YouTube Thumbnails: Text or No Text?

[Squeal Cat]

Thanks @Squeal Cat. That's the sort of objective review of my thumbnails I was looking for.

I know what you are saying about having text too close to the borders. I also think I am using too many words. Instead of saying "Unboxing the Panasonic Lumix G6", I could place the word "Unboxing" at the top and then write "Panasonic G6" down the bottom. That's maybe the best way for me to go down.

I can look at a different font too. That one just happened to keep all text in capitals. I will try some different fonts today and see how they look.

Thankfully, I have a backup of the vast majority of my thumbnails. So I can simply reopen the Photoshop PSD files and then make the appropriate changes.

Thanks again for the feedback. Much appreciated.

Yes, you have to play around with it . And try to see from another perspective; if that was a thumbnail from a channel of a random lady, would you click on it? And to go even further, would a random surfer on Youtube, looking for camera reviews, click on that thumbnail?

About the borders, I was talking about a black border wrapped around your text, which I think it's very good.

Good luck!

 

[Kevin Muldoon]

About the borders, I was talking about a black border wrapped around your text, which I think it's very good.Good luck!

I have stroke on most of my text to make it stand out from the background image. Sometimes I use drop shadow. It is not really necessary if the background is a solid colour.

Appreciate your feedback. Will try and work on this tonight and come up with a new style and then use that as a template for my other thumbnails.

 

[Squeal Cat]

I have stroke on most of my text to make it stand out from the background image. Sometimes I use drop shadow. It is not really necessary if the background is a solid colour.

Appreciate your feedback. Will try and work on this tonight and come up with a new style and then use that as a template for my other thumbnails.

I'm just unclear. What I meant with border, was the stroke. I think your stroke is very good. I switched words accidentally between stroke and border. My apologies

 

[NEXPERT]

A few months ago I got into the habit of adding the full title of my video in text to my video thumbnails.

Sometimes this looks good. Sometimes, it does not. It really depends on the amount of text being used and, perhaps more importantly, whether the text clashes with the image being used in the background.

I watched a video from @Tim Schmoyer today in which he recommended using text in videos. I'm a big fan of his and enjoy his views on how to improve as a YouTuber. Tim suggested that videos with text get better click throughs.

However, today I started looking at this objectively and started looking at thumbnails from dozens of channels. I didn't see anything to suggest that top results in searches have text.

I'm mostly focusing on technology topics so I checked lots of tech channels and noticed that:

• A lot of of the most popular YouTubers do not use text at all - all they use is a good image
• Some YouTubers use text but keep it to a minimal i.e. only use one or two words
• A few others use a lot of text

I am considering redesigning all of my thumbnails. I only have about 50 or 60 videos and I so it would not be a huge pain to do this. In the past I have considered hiring someone to create better thumbnails for me, however I do not want to always rely on someone else to do that. I much prefer to be able to just upload a video and handle everything myself.

What's your view on text in video thumbnails?

Do you use text in your video thumbnails? If so, do you believe it makes people more likely to click?

Well it aall depends about video and how ti looks If it looks good add text or if it doesn't don't add text. You can also try to add only one or two words that are connected to the subject of the video

 

[Kevin Muldoon]

I'm just unclear. What I meant with border, was the stroke. I think your stroke is very good. I switched words accidentally between stroke and border. My apologies

No need to apologise

Though the thumbnails I currently have already have stroke.

Well it aall depends about video and how ti looks If it looks good add text or if it doesn't don't add text. You can also try to add only one or two words that are connected to the subject of the video

Yeah I think the method of just displaying one or two keywords may be better for some video thumbnails.

 

[Kelseyr2]

I think adding text is a good way to give your channel and your videos a cohesive look. I suppose you can achieve that without text as well. Just a thought.

 

[KWKBOX]

A few months ago I got into the habit of adding the full title of my video in text to my video thumbnails.

Sometimes this looks good. Sometimes, it does not. It really depends on the amount of text being used and, perhaps more importantly, whether the text clashes with the image being used in the background.

I watched a video from @Tim Schmoyer today in which he recommended using text in videos. I'm a big fan of his and enjoy his views on how to improve as a YouTuber. Tim suggested that videos with text get better click throughs.

However, today I started looking at this objectively and started looking at thumbnails from dozens of channels. I didn't see anything to suggest that top results in searches have text.

I'm mostly focusing on technology topics so I checked lots of tech channels and noticed that:

• A lot of of the most popular YouTubers do not use text at all - all they use is a good image
• Some YouTubers use text but keep it to a minimal i.e. only use one or two words
• A few others use a lot of text

I am considering redesigning all of my thumbnails. I only have about 50 or 60 videos and I so it would not be a huge pain to do this. In the past I have considered hiring someone to create better thumbnails for me, however I do not want to always rely on someone else to do that. I much prefer to be able to just upload a video and handle everything myself.

What's your view on text in video thumbnails?

Do you use text in your video thumbnails? If so, do you believe it makes people more likely to click?

A picture is worth a thousand words but unfortunately you have no control of what words those are. Due to this I always have text to guide my viewers. Since the majority are seniors I need to you a large bold font though...

 

[Animazing]

Having text in your thumbnail just gives the viewer a little more information about your video. It doesn't necessarily have to be the full title but this way you can visualize your title a little more.

 

[ModestBudgetGaming]

Have text in your thumbnails but only a one or two words?

 

[Ryan ToysReview]

I put text in my thumbnail. (Not much but a couple of words). Don't know if it's good or not, but I do it lol. Maybe I'm so used to it, but when I don't have text, it feels naked. Hahahaha