If you’ve been on YouTube for a while now, you would probably agree that creating YouTube content is never simple.
Being a content creator means that you are investing time, skills, and money into your video content, and you expect that people watch your work and grow your channel.
From deciding on the right topics to optimizing the videos, and making sure you’re addressing the right audience, creating content for YouTube is no easy thing.
But there are a few things you can do to make your channel stand out, and it all starts with the thumbnail.
Why Invest Time into Thumbnails?
A well designed YouTube thumbnail can drive more clicks and views to your channel and videos.
According to the YouTube Creator Academy, 90% of the videos that perform best on YouTube use a custom thumbnail.
Just think about your own behavior when using the platform.
Would you be more tempted to click on a video that has an engaging thumbnail and draws attention with a few words written on it?
According to the most recent video marketing statistics, there are more than 500 hours of video being uploaded on YouTube every minute, so just imagine how much content you’re competing with.
With all this in mind, why not use every resource you have to make sure that your videos stand out?
We looked more into this and put together a list of the best fonts for YouTube out there that can really help you boost those views, so check them out.
7 Best fonts for YouTube Thumbnails
1. Bebas Neue
This a very popular YouTube font logo, often used by many YouTubers in their videos, but also in their thumbnails.
Bebas Neue is a simple, yet elegant YouTube video font that works brilliantly for any type of content.
A fan of this font is YouTuber Aspyn Ovard, who made a habit out of using it almost always a few years back. The slender lettering looks excellent as a YouTube thumbnail font, as you can see in the following example:
2. Budmo
Is a simple font not hitting the sweet spot? Then go for Budmo, one of the coolest fonts YouTubers use, among which we also find Liza Koshy.
It’s a fun and quirky font, with its glitzy and bold lettering. Pair it with some subtle colors, and you’ve got yourself an eye-catching YouTube text font that is sure to impress.
3. Beauty and the Beast
Did anyone say “magical”? Well, here you go. A font perfect for all things fantastic. It’s bold, it’s interesting, and it sure has a lot of pizazz. Alisha Marie knows it and often uses it to caption her thumbnails.
Beauty and the Beast is one of the best fonts for YouTube because it stands out, but without being a centerpiece. Throw it on a very colorful background, and it will do its job as perfectly as when it’s used in association with more bland backgrounds.
4. Impact
A simple, bold font like Impact definitely gets the job done. This YouTube text font will work wonderfully on game review channels or even makeup channels as despite being simple, it is eye-grabbing, as well as very readable.
PewDiePie uses Impact on his video thumbnails, and we have to say, it does make for one of the most popular YouTube fonts as you might have noticed yourself. Many other YouTubers are fans of this typeface style.
5. River Drive
Used by Gabriel Conte on most of his YouTube videos, this typeface is different than what you might usually stumble upon. Its bold, but faded lettering looks fantastic on any video thumbnail.
River Drive would work great on a travel channel or a music one as it’s one of the best YouTube fonts out there. If your goal is to stand out, then this is your chance.
6. Badaboom BB
Now here’s a font that just screams “Attention!” even if you just read its name. Another example on the list of best YouTube thumbnail fonts is Badaboom BB, extensively used by Wengie on her channel, and it’s honestly such a great match of font and content.
Use it for quirky and fun content, and it’s guaranteed to make an impression.
7. Bernhard
Looking for elegant but funky fonts for YouTube thumbnails? We have the right one for you.
Bernhard is elegant while at the same time looking fresh and modern. It would work best for a book-related channel or a history-related one, so if that’s what you want, then it’s a match.
Zoella is among some of the YouTubers that use this font for their thumbnails, and you would probably agree that it does look absolutely fabulous.
Related articles:
How to Create an Awesome YouTube Thumbnail | A Step-by-Step Guide
The Best YouTube Video Formats for 2020
The Starter Pack To Having A Successful YouTube Channel in 2020
Tips and Tricks for Sprucing up That YouTube Thumbnail
Every YouTube content creator needs a helping hand when it comes to hitting that refresh button, so here are a few tips that might help boost your thumbnail’s appeal:
1. Add color to your fonts
While it’s essential to choose a good-looking font, it is best to make sure you pick the appropriate colors as well, taking into consideration the type of content that you create.
For example, the Langfocus YouTube channel uses a perfectly appropriate font. Still, since it’s an educational channel, it doesn’t go overboard with the colors and uses two primary colors—red and blue.
In this case, the Labrador B Black font, although serious looking at first glance, does also have a touch of playfulness, being that it resembles comic fonts.
2. Be consistent in your use of fonts
You want your audience to feel like they get to know you, and using specific fonts consistently will help do just that.
If your content is focused on exercising or if you’re creating DIY tutorials, it’s a good idea to go with an elegant and subtle font that doesn’t take away from the content but complements it beautifully.
Adrienne‘s use of the Palm Canyon Drive font is perfect for the type of content that she puts out there, and it also looks beautiful on her YouTube video thumbnails.
3. Change the background color for each video
While it’s a great idea to be consistent, it’s also important not to be boringly consistent.
You can still use the same font for all of your video thumbnails, but make sure you’re not always using the exact same background. Spice things up with color, but don’t overdo it, though.
You don’t have to go for some intricate, colorful background if that doesn’t work for your type of content.
If, for example, your content is focused on learning, always opt for simple backgrounds that make the fonts pop, keeping in mind to use different colors for each video.
The Philosophy YouTube channel does just that. Using a simple font like Festivo Letters No.14 in combination with different background colors helps you be consistent without being too predictable.
4. Make use of both uppercase and lowercase lettering
If you already settled for a font, but want to freshen up your thumbnails a bit, then use both uppercase and lowercase lettering. It will not only revitalize your thumbnails, but it will also help direct the focus to certain words.
NativLang uses a cool font like Darnalls Clean Bold for most of the thumbnails, but mainly goes for the uppercase version when it wants to focus on the most essential part of its caption.
In the case below, since the videos deal with the Latin and Aztec languages, the thumbnail captions are mostly in lowercase, while the name of the language is in all caps.
5. Add shading to your fonts
Looking for another way to revitalize your fonts? Then consider adding some shading and color.
The benefit of using bold fonts is that you can play with them a bit. While some look best in just black and white, others can be tweaked to match your content.
For the Luetin09 channel, the video thumbnail fonts are almost always color-coordinated with the background. Using the Geometos Neue font in its original form and in combination with an altered one where color and shading is added, makes for a very well-put-together thumbnail.
6. Pair typewriter typefaces with bold colors
Not all fonts should have simple, bland colors. Sometimes you just have to go for boldness, like neon, straight-out-of-The-Matrix type of colors. However, it has to suit your content.
The Computerphile channel, like the name suggests it, is less about quirkiness and fun, and more about learning about computers.
So it makes sense to use a font like OCR A for its thumbnails to suggest that the video is all about computers.
It’s also a great way to get your audience to see that you’re reliable and consistent. Like I previously mentioned, consistency helps you connect in some way with your audience, they get to feel that they get to know you and rely on you.
7. Use two different fonts for the same thumbnail
When using one single font doesn’t do the trick for you, go for two. Like in the case with various font colors, using two different fonts for your thumbnail will look fun and eye-catching.
Alexa Donne’s channel is filled with thumbnails using two fonts in different colors. The content is focused on books and how to improve your writing, but it’s all made in a fun and exciting way.
Hence the thumbnails. They look fresh and fun, and most importantly, inviting. For the example below, she used Industrial Gothic Pro Banner Regular and paired it with a beautiful hand lettering font.
8. Use a colored ribbon for your captions
Want to make your fonts pop even more? Add them to a colored ribbon. If you usually go for pictures for your thumbnail backgrounds, the captions might not look good or even legible.
So, the best way to go around this is to add ribbons and problem solved.
Colored ribbons usually work great with bold fonts like the Genesa Black font used in The Great War history channel. They make the captions more visible while not taking away from the background image.
9. Choose a font color that complements the background
That’s not to say that you should use the exact same color for your fonts as the background color because that is sure to render your caption basically invisible.
Choose a font color for your thumbnail that is complementary to the background one, but that doesn’t pop out more than the background if that’s not your intention.
For the thumbnails below, the Extra Credits channel chose Clarika Grotesque UltraBlack as the font. It focused on attracting the same level of attention to both the caption and the background image. These elements are equally essential to let the viewers know what the video is about.
10. Mix and match different font colors and ribbon colors
It’s a sort of a more futuristic look to use different ribbon colors and different font colors for the same video thumbnail. Choosing the right colors is vital for this approach as you’d want bolder colors to make certain words stand out.
For their thumbnails, the Wonder Why channel usually goes with yellow, red, and blue for their ribbons, while opting for black and white for the font color. The font they used is Sultan Nahia Regular.
And you can really see that the red ribbon is standing out, so the channel goes with impactful words for this particular type of thumbnails like “curious” or “really need.” This is a great way to bring attention to your thumbnails without overcomplicating it with lots of colors and images.
Conclusion
Want to drive more clicks to your channel and videos? Then consider using a catchy font when creating your YouTube video thumbnails.
The colors and typeface you choose need to reflect what your channel is all about so get inspired and see what others are doing.
Let us know in the comments below if there’s a favorite font you usually use in your YouTube video thumbnails, or what is your current approach for making your thumbnails stand out.