We’re not here to bore you with:
- What is a thumbnail
- Tell you the best size for a thumbnail…
- Because you know all of this by now
This guide is what made by people like you, looking for real answers.
Join us in studying what to do to actually know if your thumbnail is bad or not.
How to Know if a YouTube Thumbnail is Good
Besides the classic boring lists telling you to make it the right size, the best way to know if a thumbnail is good is to A/B Test with multiple variations.
Why A/B Testing is so important:
- What it does: You can create multiple thumbnails and see which one gets a higher click-through rate (CTR) with data taken straight from your target audience.
- Tool: Thumbnail Test can help you test thumbnails and optimize your CTR.
- Analytics data: Look at your CTR, especially in the first 24 hours after publishing, for videos with high impressions. This tells you how effective a thumbnail was at grabbing attention.
Even Google recommends coming back in 24 hours here:
What Makes a Good Thumbnail
The greatest YouTube thumbnails grab attention and give a clear idea of what the video is about.
- Eye-Catching Imagery: Use bright colors and high-contrast visuals.
- Clarity: It should be easily understood at a small size.
- Relevant: Match the image to your video content.
- Text Overlays: Use minimal text to add context, but don’t overcrowd.
- Faces: If relevant, showing expressive faces can boost engagement.
- Branding: Consistent style or logo helps viewers recognize your content.
- High Quality: Use sharp, high-resolution images.
A table’s going to make this easier:
| Benefit | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Catchy Image | Grabs attention in a crowded feed | Close-up of a surprised gamer’s face for a gaming review |
| Clear Text | Tells viewers exactly what the video is about | “The BEST Budget Laptop in 2024” |
| HQ Design | Looks professional and polished | Clean design, bright colors and contrasting text |
Focus on making it stand out while keeping it relevant to your video’s content!
Conclusion
This guide just taught you that:
- The best way to know if a thumbnail is good is to A/B test it.
- And to do so, you may want to use Thumbnail Test
Why? Because YouTube doesn’t have this feature yet, so your best option is to use third-party tool.
Hope we’ve answered all of your questions!
Thank you for reading this,
ThumbnailTest
