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In our last blog, we discussed keyword research for YouTube videos and tags in detail. Now we are going to discuss how to get the most out of “Thumbnails” for YouTube videos and how to create a good headline for videos.
1. Thumbnail
The first thing you see when viewing a video is it’s a thumbnail, hence the importance of making the design appealing enough so that the viewer stays engaged.
A well-curated thumbnail does not only attract viewers towards your video content but, also grabs extra attention towards your business.
This leads to the question; how can we create a thumbnail that would attract a viewer to watch the video?
Some of us may challenge this; if our content is good enough, it does not need a thumbnail to make it better.
“First Impression is the Last Impression”, we all are quite familiar with this saying. In the very same way, your thumbnail is the first impression of what your video has to present.
Moving forward with making a good and lasting impression; let’s go over some quick tips to creating a good, presentable thumbnail.
Tip #1: Using Appropriate Colors
Using an appropriate color scheme for your thumbnail gets your message across your audience, it allows them to see and feel what you want to convey. That is why understanding color psychology is highly important when creating a thumbnail for your video.
It is important to know the meaning behind the color we choose for example green color stand for wealth and blue for trust.
Before creating a thumbnail for your video do keep in mind your brand guidelines and the color psychology to get more engagements towards your video.
Tip #2: Thumbnail text
Text is also a notable component of a thumbnail.
While creating a thumbnail, one should focus on encapsulating the tittle enough for it to convey the desired message. At the same time, it should not overwhelm the viewer by having too much readable content in such a small window.
Tip #3: Use attractive Images
Using the right imagery can help attract viewers towards your brand. Some things that you need to consider in this are:
- Easy to understand information
- Include faces, sentiments, and actions
- Should include video topic
Following are some examples of good thumbnails.
Tip #4: YouTube Standard Sizes
Using the exact size as guided by YouTube is a very important point; otherwise, the image may lose pixel quality and get blurred, and the message will not be delivered.
Best sizes for YouTube thumbnails are as follows:
1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall, with a minimum width of 640 pixels. A ratio of 16:9 is usually used by most of the YouTubers. The formats are JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG. Also, keeping in mind that thumbnail size is not to exceed more than 2 MB.
2. Headline
The headline in a video is as important as the keyword research step (discussed in the previous blog). The reason being, that the titles we use are also used as keywords on Google search. Whenever a viewer searches for a video, the titles are used to present results. If the title is not attractive enough to the viewer, they may not click on the video to proceed watching it.
So, what can we do to improve our video tittles?
We need to take the keywords that were searched earlier and use them for our YouTube video titles.
For instance, the title below is “Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing During Crisis”. The keywords being Marketing During a Crisis. The keyword can be used in the beginning as well but do keep in mind that the keyword should not be added artificially. Add them in where they fit naturally. Also, mentioning the year in the video will keep it updated in the search list based on its upload date.
Another important tip is to use the word ‘video’ in the title, and transcripts. The majority of the title searches are made with the word video mentioned in the phrases.
- Add Transcript
Let’s go through some tips on how you can create a good transcript for your video.
First, you need to add keywords to the description box so that your video can rank higher on Google. Second, you need to repeat keywords in a manner that does not seem too obvious or gives an impression of being forcefully embedded in the content.
Another important aspect of the writing the transcript is to use words similar to your keywords. This can also play an important role in helping your video rank better on YouTube.
Don’t forget to add you’re important links to the description such as your website and social media channels.
The challenge we all face while writing a transcript is ensuring that we include all the valuable information from the video. A great way to do that is, take note of all the key points and make sure to include each one properly as you go through your transcript.
The start of the video should include the most important part of the video so that you can capture the viewer’s attention. You can take an example of A.I.D.A model (Attention. Interest, Desire & Action) usually used for content creation. You must catch the viewer’s attention within seconds, or they will close the video.
A timestamp is also useful to keep the reader interested in your video; especially for lengthier videos such as tutorials.
- Call to Action
What most marketers forget when making a video on YouTube is the end screen. Call to action (CTA) buttons are as important as other components of the videos. Use CTAs at the end of every video to keep the viewer engaged with your channel and other platforms.
Video marketing is very important in Digital Marketing, especially now that everyone has gone online. That is why focusing on YouTube video engagement has become far more crucial for us than ever before.
