From the course: Learning YouTube SEO

Clickable thumbnails - YouTube Tutorial

From the course: Learning YouTube SEO

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Clickable thumbnails

- [Instructor] Man, look at those thumbnails. Don't you just want to click on 'em? Your thumbnails are your potential viewers' first impression of your content, which makes them arguably one of the most important parts of your video's SEO. If your thumbnail is bad, you're not going to get clicks. And if you're not getting clicks, you're not going to stay ranked in search for long. So before we dive into some tips on how you can make clickable thumbnails, let's first break down what makes a good thumbnail. A good thumbnail usually consists of two basic parts. Number one, an eye catching image, and number two, text. Let's discuss what makes an eye catching image first. Thumbnail images that usually draw viewers' attention the most involve either action, emotion, suspense, or display what the viewer can expect to learn about. Pro tip. Closeup shots of people's faces displaying a lot of emotion tend to get more clicks, and let's face it, the more extreme the face, the more likely someone will click on it. However, if your video involves sports, travel, or pranks, you probably want a more action-oriented image. Something that's a much wider shot to show epic scope. Thumbnails like these should leave the viewer wanting to know what happens next or excite them to see more. If you're doing a how-to or a product review type of video, you want your thumbnail to feature the product, food, item, or thing your viewer can expect to learn more about in your video. So before you even shoot your YouTube video, start thinking about the thumbnail. If possible, plan some time during your shoot to specifically shoot a photo for it. This is always going to be more engaging than just grabbing a still frame from your video. If you aren't a photographer and you have the budget, consider hiring a professional photographer to shoot the thumbnail for you. If you can't do either of these things, a still from your video can definitely work. But again, you're going to want to look for the most emotional or exciting moment possible. You can then use Photoshop to manipulate the image or still of your choice and it doesn't hurt to add a little extra saturation to really help it pop and catch the viewer's attention. Okay, so now let's talk about that text. Thumbnails are pretty small, especially on mobile devices. So best practice is to make sure you use large, easy to read text. Less is more, so remember to keep your text to as few words as possible. Two to four words is best. Pro tip. Capitalize words in bold fonts are easiest to read on small thumbnails. So using those is key. Next step is to test out your thumbnails. See what they look like at thumbnail size. Can you still read the text? Is the font easy to read or should you consider another one? Is the image still legible? Can you still tell what's going on in the thumbnail? And finally, simplicity is your friend. Don't overcrowd your thumbnails with too many images and text. Remember you want your thumbnail to be a good first impression that really makes viewers want to watch more. Stick to these simple rules and your videos will be getting clicks in no time. Man, that's one nice lookin' thumbnail.

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