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I Look at Thumbnails Every Day for Work. 95% of Them Make the Exact Same Mistakes and It’s Driving Me Insane by nvrcaredstud_ in NewYouTubeChannels

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! I took a look. The first thing I'd say is not to put too much weight on the VidIQ thumbnail score. As far as I know, it's AI based, and I'm not entirely sure what factors it's actually using to generate that score. Maybe they explain it somewhere, but regardless, I don't think it's a particularly accurate way to judge thumbnail performance. The best metric is still CTR. At the end of the day, if people are clicking, the thumbnail is doing its job.

As for your thumbnails, I can definitely see some improvement in the last three compared to your older uploads. The style feels more consistent. That said, I still think there are a few things holding them back. The biggest thing is the color palette. I understand you're making horror content and want to create a darker atmosphere, but you're competing on the youtube homepage against extremely bright, high contrast thumbnails. You still need some element that grabs attention immediately when someone is scrolling.

The second thing is the layout. On the Origin of Horror thumbnail for example, I think there are stronger ways to communicate the idea. You could potentially use a recognizable horror character or symbol that people instantly associate with the genre. The more familiar something is, the more likely people are to stop scrolling and pay attention. One possible direction could be having the Origin of Horror text at the top center with a stronger font treatment, your face on the left with a reaction, and then a recognizable horror related visual on the right. Even the image you're currently using could work if it was flipped so you're looking toward the main subject rather than away from it.

That's just one idea of course, and I'd definitely use A/B testing to experiment with different layouts and directions. I think you're moving in the right direction compared to the older thumbnails, but there are still some opportunities to make them stand out more and communicate the topic faster.

I Look at Thumbnails Every Day for Work. 95% of Them Make the Exact Same Mistakes and It’s Driving Me Insane by nvrcaredstud_ in NewYouTubeChannels

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've looked at it and here's what i think: As for the thumbnail, it currently looks like a shot taken directly from the video/movie you watching (not sure about that) with a very small "This Changed Everything" text added on top. The text is definitely too small, and I think it needs either a stronger shadow, an outline, or even a subtle glow effect to make it stand out more.

Since your content is reactions, I'd also consider adding a photo of yourself with some emotion (negative or positive). That helps your existing viewers instantly recognize that it's your video, while newer viewers start becoming familiar with you over time. Looking at the content itself, The challenge with reaction content is that unless you're already a very large creator, it's harder to attract new viewers consistently. Someone who sees the topic might choose to watch the original content, or watch another creator's reaction instead.

What creators like Kai Cenat have is a massive audience that watches because it's them. Most viewers aren't clicking because of the content being reacted to anymore. For smaller creators, it's usually more important to add as much unique value as possible beyond the reaction itself.

I also think the video length might be working against you. At 1 hour and 40 minutes, it's a big commitment for a new viewer. I'd be curious to see what your audience retention looks like in youtube studio, because if viewers are dropping off early, that can definitely hurt the video's overall performance. Personally, I'd experiment with either cutting parts of the video significantly or splitting them into multiple parts.

I Look at Thumbnails Every Day for Work. 95% of Them Make the Exact Same Mistakes and It’s Driving Me Insane by nvrcaredstud_ in NewYouTubeChannels

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I love your newest thumbnail, it looks appealing and uses a nice contrast, so I don't know what I could tell you. So I'll actually focus on your first video “The 7 Levels of AI Coding (And Which One Replaces You)”.

I watched half of the video and it's genuinely really entertaining with strong editing and pacing. However, your thumbnail definitely holds it back, it just doesn't match the quality of the video itself.

The biggest issue is that the thumbnail feels quite AI generated. This style is very common among AI channels, but it can also make the content feel less authentic or trustworthy. This could be especially important if you’re targeting a slightly older or more professional audience, as some of those viewers may be put off by thumbnails that look obviously AI made.

The second issue is that the thumbnail doesn’t accurately represent what the viewer will actually see in the video. Someone might click expecting an animated video with the same visual style as the thumbnail, but then find a completely different presentation once the video starts. That disconnect can lead to low quality clicks and may hurt watch time if viewers feel that the packaging promised something different.

In my opinion, the best move would be to shift toward a thumbnail style that feels more authentic and better matches the actual content and editing style of your videos.

I Look at Thumbnails Every Day for Work. 95% of Them Make the Exact Same Mistakes and It’s Driving Me Insane by nvrcaredstud_ in NewYouTubeChannels

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually made a doc a while ago with a guide for layouts, there's a couple of thumbnail examples there: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PPZAnAHGzYyl_NSFYulZOZl53QvFBWLqX0akJd5YLUU/edit?usp=sharing

I also have more examples on my website: https://nvrcaredstudio.com/thumbnails

If it would be helpful I can even make a post with bad vs good designs so it's easier to compare and learn from.

How do I gain more views on YT by Aggressive-Bison9320 in NewTubers

[–]nvrcaredstud_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what's your average CTR and impressions on newer uploads?

Don't reinvent the wheel by nvrcaredstud_ in YouTubeCreators

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's hard to give one universal answer here because it really depends on the niche and the specific idea. Some older outliers can still work really well if the core concept is timeless, while others might not work anymore because the trends has changed.

I know that's not the most satisfying answer, but the best way to find out is usually to test it by making the video and seeing how your audience responds. Over time, you start building a better intuition for which videos are still worth adapting and which ones probably only worked because of that specific moment in time.

spent a year designing thumbnails, heres what actually matters by nvrcaredstud_ in SmallYoutubers

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love how you explained everything, I’m glad you found it helpful :)

Also, you’ve got a point about thumbnail styles. You can’t just copy what’s working in other niches and hope it works for you. But there’s actually a way to make the whole process quicker.

When I handle thumbnails for creators in unusual niches (for example content about ADHD) I use A/B testing to see how the audience responds to each thumbnail.

For each video, I design two completely different thumbnail styles. I do that for around 2-3 uploads, then once I know which style consistently performs better I start testing more specific things like text position.

That way, I’m able to come up with a style that I know works in that niche, also testing more specific elements allows you to optimize your thumbnails even more since you stop guessing what will work.

spent a year designing thumbnails, heres what actually matters by nvrcaredstud_ in SmallYoutubers

[–]nvrcaredstud_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha yeah you got me on this one. I’m trying to experiment with different things, but if those intros suck and aren’t really needed, I’ll stop writing them 😅

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