There are so many elements that make a great YouTube channel – including killer YouTube intros, knowing your YouTube SEO, having a YouTube marketing strategy and, of course, eye-catching banner art. Creating a banner doesn’t need to be huge stress – so here are our top tips for making a YouTube banner, including dimensions, design tips, free resources and more to help grow your channel!
How To Make A YouTube Banner
Size & Dimensions
Let’s start off with the basics: your YouTube banner art should be 2560 (width) x 1440 (length) px for your banner to be visible across different formats.
To make more of an impression and make sure everything is optimized for each device, you can delve a little deeper into dimensions. Depending on what screen your viewer is seeing your channel on, they may see a different crop of your banner.
- Desktop computers and laptops can show images as large as 2560 x 423px, or as small as 1546 x 423px
- Tablets will show an area that is 1855 x 423px
- Mobile phones will show 1546 x 423px.
Seeing as 1546 x 423px is the smallest possible desktop/laptop view, any text or graphics that are super important should fit into this section. Your file size should be up to 6 MB – any larger and YouTube won’t accept it!
Here is a visual guide to help:
Banner Features
You could just source an image, crop it to the correct size and upload as a banner. But, in order to stand out and show that you’ve made an effort, your YouTube banner will need some more elements and care.
Finding an image, cutting it to the right size, and uploading it to YouTube is easy, but how many of your favorite YouTubers use just an image for their channel art? Usually, there’s at least a little text stating the name of the channel.
Some ideas of things to feature in your YouTube banner include:
- Your channel name
- What type of videos you create
- How often your videos are released (i.e. ‘new videos every Friday)
- Social media handles
- A tagline, slogan or summary of what you do / who you are
- A picture of you!
Design Tips
Solid Background With Text Overlay
This is a great banner idea to make your name and information stand out. For this reason, your background shouldn’t be busy, and your colors should complement each other without the image colors being too similar to the text color.
Try to put your text on a part of the background where not much is happening behind it. Or, alternatively, you can insert a solid colored shape underneath your text to make it stand out more – meaning you won’t have to compromise on a background you like.
Keep It Simple
It’s tempting to tell as much as you can in your banner. However, viewers will most likely only glance or read some of your banner. It should be easy to absorb the information on it quickly, and not be packed with tons of text. Make sure that your channel name is in a larger font than other text, and try and limit to just your channel name and a line or two with further information.
Think About Your Branding
Branding is important, which means that you need to think about:
- What colors, fonts, images and so on encapsulate you, your channel and what you’re about?
- Standing out and being memorable
- Relating your assets to what your channel is about
Some colors, for example, may give off a corporate tone. Brighter colors symbolize youth and excitement. If your channel is playful and creative (such as a makeup channel, for example), you should choose colors, fonts and images that match this. Your audience should know who you are and what you’re about at a glance, making sure they don’t click away thinking you’re posting videos about something other than what you are.
For further information, check out our articles on choosing a logo and deciding on your branding.
Where To Find Channel Art Makers, Templates, Patterns, Stock Photos, Fonts & More
There are so many resources out there to help – even if you don’t consider yourself to be a design whiz!
YouTube Channel Art Makers
- Canva (this also has banner templates)
- Design Wizard
- Fotor
YouTube Banner Templates
Stock Images
Background Patterns
- The Pattern Library
- Toptal
- Hero Patterns
Fonts
Final Thoughts & How Audiosocket Can Help
Whether you’re creating your YouTube banner yourself, or outsourcing to another creator, it’s important to take your time and gather ideas. Do some research on similar channels or those that you like (or who have banners that immediately interested you), and note down what you liked about it. Your banner should be individual, engaging and on brand. So, take your time to get it right!
If you are looking for authentic, top-quality music for your channel, why not check out Audiosocket? Your content deserves the best, so sign up today and access tens of thousands of songs and sound effects to bring your vision to life!
Also, feel free to check out our helpful articles on adding subtitles to YouTube videos, YouTube’s music policy, lighting tips for creators, using background songs for videos and best free video editing software in 2021!
