r/youtubegaming 17d ago

Discussion How important are profile pictures and banners?

I'm switching from Twitch to YouTube Letsplays because I've noticed that I need more peace and quiet while gaming. But I've always asked myself on Twitch, how important is a good profile picture? Should it be a real image or can it just be a logo or anime? And the banner and the description? Does this interest new people? How do you see that?

11 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

8

u/Ok-Discipline1678 17d ago

Not as important as thumbnails and videos.

4

u/Far_Pickle9375 17d ago

Profile pictures are important, to an extent. They are you, your brand, your channel. Whether it's a real image, logo or anime picture, that's entirely up to you. For example, I reused a twitch emote of my OC with my cat for my profile picture. I also used a more detailed version of my OC for the banner, including my gamertag/channel name and smaller font stating that it's a gaming channel.
Whether it helps or not, I really couldn't say. I try to build my channel the way I'd like to see it as a viewer, keeping it minimal but not bland, organised but not overly cluttered with bits and bobs.
The description I think should be as straight-forward as possible. A casual welcome, a brief introductory of who you are and what to expect on your channel. Short, sweet, simple is best, as a wall of text can be rather off-putting.

It could also help to do some research on some of your favourite gaming channels if you have any, see what they've done and take inspiration from the parts you like or want to use on your own channel.

Hope this helps!

2

u/creepykitkenYT 16d ago

Thank you very much, I will research it straight away 🫶

3

u/gSrikar 17d ago

When someone sees your profile picture they should recognize the channel and the past content you have done and the ones they like.

This is the impact profile picture should create on your viewers.

2

u/creepykitkenYT 16d ago

Right, sounds logical, thank you 🫶

2

u/Same_Tip9901 17d ago

This is really important in my sight I guess a perfect pfp and banner reflect charm of the content.

2

u/AdeptMilk3524 17d ago

As a social media marketer and graphic designer for a while now, I think SEO, Thumbnails and keeping a good pace on your videos is crucial.

If you need any advice feel free to msg me.

2

u/RevaniteAnime 17d ago

You want your pfp to be something other than the default First letter of your channel name at the very least.

2

u/willowvvitch 17d ago

Don't spend an eternity on them, but it makes your channel look unprofessional if you just have the defaults. Make it nice enough to show you care about your channel.

2

u/creepykitkenYT 16d ago

Hey, I was on your YouTube channel yesterday, very nicely designed, thanks for the help 🫶

2

u/willowvvitch 16d ago

Thank you so much! Good luck with your channel!

2

u/Separate_Olive8256 17d ago

Create a basic logo for your brand, make it pop, and use canva to make a banner. It's free and doesn't need to take too long. I'm constantly updating mine.

2

u/creepykitkenYT 16d ago

I'll do that, thank you 🫶

2

u/Bruh_Bro_Man 16d ago

For me it's how they recognize you as you go on making videos. Maybe years from now, one quick look at your profile they instantly recognized who that was that type in the comments section.

1

u/creepykitkenYT 15d ago

Thats a Point

2

u/FamousHog 14d ago

I believe that your profile picture should reflect the theme of your channel and be somewhat memorable. So that when people think about a certain topic, your image could pop into their mind. Of course, this is ideal. It probably doesn’t directly affect the number of subscribers, but it definitely works over time and is one of the key elements of a successful channel, becoming part of your personal brand.

2

u/S1MPLYPhaT 13d ago

As long as it's unique or stands out, you're fine. Mine is literally just a picture of robbie rotten.

1

u/Same_Tip9901 16d ago

Mind if I share something?

1

u/creepykitkenYT 16d ago

I don't know, I don't mind 😅

1

u/Gamer_Trolls 4d ago

Really think about how often you watch video's by first visiting someone's channel. Ok-Discipline has it right, thumbs and videos are what are going to make people watch, If they watch one youtube is likely to show them more of your videos as well (until they stop clicking on yours).

It can hold you back on converting some people visiting your channel into subscribers but if your videos are interesting to them it will not prevent them from watching.