YouTube Question Changing thumbnails of old videos

[leroygaming]

Would it hurt to change thumbnails of old uploads? I have a few that I am thinking of changing to see if it works better with a custom thumbnail vs. a thumbnail I created before.

Sorry, if this is not the accurate forum to place this thread.

 

[SILTHW]

Would it hurt to change thumbnails of old uploads? I have a few that I am thinking of changing to see if it works better with a custom thumbnail vs. a thumbnail I created before.

Sorry, if this is not the accurate forum to place this thread.

Goodness I hope not!

Ive been tuning old thumbnails for the last week. Has had nothing but an upside for me. But I am a small channel.

When you watch the videos that detail the value of Click Through Rate (CTR), you realize that changing thumbnails might be the easiest thing you can do to pick up views.

 

[leroygaming]

Goodness I hope not!

Ive been tuning old thumbnails for the last week. Has had nothing but an upside for me. But I am a small channel.

When you watch the videos that detail the value of Click Through Rate (CTR), you realize that changing thumbnails might be the easiest thing you can do to pick up views.

Ah ok. I was thinking of doing that myself. If there is a way to at least get a thumbnail from the footage itself. I think there is a way.

 

[SILTHW]

Ah ok. I was thinking of doing that myself. If there is a way to at least get a thumbnail from the footage itself. I think there is a way.

TubeBuddy has a tool for it. You can upload a custom thumbnail. I think Canva is a great tool for that. There is a free trail on it.

 

[kitchen c/o ammama]

Hi ... Check out your Analytics ... CTR.. and with time , you yourself would be able to tell that your old thumbnails needs Improvement.

Change it for the better.

You can make Custom Thumbnails as @SILTHW mentioned . Canva is a good tool and Tubebuddy also has a tool

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMTSi_7B0nk


In the Youtube settings, you will find options of thumbnails from the video itself ( Just in case you want to use those ofr the background)

 

[leroygaming]

Thanks for the advice. Wow, did not expect to get at least 3 views on one of my old videos. I am gonna go through and change some more and see how they perform. I am mainly trying to get subs and viewers. Seeing what works and which does ok in thumbnails.

 

[Kari B]

I changed some of my old thumbnails and titles when I got Tubebuddy and used the SEO tool. I have seen more interest in these videos, the CTR is up and views and AVD are much better. If your videos aren't really getting a lot of traction it can't hurt to try something new, and you can always change back to the other thumbnail if CTR goes down - but I would give it at least a week to see changes.

 

[Beanie Draws]

Would it hurt to change thumbnails of old uploads? I have a few that I am thinking of changing to see if it works better with a custom thumbnail vs. a thumbnail I created before.

Sorry, if this is not the accurate forum to place this thread.

I'm always looking at my thumbnails to see how they're performing and if they can be improved. If they drop under 4% CTR I look into seeing if I can improve them.

I've done an A/B test on an old thumb to try a new one, and views went down by 50% with the same amount of reach, which means the thumbnail wasn't the best choice to change, the good thing about A/B testing is it can show if a change is good or bad. A lot of my videos I've changed have improved, but occasionally you'll hurt a video more than help, so if the views are low and the ctr are low, give it a try, but if the views are high and the CTR is good, I'd say leave it alone

 

[Cubey]

You definitely should test thumbnails

 

[SoyManuelMedina]

I have tons of videos without thumbnails (I was a lazy YouTuber) but now I create them for old videos EVERY TIME they popup on my stats. Because this means people are looking at my old videos and a good thumbnail might help new viewers.