Gaming YouTube » youtube videos

Thumbnails, Thumbnails, Thumbnails!

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:00:42 +0000

No single element of your video is more important than the thumbnail. Sure, it takes a little time to arrange it so that you have an effective thumbnail, but it is SO worth the time. It can easily be the difference between 1,000 and 100,000 views.

In case you don’t already know, your video’s default thumbnail image is created from the exact middle frame of your video. You also have the option of selecting the frames found at the 1/4 and 3/4 mark.

For the SUPER noobs: When a visitor is searching YouTube for a video, they see little image previews of videos (thumbnails) that match their search in the search results. When they are viewing videos, they see thumbnails of related videos on the side. When video responses are allowed, they will see thumbnails of those video responses below the video. The thumbnail is the single most influential factor in whether or not they will click through to your video.

Let’s have a look at a couple examples. Neither of the two thumbnails highlighted below are bad, but one is clearly more effective than the other one. Luckily, both videos were uploaded on the same day and on the same channel (which means they probably get an even amount of promotion), so we can trust that it’s an accurate comparison of the effectiveness of each respective thumbnail.

As you can see, one thumbnail is obviously more suggestive than the other, and that is reflected in the total view counts. I know that I don’t need to tell you that the difference between 88,000 views and 30,000 views is pretty significant.

Keep this in mind when you’re preparing your next video(s). As much as you just want to render it, upload it, and move on, think about the long-term effect that mastering the thumbnail will have.

I know that not everyone promotes dating on YouTube or needs images of scantily clad women in their videos. The same logic applies, even if it isn’t sex that you’re selling. A thumbnail that is at least INTERESTING is mandatory if you hope to have any success with your videos. Make sure that it is also in focus. Nothing worse than a blurry thumbnail that you can’t make out. Most people aren’t that curious, and won’t bother finding out.

If you’re promoting weight loss products, maybe a nice clear before and after photo for your thumbnail would work. Same applies for acne product promotion. If you’re promoting bizz-opp (make money online), a big stack of money might do nicely.

If you’re not necessarily selling anything, then you have even more creative freedom. Promoting a music video? Well, any good music video should have a beautiful woman in it, so hopefully you can use some of that for the thumbnail.

What happens if the image I want for my thumbnail is too far from the 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 mark?
Well, first of all, shame on you for not taking the thumbnail into account beforehand. But don’t worry, you can still have the image you want. Let’s say I have a 2 minute video, but the thumbnail I want is at the 1:15 mark. No problem. I just extend the video by 30 seconds. With what? With whatever! Music, text, both, whatever. Think of it as 30 seconds to show your URL with whatever additional text information you want. By extending it 30 seconds, your total video running time is now 2:30, making 1:15 the new 1/2 thumbnail (the frame you wanted to use). Of course, it gets more complicated with more difficult running times, like 4:27:12. Bust out that dusty calculator you had to buy for school and put it to some good use.

I know I’ve talked about the importance of thumbnails before, but this is the first time I dedicated an entire post to it. I just wanted to make sure you know how serious it is. Do NOT skimp out on the thumbnail!

Using Annotations

admin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:29:38 +0000

If you’ve been around YouTube at all in the past few months, you’ve probably come across a video or two that had little grey text bubbles pop up out of nowhere. These little additions to the video are called annotations, and they are added after a video is uploaded.

There are several purposes for these annotations. Some people use them simply to highlight something in the video, or perhaps clarify something that happens during the video. Others use them to link to other videos. That’s right, annotations are clickable. Unfortunately, you can not link to an external site with YouTube annotations. You can only link to pages on YouTube.com. This is still handy if you’re trying to build a subscriber base and get more exposure for your videos, but for your typical YouTube marketer, the linking feature isn’t worth all that much. So what is it good for?

Although I don’t think it was ever the intended use of annotations, they are a great way to draw attention to your link in the description box. You should already make a habit out of putting the URL you’re promoting in the description box. These links of course are no-follow, but for the purpose of driving additional traffic to your site/affiliate offer, they are an excellent resource.

The best thing about annotations is that you can add or edit them at any time (unlike your actual video content). That means you can go update all of your current videos with these handy annotations. Trust me, it really improves click through rate. Just adding a simple bubble towards the end of your video with an arrow pointing at your URL in the description box will make a significant impact in your CTR. Many people simply need to be told what to do!

To add annotations to your videos, simply log in to YouTube, go to the “account” tab in the top right and select “my videos”, and then click the “annotations” button next to the video you’d like to add them to. The annotations interface is pretty easy to use once you get used to it.

Flagged Videos are Dead Weight

admin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:18:43 +0000

In the virtual world, just like in the real world, sex sells. For this reason, many YouTube marketers utilize video and images of beautiful women to promote their products and websites. The more provocative the thumbnail image, the more clicks the video is bound to receive. However, there is a precarious balance that must be maintained to keep such videos from suffering severe blows to their potency and effectiveness.

Are Flagged Videos really Useless?

Okay, maybe the title is a little bit extreme. Once a video is flagged as “may not be suitable for minors”, it is not completely useless, but it is severely handicapped. Why?

Just like most every other social driven website, there are vast amounts of “lurkers”, or unregistered users, all over YouTube. The lurkers actually make up a signiciant portion of YouTube’s traffic. Since there are so many unregistered users snooping around YouTube at any given time, as an internet marketer it is in your best interests to get their attention (along with the attention of registered users). However….guess what happens when one of your videos is flagged for potentially being unsuitable for minors?

Instead of being able to click your enticing thumbnail and view your content, the lurker is instead present with a page that informs them that in order to access the video, they will need to log in to their YouTube account and confirm that they are over 18 years of age. If they do not have a YouTube account, they will need to sign up for one. Obviously, this inconvenience can cripple your CTR, as many lurkers will simply lose interest and not want to bother jumping through any hoops to get to your video.

Now, on the brightside, there are plenty of YouTube users who actively search for videos and will confirm their age to see your video (it just takes the click of the mouse). In fact, as long as they’ve confirmed their age once since they’ve been logged in, it isn’t necessary for them to confirm it when viewing other videos that have been flagged. But still, it is in your very best interest to avoid having your videos flagged. Even if YouTubers wanted to search for flagged videos specifically (which I’m sure some of them do), it just isn’t possible.

How to Avoid the Dreaded Flagging

The hall monitors of the YouTube community are lurking around every corner, and they can’t wait to flag the videos that they deem to be inappropriate. It’s your job to do a bit of a balancing act between getting as much exposure as possible to your videos while simultaneously staying under the radar.

When posting video responses, try to keep them relevant. This may not always be possible, but it makes a big difference. At the very least, don’t post your potentially objectionable videos as responses to things like children’s cartoons, where they will most certainly be caught and flagged at light speed.

Commenting on other videos from the account that has your videos is a great way to create additional traffic and views. However, many YouTube marketers have the tendency to take the spam route, and leave irrelevant (and sometimes offensive) comments just about everywhere. That’s a great way to get the attention of the flagging elite, and therefore something you want to avoid.

Follow the TOS… Sort of. Don’t include any nudity in your videos. Frontal nudity will usually just get the video removed entirely, while rear nudity will usually get it flagged rather quickly (and removed, in some cases). If you decide to include any sort of nudity, at LEAST refrain from having it appear in your thumbnail image (thumbnails are created from the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 mark frames of your video).

example

A Crazy Idea

Think outside the box! Sexy thumbnails aren’t the only way to provoke clicks to your videos. Use your imagination and find new and creative images and videos. Do something no one else is doing. The only way you’ll know if an idea works is to try it. An original idea is much more sustainable in the long term than a bunch of risqué videos that will most likely be flagged eventually.