YouTube has more than 2.4 billion monthly active users with an average daily viewing time of over 48 minutes per user.
With this kind of engagement, YouTube has exceptional marketing potential for brands who are ready to offer valuable video content to their audience. However, video content isn’t the only thing you need to consider. You also need to put effort into the look of your channel, and your YouTube profile picture is an important part of that.
In this post, we’re going to cover the perfect YouTube profile picture size along with helpful tips, examples, and free templates. You can use these best practices to get more subscribers and grow your channel.
Does My YouTube Profile Picture Matter?
Your YouTube profile picture is also known as your “channel icon” or “YouTube avatar.” It’s the small image that will appear next to your channel’s name on YouTube videos, comments, and search results.
When users click on it, they’ll be taken to your channel, so having a clear, easy-to-recognize YouTube profile picture is important.
Your profile picture shouldn’t be confused with your YouTube channel art (also known as “YouTube banner”), which acts like a Facebook cover photo and stretches across the length of your channel.
Your YouTube banner is important, but it’s only visible once users actually visit your channel. A strong YouTube profile picture can help get them there.
In the example above, we use our brand logo as our YouTube profile picture. But many YouTube creators and businesses will use headshots, graphics, illustrations, icons, and more.
What Is the Best YouTube Profile Picture Size?
When it comes to creating the perfect YouTube profile picture, choosing the correct YouTube profile picture size is a good place to start.
The best YouTube profile picture size is 800 x 800 pixels, but note that these are square dimensions and YouTube profile pictures are given a circular crop.
These dimensions are similar to a Twitch or an Instagram profile picture with the same circular crop.
How to Make a YouTube Profile Picture
To make things easy, you can use our free online profile picture maker. We have hundreds of templates that you can customize, or you can create a YouTube profile picture design from scratch.
Here is a quick video tutorial to walk you through the steps:
To start, click on the Profile Picture template size from the Snappa homepage. Note that even though our profile picture size is 1000 x 1000 pixels, it will still be compatible with YouTube (800 x 800) and will result in a higher resolution.
Next, you can choose one of our free profile picture templates to edit, or you can create a profile picture design from scratch.
Now, you can use Snappa’s easy design tools to create and customize your YouTube profile picture. With just a few clicks, you can add text, images, icons, shapes, and more!
We also have active safe zones that will show you how your profile picture will look with a circular crop.
Once you’re finished designing, just save and download the image file, then add your profile picture to YouTube.
YouTube Profile Picture Examples & Best Practices
In addition to using the best YouTube profile picture size, there are a few best practices you should consider. Let’s take a look:
Watch For the Circular Crop
We stress this again: account for the circular image crop. The last thing you need is your profile picture looking something like this, with key text and image components chopped off:
To be on the safe side, choose an image that has plenty of wiggle room for YouTube’s image cropper. Keeping the circular design in mind when creating your profile picture will be a good strategy, like how Lyrical Lemonade did here:
Keep It Consistent With Other Social Channels
When possible, choosing the same icon or profile picture across all your social media channels is a good call. This helps establish brand recognition with new users, especially if they go looking for you on other platforms.
It can also add a sense of professionalism and consistency–even if you don’t have that blue checkmark just yet.
HubSpot does this well. Here’s their profile picture for Youtube:
Their Instagram profile picture:
And their profile picture for X (Twitter):
Many brands use the same profile picture and social media handles for ultimate consistency. Ideally, your followers will try to find you on several platforms; this helps them do that.
To express your creativity, you can use a different cover photo or banner across different platforms instead of your profile picture.
Use Whitespace to Ensure It’s Distinctive
Clean designs are always going to be best. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your whitespace needs to be white; it simply means that you’ve got a simple, clutter-free design. This will make it more recognizable, especially on smaller screens.
We use this strategy in our profile picture to create a simple, distinctive look that works well with the circular profile photo crop.
Here are a few more YouTube profile picture ideas that have interesting, simple designs that are instantly recognizable:
You’ll also notice that in addition to plenty of whitespace, a lot of these designs use contrasting color palettes.
Using color contrast can help make your YouTube profile picture pop, which will help YouTube mobile users recognize your channel on small screens.
Coordinate Your YouTube Profile Picture with Your Banner
Your profile picture doesn’t always have to match your YouTube channel art, but they should complement each other visually.
Feature complementary colors and design schemes in your profile picture, YouTube thumbnails, and your YouTube banner to create a cohesive look for your channel.
SoundGuys does this well, using the same color schemes, icons, and shapes in their social media branding.
Conclusion
Your YouTube profile picture can determine whether or not people click on your channel, and it can immediately affect their first impression of you.
It’s important to think about the visuals in your videos like your YouTube video format or YouTube outro, but don’t rule out how crucial your YouTube profile picture size is.
Looking for a YouTube profile picture maker that will help you create a free professional YouTube icon? Start your free trial with Snappa here.
