Free YouTube Monetization Course – Lesson 21
YouTube users go through a three-stage process before starting to watch a video. We can temporarily call this the route that video viewers follow to watch a video. This three-stage process is as follows:
- Seeing,
- Thinking,
- Deciding
In the first stage, the viewer sees your video; in the second stage, they think about whether to watch that video; in the third stage, they decide. YouTube thumbnails and video titles are important for the viewer to show interest in the video and to make the decision to watch the video in the thinking stage. Generally, the first detail that viewers pay attention to is the title of the video and the thumbnail of the video. If you choose both the thumbnail and the video title correctly, you can make your video go viral.
Tips about eye-catching YouTube thumbnails
While preparing thumbnails for your YouTube videos, I recommend that you pay attention to the following subtle differences.
- The thumbnail should be related to the video.
- Colors should be compatible.
- A maximum of 3 words should be written on the photo.
The thumbnail should not be misleading and should be directly related to the topic of the video. If you use a thumbnail that is not related to the video, your videos will be clicked but not watched. The viewer will leave the video after watching it for a very short time. This will prevent your video from appearing in front of other viewers. While designing your thumbnail, pay attention to the colors being compatible with each other. Colors that do not complement each other make it difficult for the thumbnail to be visible, to attract attention, and, if there is text on the photo, for the text to be readable. This reduces the number of clicks on the video. If you are going to write text on the photo, that text should consist of a maximum of three words. I recommend that you do not exceed three words. The text you will write should not be the same as the text in the video title; it should convey a message to the other side.
Example:
Video title: Delicious meals you can make at home in 5 minutes.
Text that can be written on the thumbnail: Have you eaten these meals?
When uploading your videos in YouTube Studio, you can test which thumbnail is more attractive by uploading three different thumbnails. This is an extra advantage for YouTube channel owners.
If you cannot use Photoshop, you can design your thumbnails with the Canva design tool. If you do not know how to design your YouTube thumbnails with Canva, there are many explanatory videos about this on YouTube. By watching these videos, you can prepare your thumbnails.
Writing eye-catching YouTube video titles
While writing YouTube video titles, I recommend that you pay attention to the following nuances.
- Searchable words should be used (SEO compatible)
- Capital letters and emojis should be used correctly
- It should be related to the topic of the video
If you use these three nuances correctly, you can increase the number of clicks on your video. The title you will write should be SEO compatible. SEO-compatible titles are very important for your videos to appear in YouTube searches. While writing video titles, pay attention to sentence structure and the use of capital letters. Some users think that writing all the letters in the title or the first letter of each word in uppercase will be attractive. However, this makes the texts difficult to read. Do not fall into this mistake. Another mistake is the unnecessary use of emojis in video titles. Generally, emojis are used in children’s videos to attract children’s attention. The title you will write should fully explain your video and should be directly compatible with your video.
Example: Let’s say that the topic of your video is about child education for young parents. In this video, you give information to young parents about how they can educate their children. Below, you can see the wrong and correct titles written for this video:
EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN LIKE THIS ❌
7 golden rules in child education ✅
To increase the clicks on your videos, titles should not be just a pile of words, but should also clearly express an idea. In addition, you can apply A/B testing in YouTube titles. For example, write three different titles for the same video and measure which one attracts more attention. Then use the most successful title as the official title of the video.
As a result, the success of your YouTube videos starts with the right title and thumbnail. A title and visual design that attract the viewer’s attention and clearly reflect the topic of the video allow viewers to choose your video and watch it for a longer time. Preparing thumbnails and titles carefully and optimizing them with A/B tests significantly increases the chance of your videos going viral. Remember that a successful YouTube strategy requires both a creative and a planned approach.
