Doodly Advanced Tutorial

Effective YouTube Thumbnails

Advanced Tutorial #16
Demonstrates various types of effective thumbnails on YouTube.

Effective YouTube Thumbnails

Testing quite a few thumbnails on YouTube and Facebook, we need to ask ourselves which thumbnails are the most effective. This article provides the results of the experiments conducted.

Prerequisites

What is an Effective Thumbnail?

One that grabs the viewer’s attention and gets a click on your video. The thumbnail is the only thing a viewer has in a split second decision whether to click your video production on YouTube or someone else’s production. This is one thing that grabs your viewer’s attention and makes them say “I should watch this or I want to see this”.
YouTube Thumbnail Training
Contrasting colors and big bold font is necessary for making a good YouTube thumbnail.

Testing Results

We have tried a variety of thumbnails with varying degrees of success. A very long story short, there is a reason that big companies still use click bait thumbnails; because they work. Even the official Doodly channel uses click bait thumbnails because there is something about seeing a person making funny faces on the video thumbnail that just makes you want to click on the video.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions regarding this topic.

An effective thumbnail captures the attention of the audience and encourages them to click on your content. It serves as the deciding factor when viewers are quickly choosing between your video and competing content, making them feel like they need to watch what you have created.

To build a strong thumbnail, you need to utilize contrasting color schemes along with large, bold text. These visual components help your image stand out and grab the attention of potential viewers.

Major brands and successful channels still rely on clickbait style images because testing proves that they are highly successful at generating clicks. Certain visual triggers simply compel audiences to engage with the video.

Including images of people making exaggerated or funny faces is a proven strategy to increase engagement. This human element naturally draws the eye and creates a sense of curiosity that makes people want to click on the content.

The image acts as the single visual cue during the split second when a person decides what to watch. It must immediately stand out from other options and convince the person that your content is worth their time.

About the author

Wayne Leiser
Wayne Leiser
Editor & Contributor
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