Digital Evangelism
  • Home
    • Big Data
    • Social Media
  • BLOG
  • RESOURCES
    • RESOURCE MENU >
      • ADVENTIST IDENTITY GUIDELINES
      • BIG DATA RESOURCES
      • BRANDING, IMAGE & DESIGN RESOURCES
      • CHURCH/MINISTRY SPECIFIC RESOURCES
      • COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK BASICS
      • COURSES
      • EMAIL RESOURCES
      • GUIDANCE FOR HIRING SOCIAL MEDIA POSITIONS
      • PODCASTS
      • REPORTS & CASE STUDIES
      • SOCIAL MEDIA RESOURCES
      • (SOCIAL) VIDEO RESOURCES >
        • HOW TO START A VIDEO MINISTRY
      • TEXTING 4 CHURCHES
      • TRACKING & ANALTYICS
      • WATCH VIDEOS & TUTORIALS
      • WEBSITE TIPS
    • SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES
  • SEO
    • SEO TERMS
  • Digital Discipleship & Evangelism
  • COVID-19 RESOURCES
  • eNEWSLETTER

Blog

#DigitalEvangelism

YouTube Tips: How to Optimize Your Thumbnails, Title, Descriptions, and Tags and Keep Them Consistent

8/17/2020

48 Comments

 

Jamie Jean Schneider Domm

Digital Strategist, Social Media + Big Data, North American Division

Justin Khoe

Digital Missionary, ​"I’m Listening with Justin Khoe; Life. Faith. And the things that matter."

YouTube Video Thumbnail Illustration

​While it is true that content is king, it is also true that marketing is queen. On YouTube, the things that most influence your discovery and channel growth (other than quality of content) are your thumbnails, titles, and tags.
 
Each video that you create should have one focal point or one problem that you’re trying to address. Your thumbnails, title, description, and tags should all work in unison to communicate that message and to optimize the exposure of every piece of content you produce. YouTube’s algorithm weighs all the elements of your video—views, length, titles, tags, etc.—to determine whether to promote that particular video in related search queries, suggested videos, and on the homepage. Most people will find your video through a search query or a related video, so it’s important to have a solid strategy to increase your exposure. Therefore, knowing how to optimize your thumbnails, title, and tags is essential to growing an audience.

Best practices for each element

  • Thumbnails often perform best when they tease a value or a story. Don’t give away the punch line of your video in the thumbnail. Seek to create an emotional response and to give the prospective viewer an incentive to click on the video. Pique their curiosity, giving them a reason to watch.

    Use a brief amount of large-font text on your thumbnail that allows easy readability. Help your text stand out by adding a shape behind it. This text can serve to reinforce the video’s connection to a specific topic, increasing the likelihood that a person will select your video among the competition. To interrupt their scrolling, get them to actively think about the thumbnail and how it relates to their search query or topic that interests them. This will better position your video for success.

    Keep in mind the average viewer will be watching the video on their mobile phone, so you want to make sure the thumbnail you create is clear and any text is readable on a small screen. Human beings prefer to connect with other human beings. Your viewer will have an easier time relating to the subject matter, and you’re more likely to invoke an emotional response if you include images of people, especially faces, in your thumbnails. Make sure their faces are large enough that you can actually see the whites of their eyes in a small thumbnail. You should also incorporate your overall branding strategy into the design of your thumbnails and your logo. This will help train your audience to easily identify content from your channel.

    If you’re not a photo editing pro with tools like Photoshop, no worries. Use free online tools like Canva.com to create your thumbnail from a clear screenshot from the paused video or from a high-quality photo you snapped during the video shoot. Use Canva’s YouTube thumbnail template to make sure you have the correct dimensions: 1,920x1,080 pixels for HD resolution. When taking screenshots, make the video full screen to increase the clarity of the image. Increase the contrast, saturation, and sharpness on your thumbnails to make the image and colors pop, helping you stand out from other videos. Thumbnails perform better when they are about 30% oversaturated and oversharpened, because this helps a small image to pop on a mobile device.

    ​In summary
    • Choose an image and/or graphics that stand out and pique curiosity.
    • Include large-font text that teases a value or a story.
    • Include people’s faces, and make sure they are large enough that a viewer can see the whites of their eyes on a small screen.
    • Incorporate your branding and logo.
    • Make sure the thumbnail is easy to understand on a small screen.
    • Add extra contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

  • Titles should reflect the vernacular of the platform. Use tools like YouTube auto-fill in the search bar to find out what language people are typing in to search for specific topics. Basically, start typing your question, and let YouTube finish it for you. Look for very specific video ideas, and use the exact wording or variants of the resulting search phrases for your titles. More nuanced titles will help reduce competition and rank your video higher in search queries.

    Look at what other popular YouTubers are doing with their titles in videos covering the same type of subjects. Pay attention to the trends and what other creators are doing on the platform. This will help you perform better in related video suggestions. Model your video titles and other elements after popular videos related to your topic. Normally, the typical number of views a video can expect to garner is around 5% to 10% of the total number of subscribers to the channel. When videos exceed this, it’s an indication of strong content, a popular topic, strong title, thumbnail, and keywording. When you model your own videos after competitor’s high-performing videos on a similar topic, you increase the chances that viewers will find your content in the related videos and ultimately subscribe to your channel.

    Craft a title that piques the curiosity of the prospective viewer, without giving away the answer. Your title should make them think: “I never really thought of it that way” or “I wonder where they’re going with that.” You goal should be to get them intrigued in the same way your thumbnail hopefully will. Your thumbnail and title work together as complements. Therefore, the text should not be the same in both, but rather work together to give the viewer an incentive to watch.

    Avoid including dates, as this may reduce the perceived relevancy of your video, and it takes up valuable space in the title field. Moreover, omit any type of numbering system you may have developed for organizing your videos, as this also does not add value. An exception to this rule may be a series of videos that must be watched in order. In this case, we recommend creating a playlist specific to each series to enable people to binge watch all the videos, if desired.

    However, most viewers will not watch your videos in order and will, in fact, stumble across your videos randomly. When choosing your title, consider the perspective of someone completely new to your content. This is the first video they will watch out of your entire collection. Avoid any language that may give the impression this video is not for the prospective viewer or that the content will not be relevant on its own (i.e., leave out the date and sequence number).

    ​In summary
    • Model your title after search phrases.
    • Pay attention to trends related to your topic.
    • Craft a title that piques curiosity.
    • Avoid dates and numbering systems.

  • Tags are used to help people find your videos when they type something into the YouTube search bar. The first thing you want to do is make sure you have a common tag used throughout your entire YouTube channel. When all your videos have one common tag, it acts as an indicator to YouTube that each video is related to all the other videos in the library. When someone watches one video, there will be a greater chance that the suggested videos will also be from your channel. For example, Justin Khoe uses “jkhoe” as a tag in all his videos. You’ll want to come up with something unique to your channel that no one else will be using.

    Don’t waste any of your tag space with random or one- to two-word tags. These tend to be very ineffective, as competition levels for those tags are too high. “Bible study” will be an incredibly difficult tag to rank for. “How to study the Bible” is a more nuanced tag with less competition and a better chance for your video to stand out. “How to study the Bible for teenagers” will be even more effective. Look for search phrases that are four or five words or more to narrow your competition for searches or related videos. Start with these longer phrases (including the title of the video), then find related permutations of those same tags. For example, “how to study the Bible” can be supported by the following tags: “how to study the Bible for yourself,” “how to study the Bible for beginners,” “how to study the Bible for women,” etc. If there are words that are frequently misspelled by people, such as “Isaiah,” you may also want to include the most common misspellings. The combination of these techniques increases the chances that your video will rank higher in search results and related videos, bringing new people to your channel from other channels and keeping your viewers engaged with your content.

    Don’t mislead viewers. Only use keywords that are related to your video content, as disappointed viewers can give feedback such as downvotes and negative comments that can hinder your video’s performance.

    Special note: You can only use 500 characters to encompass all of your various tags; if you go over that limit, you can’t upload or save the video. Be sure to prioritize the strongest tags. Use software like tube buddy to help you identify strong keywords and phrases.

    ​In summary, follow this model for tags:
    • Your unique channel tag
    • Four- to five-word search phrases related to the video (including the title of the video)
    • Variations on your search phrases (including commonly misspelled keywords)
    • Avoid random tags and one- or two-word tags.
    • Don’t use misleading keywords.

  • Descriptions should not be neglected, as they are factored into YouTube’s and Google’s algorithm for search ranking, increasing discoverability. The first two sentences of your description are the most important regarding ranking, so be sure to reflect the title of your video, and include a call-to-action whenever possible.

    Providing description copy (at least 250 words) enables search engines to index your video for search query optimization. In addition, links to your website, specific webpages, resource requests, etc. will also factor into the search engine optimization of both your videos and your website. By providing both calls-to-action and links, you both encourage your viewers toward meaningful action and make it easy for them to take the desired action.

    For long videos, make it easy for people to find what they are looking for within the video. For example, a 30-minute video on Bible prophecies may cover many passages. Provide time stamps (lists of relevant timecodes)  for the various sections in the description to allow viewers to skip ahead easily and find the section that most interests them.

    ​Checklist
    • Begin your description with the search phrase (or a variation of it) that you used to determine the title.
    • Write your description copy using keywords to optimize search result ranking.
    • Include backlinks to your website, blog, and social media profiles to improve general SEO and visibility.
    • Include calls-to-action where relevant.
    • For long videos, include time stamps for topic-specific sections.
 
If you’ve already established a library of content on YouTube, go back and optimize each of these elements. This will cause YouTube to reevaluate each of your videos and their ranking, helping to better position your existing content.
 
These four elements combined help increase the authority of your channel content, but don’t expect immediate results or for your first video to go viral. YouTube also assesses the quantity of content your channel has produced and gives more authority (and better rankings) to channels that have more content because there is more for people to watch. Expect to put in significant amounts of time to create a wealth of content using these best practices.
 
To be successful on YouTube, you need two pieces. First, you need valuable content that answers people’s questions, meets their needs, makes a difference in people’s lives, and is optimized with proper thumbnails, titles, descriptions, and tags. Second, you need consistency when it comes to putting content out on the platform. Do this, and you will see results.
Download the Free Guide to Starting a YouTube Ministry
48 Comments
Sara L. Bryant link
5/21/2021 10:52:49 am

Thanks for the details. It’s easily understandable, You’ve explained very well.

Reply
Web Designing Faridabad link
10/30/2021 05:39:00 am

Thanks for writing an article that I found easy to read and understand. I just found this site and am looking forward to reading more of your posts!

Reply
payment processing iso link
10/20/2022 06:48:36 am

Thank you very much for the sharing! COOL..

Reply
North American Bancard Agent link
10/22/2022 03:47:41 am

I am hoping the same best effort from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing skills has inspired me.

Reply
retro bowl unblocked link
10/27/2022 12:19:32 pm

This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.

Reply
best iso merchant program link
10/27/2022 02:50:27 pm

Thanks For sharing this Superb article.I use this Article to show my assignment in college.it is useful For me Great Work.

Reply
how to become a digital payment agent link
10/29/2022 02:46:35 am

It was wondering if I could use this write-up on my other website, I will link it back to your website though.Great Thanks.

Reply
flash sale bidvaluable link
10/30/2022 07:52:21 am

I read that Post and got it fine and informative. Please share more like that...

Reply
News Record link
10/31/2022 09:42:46 am

Wow what a Great Information about World Day its very nice informative post. thanks for the post.

Reply
iso partnership link
11/1/2022 03:02:10 am

Thanks For sharing this Superb article.I use this Article to show my assignment in college.it is useful For me Great Work.

Reply
North American Bancard Sales Partner link
11/1/2022 08:41:54 am

Wow i can say that this is another great article as expected of this blog.Bookmarked this site..

Reply
digital payment agent link
11/3/2022 01:19:25 pm

i really like this article please keep it up.

Reply
how to become an iso link
11/4/2022 08:15:50 am

I just couldn't leave your website before telling you that I truly enjoyed the top quality info you present to your visitors? Will be back again frequently to check up on new posts.

Reply
ramshot powder link
11/7/2022 06:08:02 am

Im no expert, but I believe you just made an excellent point. You certainly fully understand what youre speaking about, and I can truly get behind that.

Reply
selling merchant services link
11/7/2022 08:53:31 am

This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free.

Reply
Kai Asset Management link
11/7/2022 11:17:39 am

Hello, I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this. Are you aware of any other websites on this subject.

Reply
best vibrators on a budget link
11/14/2022 06:38:42 am

Very good points you wrote here..Great stuff...I think you've made some truly interesting points.Keep up the good work.

Reply
Best Ias coaching In delhi link
11/17/2022 06:35:54 am

Interesting post. I Have Been wondering about this issue, so thanks for posting. Pretty cool post.It 's really very nice and Useful post.Thanks

Reply
hodgdon h1000 powder in stock link
11/18/2022 12:11:07 am

What a fantabulous post this has been. Never seen this kind of useful post. I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much.

Reply
Keeshond Life expectancy link
11/20/2022 12:44:33 am

Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting? I'm pleased I discovered it though, ill be checking back soon to find out what additional posts you include.

Reply
how to sell merchant services link
11/20/2022 08:09:45 am

this is really nice to read..informative post is very good to read..thanks a lot!

Reply
digital payment processing agent link
11/22/2022 12:44:30 am

This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free.

Reply
scrap car removal surrey link
11/23/2022 05:34:20 pm

Excellent website you have here, so much cool information!..

Reply
engagement rings phoenix link
12/4/2022 02:13:34 am

Great Article it its really informative and innovative keep us posted with new updates. its was really valuable. thanks a lot.

Reply
sensitive skin treatment link
12/4/2022 05:23:27 am

Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer!..

Reply
$33 usd to btc link
12/11/2022 11:23:30 am

thank you for your interesting infomation.

Reply
news entrepreneur link
12/13/2022 10:58:49 pm

At the point when your site or blog goes live interestingly, it is invigorating. That is until you understand nobody yet you and your.

Reply
Elon Musk link
12/14/2022 08:42:36 am

I am impressed. I don't think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here.

Reply
h1000 powder link
12/17/2022 06:27:36 am

Really a great addition. I have read this marvelous post. Thanks for sharing information about it. I really like that. Thanks so lot for your convene.

Reply
how long do thc vapes last link
12/17/2022 11:43:27 am

The website is trying bit flashy and it catches the guests eyes. style is pretty straightforward and an honest user friendly interface.

Reply
techpondrk. in link
12/18/2022 07:07:17 am

Cool you inscribe, the info is really salubrious further fascinating, I'll give you a connect to my scene

Reply
Auto insurance writer Ashley Miller link
12/19/2022 12:07:21 pm

What a fantabulous post this has been. Never seen this kind of useful post. I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much.

Reply
New Capital Financial link
12/25/2022 04:11:47 am

I love the way you write and share your niche! Very interesting and different! Keep it coming!

Reply
shrooms for sale link
12/27/2022 01:42:04 am

I’ve been searching for some decent stuff on the subject and haven't had any luck up until this point, You just got a new biggest fan!..

Reply
http://www.khihapkido.com/2022/12/24/boat-hire-malta-can-help-you-plan-your-next-boating-holiday/ link
12/27/2022 10:16:36 am

Great Information sharing .. I am very happy to read this article .. thanks for giving us go through info.Fantastic nice. I appreciate this post.

Reply
cash for scrap cars link
12/28/2022 08:20:24 am

Your blog provided us with valuable information to work with. Each & every tips of your post are awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing. Keep blogging,

Reply
Newmarket pest control link
12/28/2022 01:01:57 pm

New web site is looking good. Thanks for the great effort.

Reply
Ali Baba Dastaan E Kabul link
12/29/2022 07:02:20 am

I really enjoyed reading this post, big fan. Keep up the good work andplease tell me when can you publish more articles or where can I read more on the subject?

Reply
tax attorney link
12/30/2022 07:35:21 am

Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info.

Reply
party rentals link
12/30/2022 09:56:08 pm

Your blog provided us with valuable information to work with. Each & every tips of your post are awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing. Keep blogging,

Reply
http://www.airecentre-pacers.co.uk/rv-sewer-hose-cleaning-guide/ link
12/31/2022 08:58:19 am

This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. It is the old what goes around comes around routine.

Reply
https://broomhillchurch.org.uk/2022/12/30/how-to-effectively-use-digital-marketing-to-promote-your-business/ link
12/31/2022 09:32:08 am

This is really a nice and informative, containing all information and also has a great impact on the new technology. Thanks for sharing it,

Reply
Jaipur Model Escorts link
1/1/2023 10:25:32 am

Thank you very much for this great post.

Reply
http://www.hapas.org/how-to-develop-invention-ideas/ link
1/3/2023 09:57:07 pm

Thanks you very much for sharing these links. Will definitely check this out..

Reply
photo booth rental link
1/5/2023 08:29:56 am

Love what you're doing here guys, keep it up!..

Reply
Richmond moving company link
1/6/2023 02:31:09 am

What a fantabulous post this has been. Never seen this kind of useful post. I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much.

Reply
Langley scrap car removal link
1/7/2023 10:08:05 am

I just couldn't leave your website before telling you that I truly enjoyed the top quality info you present to your visitors? Will be back again frequently to check up on new posts.

Reply
Optometrist near me link
1/9/2023 12:11:27 am

very interesting post.this is my first time visit here.i found so mmany interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion..thanks for the post!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All
    A Allan Martin
    Adam Fenner
    Angeline Brauer
    Big Data
    Center For Online Evangelism
    Chris Matts
    Culture
    Data Science
    Data Tracking
    David Mwansa
    Design
    Digital Discipleship
    Digital Pew
    Digital Strategies Intern
    Dustin Comm
    Email Communications
    Erica Jones
    Event Registration
    Faith-hoyt
    Fundraising
    General
    Harvey Alférez
    Heidi Baumgartner
    James Gigante
    Jamie Schneider
    Jason Alexis
    Justin Khoe
    Kaleb Eisele
    Kimberly Luste Maran
    Marketing
    Member Care
    Michelle Diedrich
    Nick Wolfer
    Online Church
    Paul Hopkins
    Philanthropy
    Rachel Lemons Aitken
    Reaching Young Adults
    Rodney Brady
    SEO
    Social Media
    Stewardship
    Text Evangelism
    Video
    Volunteering
    Website
    Working From Home

    RSS Feed

Location

Hiding within those mounds of data is knowledge that could change the life of a patient, or change the world.

Atul Butte, Researcher
University of California, San Francisco

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

    We will use this email to send you updates on social media and big data initiatives.
Submit
Legal Notice   l   Privacy Policy
  • Home
    • Big Data
    • Social Media
  • BLOG
  • RESOURCES
    • RESOURCE MENU >
      • ADVENTIST IDENTITY GUIDELINES
      • BIG DATA RESOURCES
      • BRANDING, IMAGE & DESIGN RESOURCES
      • CHURCH/MINISTRY SPECIFIC RESOURCES
      • COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK BASICS
      • COURSES
      • EMAIL RESOURCES
      • GUIDANCE FOR HIRING SOCIAL MEDIA POSITIONS
      • PODCASTS
      • REPORTS & CASE STUDIES
      • SOCIAL MEDIA RESOURCES
      • (SOCIAL) VIDEO RESOURCES >
        • HOW TO START A VIDEO MINISTRY
      • TEXTING 4 CHURCHES
      • TRACKING & ANALTYICS
      • WATCH VIDEOS & TUTORIALS
      • WEBSITE TIPS
    • SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES
  • SEO
    • SEO TERMS
  • Digital Discipleship & Evangelism
  • COVID-19 RESOURCES
  • eNEWSLETTER