- Welcome, creator, to the big YouTube adventure.
The problem is you're doing it all wrong,
which is probably why you're getting frustrated already.
So, let's bin off
some of those rookie YouTube mistakes you're making
and point you in the right direction, which is over here.
One of the biggest challenges small creators face on YouTube
is getting discovered, and to explain what I mean by this,
I'm going to use this not so frozen pea.
That's you right there,
and the only reason you can see it
is because I told you where it is.
So, at this stage, every single opportunity you have
to get discovered on YouTube is crucial.
And that, in very basic terms, starts with impressions.
Whenever you see the front cover or thumbnail of a video,
that counts as an impression,
and, obviously, the goal is to convince a viewer,
to click on your video amongst all of these
competing video thumbnails.
Now, unfortunately, for you as a small creator,
you have two challenges that you need to overcome.
First of all, you've got a YouTube problem.
It doesn't have that much data on your channel,
and you have no authority in the algorithm.
I like to call it the recommendation system.
So, YouTube's gonna be pretty stingy
when it comes to handing out impressions on your behalf.
And then, you've got an audience problem.
People don't know who you are
and people don't care who you are,
because they have no familiarity with your content yet.
So, when your thumbnail is put up against another thumbnail
from a creator the viewer is already familiar with,
then, if they enjoy that content,
they're more likely to choose that,
because they know what they're getting into.
Ultimately, the impression and the click
is a journey every viewer must go through
to start watching one of your videos,
which means it's absolutely crucial
to get those two aspects right.
And that is the first very common YouTube rookie mistake,
not spending long enough on your thumbnail and your title.
And I don't want you to feel bad about this,
because everybody does it.
You put your heart and soul into making the video,
and by the time you get to uploading it
and thinking about a title and a thumbnail,
you're so exhausted that you just whip something together
in five minutes and press publish.
So, going forward, when it comes to YouTube thumbnails,
I want you to apply these two strategies.
However long you spend on making your thumbnails,
be it five minutes, 10 minutes, an hour,
I want you to spend twice as long
on the next five thumbnails that you make.
And on top of that, however complicated your thumbnail is,
I want you to make it half as complicated
for the next five thumbnails.
There's also a third strategy that you can apply,
but I appreciate that, for some of you,
that may be a step too far just now,
but if you're willing to try it,
make the thumbnail and the title
before you even start the video,
because here's a crazy logic
that many of us apply to content creation.
The first thing that everybody sees,
your title and your thumbnail, is the thing you make last.
It doesn't make any sense, does it?
And to ensure practice what I preach,
this is the title and thumbnail of this video,
until I panic and change everything
an hour after it goes public.
All right then, I've got two fun little games
to play with you.
You remember that small, not so frozen pea
that was representing your channel?
It's moved to another part of the frame.
Can you find it?
Let us know in the comments below.
Secondly, and more importantly,
we're gonna do a quick thumbnail test.
Two thumbnails are gonna appear on screen,
and all you need to tell me
is which one you would click on and why.
Ready? Go.
Yeah, I didn't give you along there, did I?
But it was still more than enough time
to pick a thumbnail, right?
That's because studies show users spend on average
1.8 seconds considering each thumbnail on Netflix,
and when you factor in that YouTube shows more thumbnails
and gives the user even more choice,
they're probably spending even less time on each thumbnail,
and that's because humans can process images
very, very quickly.
But the more complex a thumbnail is in terms of colors,
elements, objects, and storytelling,
the longer it takes to process that image.
And once you can explain why
you would click on this thumbnail
rather than this thumbnail,
you can start making better thumbnails yourself.
Now then, titles.
Usually, once a thumbnail has done enough
to grab someone's attention,
they will look to the title for more context.
The best titles that compliment the thumbnail,
rather than repeating them, and they create intrigue.
In order to demonstrate what I mean,
I'm going to use the most clicked on thumbnail
we've published on the vidIQ channel
in the last couple of months.
This thumbnail is pretty simple and emotionally evocative,
but what takes it to the next level of intrigue
is the title.
It defines a target audience,
new or small channels, with an enticing mystery.
Is this YouTube gifting 50 free subscribers to everybody,
or something I can do when I hit 50 subscribers?
Regardless, I either have 50 subscribers
or I'm close to that target.
I need to find out what this is all about.
Of course, if you do want to find out
what this video is all about,
then I'm afraid you'll have to go and watch it.
I ain't telling you.
But what I will tell you is the click-through rate.
I am going through an experiment right now
of tracking the fine detail of video performance,
and I'm recording the click-through rate of my videos
in the first 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours
of a video's lifecycle.
Now, am I telling you that 13.8% click through rate
after the first hour and 7% after 24 hours is a good number?
No, not in a slightest.
What I am telling you is that these numbers
are great for our channel.
That's another rookie mistake that so many creators make,
searching for that golden analytical number
that doesn't exist.
And you don't have to go into the same insane detail I have
on the vidIQ channel.
Just use this panel on the YouTube Studio dashboard,
and it will show you if your titles and thumbnails
are getting better.
Now, for all of you pea-hunting enthusiasts,
never thought I'd say that in a vidIQ video,
it's moved again.
Can you find it?
For all of you YouTube rookies looking for guidance,
let's carry on, because we need to know what happens next,
beyond the thumbnail and title.
And it's pretty obvious, actually.
People will start watching your video.
And the key word in that sentence
is start watching the video, because, let's be honest,
hardly anybody finishes watching the video.
In fact, you lose tons of viewers in the first few seconds.
It's pretty demoralizing if just 3% of those
who click on your video get through to the end, right?
But that's not what you should be worrying about
until you fix this,
the first 30 seconds of your video,
the dreaded hockey stick decline in viewers.
The more viewers who leave at the start of a video,
the greater the disconnect
between what was promised in the thumbnail and title
and what was delivered at the beginning of a video.
Now, there are three main rookie mistake reasons
as to why this happens.
First, we have branded intros.
Come on, come on, come on.
They just stop everything dead.
I know they look fancy.
I know they can be very short, but let me ask you this.
How often do you pay attention to a video intro on a channel
after you've seen it once?
It's just another barrier to the value of the content,
and recently, I proved just how damaging
a video intro can be, even if it's two seconds long,
so make sure to check out a video if you want.
Secondly, after the branded intro,
we have the channel intro.
This is where the creator introduces themselves,
the channel, what they generally do on the channel,
and why you should subscribe to it.
The problem is the video hasn't justified
any reason why the viewers should do that yet.
So, to begin with, always start off strongly
by delivering some of the promise
made in the thumbnail and the title.
If you wanted to introduce yourself properly,
you can do that one or two minutes in,
once the viewer has got value
and they've settled into the content a little bit more.
And finally, the beginning of a video
just doesn't give enough reasons to the viewer
to stick around until the end.
This can be done by teasing a climactic moment in the video
that's going to be paid off much later,
or showing the final finished product
of something that you will get to
if you continue watching the video,
or having a secondary hook,
like this tiny, shriveled up pea.
And granted, I know that was a pretty weak one,
but I'm still playing around with the secondary hooks.
Now, I don't know if you've noticed this,
but there has been a theme throughout these rookie mistakes
to encourage you to do something,
and that is to front load your creative efforts.
We all have a finite amount of time, energy, and resources,
so let me explain it like this.
Start spending 50% or more of your time,
energy, and resources on your thumbnail,
title, and the beginning of your video,
the first 30 seconds to a minute.
Those are the things that have the biggest impact
on the success of a video,
and once you figure out them,
you can get onto the other stuff.
As for other rookie mistakes,
well, there is one monumental subscriber error
that almost every single creator commits,
and if you want to know what that is,
start watching right now.