by Google
YouTube has been running lately and is constantly innovating its features. This time the news concerns YouTube Shorts, where you can now edit previews exactly according to your wishes. This news will simplify the entire process of your creation.
How to do it?
As a first step, you can select a frame for your preview, which represents a moment from the video. You can then edit this frame, for example, by adding text, filters, and emojis that will help your content stand out. Just click on the pencil icon, select the frame you want to use, and then just choose from the graphic elements.
Where will your thumbnails appear?
These customized thumbnails won't appear in the main Shorts feed, but you'll find them on search pages, hashtag pages, audio pages, and your channel. This allows you to target your audience more precisely while still maintaining the ability to reach a wider audience.
Why can't you just add completely custom thumbnails to Shorts, like you can with regular YouTube clips or Instagram Reels? Well, according to YouTube, you don't really need to. While this would be a highly requested feature, YouTube says that Shorts thumbnails are not as important as regular video thumbnails because most users encounter Shorts clips within a Shorts channel, scrolling through the full-screen video view, as opposed to tapping a smaller thumbnail to activate the Shorts clip.
Why are thumbnails so important?
Your YouTube thumbnail has a huge impact on how your content is perceived and how much attention it attracts. An attractive thumbnail can significantly increase click-through rates and improve viewer engagement.
The right thumbnail can effectively communicate the theme and content of your video, or reinforce the originality of your channel. This means that if you have a great preview, the viewer will know that it's your video in the first second.
These aspects show that even though you can't add completely custom thumbnails to YouTube Shorts like you can with longer videos, you should still use the available tools to customize your previews to maximize their effectiveness and the success of your YouTube video.
We've got a hack for you!
To add a custom preview to your YouTube Short, you first create it separately in the application that suits you best. You then add this preview to the video for 1 second, or less, if the application you're editing in allows it. You can put the preview at the beginning of the video and select it in the YouTube app when choosing the preview frame. This way you can have your own preview without anyone noticing it in the video.
