SEO Glossary: Thumbnail

What is a thumbnail?

If you translate the term thumbnail into German, it means "thumbnail". This does not really fit the explanation behind it. Because the thumbnail is a small preview image with a reduced size of a larger original.

 

In the meantime, thumbnails from the Internet and especially E-COMMERCE have become indispensable. For example, they are used in online stores to present preview images of products in a product category. This gives interested parties and potential customers a first impression. If they like what they see on the thumbnail, they click through to the corresponding product.

 

Further examples and areas of application in which thumbnails are used:

 

• Pinterest: Visitors scroll through numerous pinboards on Pinterest and see many interesting pins here. If you are interested in a thumbnail, click on it to see it in full size.

 

• Google Image Search: Google Image Search also offers the option of finding images from a wide range of areas quickly and easily. A click on the thumbnails shows the large original view and further information such as link and image description.

 

• YouTube: But also on video platforms like YouTube thumbnails are also used. These are now designed in such a modern way that users initially recognize them as "fixed" thumbnails. If they are interested in a video, they move the mouse pointer over the image to get a moving preview image.

 

 

Why should you use thumbnails?

If website operators want to give a small foretaste of their content on their homepage or in a category, for example, thumbnails are ideal for this. The fact that thumbnails are significantly smaller than the original results in much faster loading times. If users are now interested in more, simply click on the thumbnail to go to the relevant content.

 

Especially when websites offer a lot of content, thumbnails are ideal to avoid unnecessarily increasing the loading time of a page.

 

The advantages of thumbnails at a glance:

 

• When visitors scroll through thumbnails, they curiously search for interesting content. If they like a thumbnail, they click on it to go to the corresponding content. This increases interactivity.

 

• If only links or blocks of text are placed, this does not really increase attention. Images, on the other hand, are quickly grasped by the user, which significantly increases user-friendliness.

 

• Thumbnails are much smaller than the original. Accordingly, they are much more space-saving in order to present a lot of content in a small space. The result: less data consumption and faster loading times.

 

What is the best way to design thumbnails?

There are several ways to create thumbnails. YouTube, Pinterest and the like are now able to generate thumbnails independently and fully automatically. Content providers only have to and can take care of making thumbnails more stimulating and interesting. This can lead to an increase in click rates.

 

Here are some tips on how best to do this:

 

• Action shots increase attention

 

• texts can increase interest and create an incentive

 

• Branding and logos can ensure recognition value

 

• Meaningful colors stand out so that attention is increased

 

• If faces can be seen in the thumbnail, a direct connection to the viewer is established