Thumbnails and titles that get the click

Package before you film

Write the title and sketch the thumbnail before you record anything. If you cannot package the idea in a few words and one image, the video will probably struggle too. Better to find that out before you spend a weekend editing.

Thumbnail rules that hold up

• One focal point. A face, an object or a result. Not all three.
• Three words or fewer of text, and never just the title repeated.
• High contrast, readable at the size of a postage stamp.
• Keep the important bits in the center. Apps crop the edges.

Titles: specific beats clever

A title has two jobs: tell people what they get and make them curious enough to click. Numbers, clear outcomes and a little tension do both. Wordplay usually does neither.

Keep the key phrase near the start, because search results cut long titles off.

Study the winners, do not copy them

Save the top thumbnails in your niche and look for the pattern: colors, framing, how much text, where the face goes. Then make your own version of the pattern. Copying someone else’s thumbnail outright is a fast way to a copyright problem and a slow way to an audience.