YouTube Expert ARGUES Titles Don’t Matter

Written By Justin Moore
 

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Today we’re talking about YouTube Titles vs. Thumbnails.

You’re probably thinking this is stupid because you don’t have to just pick one on YouTube, you can do both.

OK, did you not just hear the tagline of the podcast? It has the word stupid in it, which is why we take things to unnecessary extremes and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.

So my wife April and I have had YouTube channels since 2009 and to be honest?

I’ve always kind of sucked at “packaging” videos.

See, Packaging is where you have a concept and you try convey the most interesting or surprising thing about the video using the title & thumbnail so that people will click.

But that’s always felt kinda weird to me, like if the content is good enough, won’t people eventually find it and share it with their friends? That way I won’t even have to play that game.

But then again, if I think about my own viewer behavior, I’m definitely drawn toward titles and thumbnails that have novelty.

So is the answer just cranking up the saturation and tormenting Chat-GPT until it churns out algorithm-approved, character-optimized YouTube title poetry, likely pulverizing our last shred of humanity and creativity?

Sorry. Honestly, before I get carried away we should probably bring in two experts to settle this debate, once and for all.

Jake Thomas is the founder of Creator Hooks, a weekly newsletter to help you write better YouTube titles in just 5 minutes. I’m sincerely hoping that Jake’s Editor-in-Chief, Oliver will be accompanying him today because when you look up Oliver’s photo on the Creator Hooks website, it’s a photo of a dog. Oliver is a dog.

Ed Lawrence, on the other hand, is the founder of Film Booth, where he helps YouTubers level up their YouTube content & strategy. He also has a program called Thumbnail University so if he doesn’t win this debate…awkward!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

1. Which is more important to the success of your YouTube videos: your Title or your thumbnail?

2. When in the video creation process should you start thinking about the packaging?

3. Who is a better Creator Debater: Jake or Ed?

CHAPTERS

  • 00:00 YouTube Titles vs. Thumbnails

  • 02:38 Opening Arguments

  • 04:22 Round 1: Ideation

  • 7:52 Round 2: Viewer Behavior

  • 15:50 Round 3: Future

  • 18:35 Final Appeals


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Jake Thomas

Ed Lawrence

 
Justin Moore
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