Thumbnails with Words or Without?

Reverofenola

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I was thinking of creating another thumbnail for one of my videos. The last video I created had no words in the thumbnail yet it garnished more watch time than any of my other videos which HAD words in it. So now I'm beginning to doubt the need for words anymore.

So thumbnails with words or without? Which works better for you?
 

Cooking4Noobs

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I think words in thumbnails just look cheap and "clickbait"-ish, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't recommend words.
 

Idec Sdawkminn

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I went through a phase where I put titles on all my thumbnails. My views went down noticeably during that time and people that I asked said it looked better before. When I changed them back to just pictures, my views went back up to normal.
 

Orion Blue

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I went through a phase where I put titles on all my thumbnails. My views went down noticeably during that time and people that I asked said it looked better before. When I changed them back to just pictures, my views went back up to normal.
Interesting. Thumbnails are one of the things I feel iffy on how to design when it comes to my channels. I think I'm gonna change to just the number in the series and the title of the game.
 

georgia grace

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i like adding words to mine personally, i feel like it helps make things look cohesive and i'm super picky about things looking nice together and matching. if the colour scheme of two pictures are different, i find that writing can creates similarity which ends up looking better on my channel as a whole. i think it can work either way, though!
 

Rafij Rahman Rohan

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Honestly I like to add words on my thumbnail.Cause it's more easily understandable.Even you don't read the title it's give you a proper idea what is you video about.But everyone has their own opinion.But I have words on each of my thumbnail & it's working really well...:)
 

zaffron

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i prefer adding words because most of us often does not spend time to read the title of the video. so i think it is better to make it easier for the reader to read a larger title in the thumbnail. moreover, i always try to avoid getting dislikes on my videos. so being transparent with the reader is very important. although, trying to grab the reader attention by avoiding the title in the thumbnail, i think, can be considered by some users as a misleading because they didnt find what they are trying to search for.