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April 16, 2025 33 mins

Do you know how crucial YouTube thumbnails are to the success of a video? Andrew Armstrong reveals strategies to craft video thumbnails that grab attention and make people click Play!

Discover how the first impression provided by thumbnails can make or break your client's video's success, functioning as a gateway to garner viewers’ interest. Andrew shares how to leverage YouTube's built-in A/B testing tool to identify the most effective designs that keep audiences engaged.

The conversation also touches on how YouTube’s algorithm emphasizes search results based on watch time and audience behavior, shifting the focus from views to meaningful engagement.

Listeners will learn:

  • The fundamental role of thumbnails in stopping viewers’ scroll and encouraging video clicks
  • How A/B testing tools on YouTube can optimize a video’s performance through effective thumbnail design
  • The importance of analyzing watch time and audience behavior to refine thumbnail strategies for increased engagement

Key moments:

(00:00) "YouTube Thumbnails: What you need to know"

(03:18) Algorithm Reflects Audience Behavior

(07:28) Optimal Logo Placement Strategy

(10:07) Video Strategy: Success Elements

(14:14) Thumbnail Testing Strategy

(19:11) Assessing YouTube Channel Legitimacy

(22:57) Maximizing YouTube's Evergreen Potential

About Andrew Armstrong:

Andrew is a content creator, consultant, and storyteller passionate about helping individuals and businesses craft social media and digital content strategies.

He leverages his many years as a full-time YouTuber, and as an industry Social Media Strategist, to help content creators and companies better understand the platforms they work on, the best practices that lead to success, and the behaviors of their audiences.

His wife best describes him as "dangerously competent." For consultations, reach out to dawnforgedmedia@gmail.com


Tools:

*Captivate.fm for media hosting

We use Captivate to host the audio episodes. Captivate offers amazing features for a low monthly price, including full control of dynamic insertion, embedded chapters, and Blocks/Shortcodes to quickly add content to show notes (either static or dynamically!)

*Use of the above affiliate links may earn us a commission, which is used to support the efforts of this show. Thank you in advance for your support!

*Riverside.fm to record audio and video

We used Riverside to record this episode. Use code Yetis at *https://creators.riverside.fm/Yetis for 15% off a membership plan.

*Castmagic.io for show notes

Castmagic assisted in the crafting of this episode description. It probably saved me 30 minutes by giving me a summary to start with and a list of chapters (which helps with the body of the description). Click on the *link above to see how it works for yourself!


Sponsored by the Podcast Editor Academy

This episode has been brought to you by Podcast Editor Academy. We help individuals like you start and grow a business editing and producing podcasts. Find out more at

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