how to make kickass youtube thumbnails and descriptions and stuff?

r ranson wrote:I just finished a short video.  Normally I would publish it the same day, but this time I want to work on captions, titles, descriptions and all the things that take it from publishing a video to building a youtube channel...

There's a service called TubeBuddy that many YouTubers use to help make thumbnails, track their analytics, compare results to other YouTubers, etc. It tells you what you're doing right and what you're forgetting to do. It also gives you x-ray vision into other peoples' recent performance, the keywords they used, etc. It's a paid service ($7.20/mo.) and, full disclosure, I'm giving you my affiliate link - so feel free to Google it instead of clicking on my link if you hate that I did that! ;)

I don't actually care if you sign up for it, but it's helped me a lot. Definitely worth checking it out the free trial and cancel if it doesn't seem worth it to you. I did that, myself, and still use it for my own YouTube channel. For me, it's worth the price: TubeBuddy.com

I like the font in the HEM FOOT video. It's very clear to read. And all caps gives it a nice vintage look.

Youtube likes my hem thumb and is recommending it to people.

Cool!

I redid most of my thumbnails to match a theme.  I quite like it.  Come and see.  (the video coming out on Sep 15th has my favourite thumbnail so far!  


Another thing I've been doing is looking at other people's videos in my area (homesteading textiles) to see what kind of thumbnails and titles are expected - what's doing well, what isn't?  It's surprising how many of the top ranking videos are just using the thumbnail youtube grabs from the movie.  I could take this to mean that I shouldn't waste time on thumbnails and I'll do just fine.  But instead, I'm taking it to mean that by putting extra thought into thumbnails, but being careful not to make them overwhelming, I should do better.  

There's one channel I really like in my niche that has more time and more videos on youtube, but her views are inconsistent.  I think it's because they just as much time into the thumbnail creation as the video.  Their thumbnails are "correct" according to all the youtube gurus I've watched, and yet they miss the mark for the intended audience.  My conclusion is that complex or cluttered thumbnails don't do so well for my niche.

I also found this channel that is just nailing thumbnails.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtopWBh5qxgXldI4c_GzYUQ  Good quality videos too.  I had a bit of a binge-watch last night.  I suspect this channel will go far!  

So I've got two ideas.  

If you know nothing about the topic - which one creates more curiosity?  

Hi. I am curious to know more on 'wet finishing' and why it is important.
I am not interested in anything that's called 'magic' ...

I've been loving your content! I had no idea how much work even a thumbnail required.

Thanks.

Here's an early draft of the thumbnail for next month's video.  



my youtube channel

I've been thinking about how useful Canva is and that I'm going to start using it for more than just thumbnails.  Their free features are kick-ass.  I could see the value of investing in the paid version.  


It also helps if I make the thumbnail first - then I get so excited about the film that I have to make it because I want to watch it.  

r ranson wrote:

I really like the composition for this one, very nice use of the depth of field.

r ranson wrote:And then, how do I use these words to make a click-bait title?  

"Silk: The secret textile method ancient chinese emporers DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW!"

Clickbaity enough?

Need some help with a thumbnail

Sheep


chickens


They both need work, but I can't decide which direction to go.  Or a different direction.

The video uses a lot of chicken footage, so I'm leaning that way.  And I like the pun.  But I'm not at all happy with how I can make that thumbnail look .

any suggestions which is better?  Or something better?

Both look good but I think I am leaning toward the chicken one. Reasons (1) I don't know what an African keyhole garden is and at this point it doesn't seem as relevant to my interests as wattle, which is something I have definite plans for and am interested to see how it holds up. (2) I think more people would be searching for videos about wattle.  (3) I like the pun too. I assume you will be talking about the two meanings of the word so it makes sense to introduce it up front. (4) If the video is more about wattle versus being about this gardening technique that would be another reason.

Well, to start, while the typed clue is sheep or chickens, it seems the graphics are keyhole garden in what looks like wattle fencing, or comparing chicken wattles to fence wattles. If you are asking whether to pursue chickens or sheep I have a greater interest in sheep. If its about the fence I'm on that fence.

About the graphic alone, I prefer full picture rather than cut in half for verbage.

Pretty sure that won't be much help.

My first response was "I'd like to see more about sheep 5 yrs later. That should make everything clear as mud!

If it's not already complete, wool + water.

Andrés Bernal wrote:I like number two too. It has a nice space/composition with the two other elements to include text. Maybe you can flip the image so that the text goes in the left as our brains are wired to visually read the image from left to right.

I was thinking the same thing about the picture but with the words to the right side.  Your eyes/mind will see the picture real quick to put context to the words on the right side of the frame.

It's all personal choice but I don't think it really matters, for most instances, on the location of the words.  I just did my first YouTube video last week, almost entirely if pictures, and depending on the picture that got captioned the placement was wherever it fit best in the image.  Left, right, top, bottom, whatever looked best.

If you want to watch to see the various captions I did on the photo montage...... Like I said, it was my first ever video but I have many more pictures of the build so I will probably do one or two more similar to this in the future.  I had some positive feedback, although when I produced it on my OLD/SLOW computer and watched it before uploading it my computer played it slower and allowed enough time to read the captions, It played faster on YouTube so I suggest watching it at 3/4 speed on YouTube to allow more time to read the longer captions.
https://youtu.be/LuoJhuJPPlY

maybe something in this direction?  (still needs work)

This is the only photo I have of that rooster from the time the garden was built



he's the little black chick.

For some reason I thought I had one of him in the garden, but nope.  

I don't see sheep or wattle fence in that shot. Thanks for the sharing. Did that hen hatch them out?

Yes, I do like Wattle Garden. The best of both worlds

r ranson wrote:This is the only photo I have of that rooster from the time the garden was built

he's the little black chick.

For some reason I thought I had one of him in the garden, but nope.  

And now... you begin thinking of the "long game"... next time you'll have that photo for sure.
Progress photos of everything, seasonal photos, time lapses, pictures from different angles/locations... "Oh! And here's R around the front of the house, but you can still see a bit of the side of the house."

I really like the third one.  Better choice of wording and who can argue with more cute animals?

r ranson wrote:maybe something in this direction?  (still needs work)

I like this. Is the subject getting @ what your intention is?  I'm on board.

I much prefer the picture with the rooster and the wattle. The lamb just doesn't make any sense to me plus there's something weird about its position. It actually doesn't look alive ( and I've raised both goats and sheep ). The rooster with the waffle fencing visible makes it clear what it means and losing the wattle fencing to have the lamb doesn't make it any clearer.

Here's tricky video

I'm starting off with this thumbnail, but so far it's one of the worst performing videos I've had in almost a year.  



It's only a few hours in, but I'm thinking of trying this one instead.



light or white thumbnails seem to get more clicks than the darker ones.  

Unless you have some suggestions on something better?