Visuals play a vital role in attracting audiences to you; the same applies to your YouTube account. By adding compelling imagery to your YouTube account, you can spark curiosity in the users that stumble across your page; they might even stick around and subscribe to your channel!
Customizing your YouTube banner is a great way to add visually engaging content to your channel that communicates your channel’s theme and provides users with the necessary information about your channel.
Here we’ll be discussing what a YouTube banner is, what size your YouTube banner should be, and most importantly, how you can add a YouTube banner to your channel.
What Is a YouTube Banner?
A YouTube Banner, also known as a Channel Header Image, is a large banner that goes across the top of your channel page. This is similar to the header image you add to your Facebook or Twitter profile. A good YouTube banner should be visually attractive, eye-catching, readable, and successfully convey your channel’s brand. Most YouTube banners come with their channel name and their brand logo attached, usually overlaid over high-quality graphics or imagery for a most pleasant visual.
YouTube banners are a great way to reflect what your channel is essentially about and what sort of content your audience can expect you to provide. Moreover, the quality of your YouTube banner, in a way, reflects the quality of your content. And since your YouTube banner is the first thing your audience will see when they reach your channel, you want to make it as intriguing as possible.
YouTube Banner Art Size And Specifications
YouTube provides a list of community guidelines you should be following when creating your YouTube banner art. As a rule of thumb, your art should not contain images of celebrities, nudity, or copyrighted images.
As for dimensions, your YouTube banner art should cover 2048 x 1152 px with an aspect ratio of 16:9. The recommended banner size from YouTube, however, is 2560 x 1440 px. Furthermore, the maximum file size banner art YouTube will allow you to upload is 6 MB or smaller. Finally, and most importantly, you should have a minimum image safe area of 1235 x 338 px.
Your safe banner area will allow your banner to be optimally viewed on all devices; your desktop, TV, or smartphone. The safe area is the minimum area your banner should cover, so it displays correctly across all devices. This means you should include the essential central part of your banner art within the safe area so you won’t lose any critical information even if the remaining area gets cut off. For example, the generally safe area of YouTube is 1235 x 338 px.
How To Change Your YouTube Banner On Your Desktop
Now that you understand YouYube banner art and its specifications, you can move on to changing your YouTube banner with a new custom design. Here’s how it’s done through your desktop:
- Sign in to your YouTube and go to your channel.
- Click your profile photo at the top corner of the page and click on “Your Channel” from the dropdown.
- Now your channel should open up. Once open, click on “customize channel.”
- Once you click on Customize Channel, this should redirect you to your YouTube Creator Studio.
- Under Channel Customization, you will see three tabs: Layout, Branding, and Basic info. Select the Branding tab.
- Once you open the branding tab, you should see a reliable option to add, change or remove your YouTube banner. Select the option you’re performing.
- For instance, if you’re planning on changing your existing YouTube banner, you will select “change.
- A new dialog box will open up requesting you to upload your imagery.
- Once uploaded, click Enter, and your banner art will successfully change.
How To Change Your YouTube Banner On Your iPhone/Android
Alternatively, if you aren’t able to access your desktop to change your YouTube banner, you can always do the same via your smartphone. So there are two genuine ways you can change your YouTube banner through your iPhone or Android.
The first involves the steps mentioned above. After that, you can open your YouTube Creative Studio account on your mobile browser and repeat the same steps above, and your banner should easily be changed.
The second method makes use of the YouTube application. Here’s how it works:
- Go to the YouTube application downloaded on your Android or iPhone.
- Next, tap on your profile picture at the top right corner of the screen.
- Once you click on your profile picture, a dropdown menu will open up.
- From the dropdown menu that appears, click on “Your channel.”
- This will redirect you to your channel page. Here you need to click on “edit channel.”
- Once you click “edit channel,” you will be redirected to a new page. Here you will be able to change your banner image.
- To change the banner image, click on the camera icon on the far right of your YouTube banner image.
- This will open up a pop-up asking you to take a photo and upload it now or choose an image from your existing photos.
- Since you already have a YouTube banner designed, you need to upload it.
- Once you’ve uploaded your YouTube banner, it will automatically be saved and displayed over your YouTube channel.
Congrats! Your YouTube banner imagery should now be successfully uploaded. Your final banner design should be inviting and provide your audience with the necessary information they need in one look. It always helps to keep your YouTube banner design as minimalist as possible, add your logos and the link to your social media accounts, and finally, add the name of your channel. You can also add a CTA to your banner image, asking them to follow you on your socials or your YouTube channel.