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YouTube thumbnails matter for performance and did you know that you can do a YouTube thumbnail test and compare? That’s just a fancy way of saying you can run an A/B/C test for thumbnails for your video. The winner takes all.
How does that work? Let’s take a look.
When you upload a video, look in the thumbnails area for the “test & compare.”
Click on that and then upload the different images you want to test. When just using one thumbnail, you can choose a still frame from the video, but that’s not an option here. So you’ll have to bring some designed options, which you can do with Visme, for example.
Once that’s done, YouTube will run the test for up to 14 days or until an undisclosed number of views have been recorded or there’s a clear winner out of the gate.
Is it worth it? I would say it comes back to the return on effort once again.
- How long does it take to create those images?
- What’s the cost? Does it make sense?
- Is it actually improving views?
When all those items align correctly, it might be, but it’s certainly worth testing and trying. My YouTube views for those videos are low and I’m testing it.
Which videos can this be used for?
YouTube thumbnail test and compare is currently available for uploaded videos, but not for Shorts or livestreamed videos.
