Is There a Balance Between Functionality and Design?

Thumbnails and titles are the bait that reels viewers into YouTube content. Not only are they great for SEO, but they also define your brand and catch the audience’s eye.

But what makes a good YouTube thumbnail? And how do you write a great title?

In this week’s episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt Pierce, TechSmith’s Learning & Video Ambassador, is joined by Paul Wilson, freelance e-Learning designer and Adobe Captivate Teacher.

Paul explains how he creates videos and shares his top tips for creating thumbnails and titles that grab attention and get results.

Learning points from the episode include:

• 0:53 – Introducing Paul Wilson
• 2:25 – How Paul got started using screen videos
• 4:50 – How does Paul define success?
• 7:29 – One tip for using videos
• 10:03 – Paul’s introduction to screencasting tutorials
• 12:15 – Interval vs. external videos
• 14:11 – What Paul’s video creation process looks like
• 17:00 – Function vs. appearance
• 20:31 – Paul on consistency and templatization
• 23:49 – Mastering video titles
• 26:48 – What makes a good YouTube thumbnail?
• 34:31 – Speed round questions
• 39:00 – Final take!

Important links and mentions:

• TechSmith Academy: Learn how to use and create better images and videos (for free): https://academy.techsmith.com
• Subscribe to Paul’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CaptivateTeacher
• Follow Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/captivateteachr
• Follow/connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/captivateteacher/