.

The best thing is that you can access those images within the video editor. Meaning there’s a streamlined workflow that makes things more convenient.

Where Do the Photos Come From? Wondershare Filmora takes images from the websites Pexels, GIPHY, Pixabay, and Unsplash. Besides those, Filmora also has its own stock media library - Filmstock.

Filmstock was previously known as Filmora Store. It is the effect store for Filmora version 9.1.0 and above. From there, you can find stock media, including videos, images that you can use for your thumbnails, and royalty-free music and sound effects. You can download these resources to turn your videos into art.

2. Use Freepik To Find YouTube Thumbnail Background Images

Pros

• With over 22 million stock media resources, it offers a significant amount of photos, vectors, and graphic resources.
• The website is well-designed and void of pop-ups, making it very easy to search for specific photos.

Cons

• The free version has lots of limitations.
• The premium version is expensive.
• Download times can sometimes be slow.

Freepik is one of the largest image bank websites. It has over 22 million stock media that you can choose from to be your YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. And that collection grows further every day. Therefore, it’s highly likely to have the image you are looking for.

Not just that. Freepik has a special section containing only YouTube thumbnail backgrounds. That expedites your search. Then, you can use the filters to show only the thumbnail background designs that match your vision.

3. Find YouTube Thumbnail Background on Shutterstock for Free

Pros

• One of the largest libraries of stock photos.
• Gives a 30-day free trial that lets you make 10 downloads totally free of charge.
• Includes free images.

Cons

• The free trial lasts only 30 days. It becomes very expensive after that has expired.

Shutterstock is probably the biggest website that offers stock images. It’s so popular Shutterstock is what many people first think of when they need to find stock images.

Shutterstock has been around since 2003. As such, its collection consists of over 200 million stock photos. From that many resources, you’ll surely be able to find something to use for your YouTube thumbnail background. Even after the free trial expires, you can find some free photos from the website.

4. Download Thumbnail Background Images for YouTube in Vecteezy

Pros

• Millions of free resources.
• Cheaper than alternatives.

Cons

• The free version does not give you full commercial rights and requires you to add attribution.
• The free version allows you to download only 10 files a day.

Vecteezy allows you to download stock images for free. However, if you are serious about your YouTubing career, you must upgrade to Pro for full commercial rights. The good thing is that Vecteezy is very affordable. It costs only $7 per month! And that already gives you unlimited downloads.

Now the question is, does it have YouTube thumbnail backgrounds? Yes, it does! Whether you prefer vectors or images, Vecteezy has you covered.

5. Attractive Backgrounds for YouTube Thumbnail – NegativeSpace

Pros

• Photos downloaded from the website are free to use
• NegativeSpace encourages attribution, though, to thank the photographer that took the photo.

Cons

• The collection includes mostly photographs with just a few vectors here and there.
• The website can sometimes be slow to load.

NegativeSpace is the perfect place to get your YouTube thumbnail background if you are on a tight budget. It allows you not only to download the photos but also to use them commercially! And the photos are high-quality too, and they’re meant to be used as backgrounds.

Please note, however, that if you’re looking for vector illustrations, you’d better be on another site. NegativeSpace is built by a community of photographers. So, most of the resources you can download from this website are photos captured by a camera.

How To Change YouTube Thumbnail Background?

Suppose you have downloaded a high-quality image that will work great as a thumbnail background for your YouTube video. What shall you do next? Of course, the next step is to make the actual thumbnail.

Choosing the background image from Filmora is great because it saves you lots of time and resources. The program allows you to select from millions of high-quality options. After selecting, you can use Filmora’s native features to edit the thumbnail. You can even resize the thumbnail background to 1280x720 - YouTube’s suggested thumbnail size.

It is more convenient than you may initially think. Yes, it saves you time and effort because you don’t have to switch to another program to edit the thumbnail. But it also makes the workload easier for your computer. Opening another program will eat more RAM and will slow down the computer.

Filmora’s tools for editing the video thumbnail aren’t too shabby, either. Suppose you have a great image with the main subject where exactly you want it to be. However, you want to change the background to make the subject stand out more. You can use Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature to easily change it.

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

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

What is Filmora’s AI Portrait Feature?

Wondershare Filmora’s AI Portrait feature allows you to quickly remove and change the background of an image.

Normally, you would need a green screen or chroma key to do that. Another method is to manually erase the background using an eraser. The AI Portrait feature has an effect called “human segmentation.” It separates the humans in an image from the background. Then, you can delete or change the background with the thumbnail background that you have downloaded. It’s really convenient!

Here is a guide on changing a YouTube thumbnail background using Wondershare Filmora.

1. Put the Thumbnail image in the timeline.

2. Select the thumbnail image. Click “Tools” > “Video” > “AI Portrait.”

3. The AI Portrait tool will remove the background automatically. Click “OK.”

4. Click “Stock Media” > “Photos.” Search for a background image that you like. Download the photo.

5. Drag the new background to the track below your thumbnail image.

6. Select your thumbnail image to adjust its size and position.

7. Click the camera icon to take a snapshot of the still frame you want to use as the YouTube video thumbnail.

8. Select the format and storage path.

9. Find the icon of the snapshot in the Media tab. Right-click and select “Reveal In Explorer” to open your local folder to find the new thumbnail.

The Bottom Line

Your YouTube video thumbnail is almost as important as the video content itself. So you must not neglect it. Ensuring it is high-quality is important. One big step in doing that is selecting a great thumbnail background image. You can find these in many places.

The video editor Wondershare Filmora even allows you to browse for some within the program! Furthermore, Filmora provides you with tools to edit the thumbnail. In turn, it streamlines the whole process. Give it a try to start creating video thumbnails that will make YouTube users click on your video easily.

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