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Author's Note: This article is intended to be more of a thought exercise than an attempt to shake up best-practices. Please read and respond accordingly.
It is important to step outside and grasp a more global view of the things we do here on YouTube from time to time. People get very wrapped up in things like making these exquisite, artistic and absolutely flawless thumbnails and at times this can lead to overkill and a loss of performance due to 'overthinking.' Remember there may be a difference between a 'great thumbnail' and a 'high-performing thumbnail.' Sometimes all it takes is a single, simple photo.
I feel the same of search rankings, in particular the high search ranks that we all desire. We all want to hit #1 for search in our various niches and our desire to do so should not change. However, I think there may be some un-considered value in lower search ranks that we should at least be mindful of (if for no other reason than our own mental health).
Grocery stores have a very precise layout that they use in order to push their more profitable products (car dealerships actually follow a similar model using the same science). It follows 'Line of Site.' They take the average height of a person and they make sure to put the most profitable items at eye level for this person. These are the products that are seen the most and therefore they are the ones grabbed most often by consumers. The top and bottom shelves are typically reserved for more expensive, less expensive, less purchased and basically 'less-profitable' products.
I believe the same may be true of search ranks. Again, we all strive for #1 and that shouldn't change (not that there is much you can do about it, but humor me). But I feel as though the #1 spot is more of a 'top-shelf' placement. In fact I would like to see the statistics of how often the highest ranking selection in a search query is clicked on versus the 2nd, 3rd and so on. But I feel that the 3rd or 4th spots in search ranking put the thumbnail directly at eye-level and that this may be a more 'sales-worthy' position.
In addition I wonder about the value of positioning for the scroll. When I go to search a topic I rarely click on the highest ranking videos in search and opt rather to continue exploring and scrolling in order to see the 'other' options. I peruse the ranks in teh hopes of finding that hidden gem video that speaks directly to the question I want answered and I wonder how common it is for others to do the same.
Does any of this matter? Nope. You can't adjust anything for this, it makes no difference to anything you do and unless someone actually proves my theory and the search engines decide to take action with some sort of search result screen that features the best results in a 'line of site' fashion then none of this means anything (not to mention I could be entirely wrong).
But the point of this exercise isn't about finding the perfect position... in fact it is the exact opposite. Some times we need to step away from the micro-analysis of a few select views on a video and take a look at the variables of a larger trend. Sometimes there are things staring us right in the face, if only we look up from the book to see it. Analytics give amazing insight into the things that are happening around us but you need to take those numbers and put them into the actions of the people enjoying your content. What do those numbers mean and who are the people behind them? If you figure that out you will have a much better connection with your audience... and this will do wonders for both them and you.
It is important to step outside and grasp a more global view of the things we do here on YouTube from time to time. People get very wrapped up in things like making these exquisite, artistic and absolutely flawless thumbnails and at times this can lead to overkill and a loss of performance due to 'overthinking.' Remember there may be a difference between a 'great thumbnail' and a 'high-performing thumbnail.' Sometimes all it takes is a single, simple photo.
I feel the same of search rankings, in particular the high search ranks that we all desire. We all want to hit #1 for search in our various niches and our desire to do so should not change. However, I think there may be some un-considered value in lower search ranks that we should at least be mindful of (if for no other reason than our own mental health).
Grocery stores have a very precise layout that they use in order to push their more profitable products (car dealerships actually follow a similar model using the same science). It follows 'Line of Site.' They take the average height of a person and they make sure to put the most profitable items at eye level for this person. These are the products that are seen the most and therefore they are the ones grabbed most often by consumers. The top and bottom shelves are typically reserved for more expensive, less expensive, less purchased and basically 'less-profitable' products.
I believe the same may be true of search ranks. Again, we all strive for #1 and that shouldn't change (not that there is much you can do about it, but humor me). But I feel as though the #1 spot is more of a 'top-shelf' placement. In fact I would like to see the statistics of how often the highest ranking selection in a search query is clicked on versus the 2nd, 3rd and so on. But I feel that the 3rd or 4th spots in search ranking put the thumbnail directly at eye-level and that this may be a more 'sales-worthy' position.
In addition I wonder about the value of positioning for the scroll. When I go to search a topic I rarely click on the highest ranking videos in search and opt rather to continue exploring and scrolling in order to see the 'other' options. I peruse the ranks in teh hopes of finding that hidden gem video that speaks directly to the question I want answered and I wonder how common it is for others to do the same.
Does any of this matter? Nope. You can't adjust anything for this, it makes no difference to anything you do and unless someone actually proves my theory and the search engines decide to take action with some sort of search result screen that features the best results in a 'line of site' fashion then none of this means anything (not to mention I could be entirely wrong).
But the point of this exercise isn't about finding the perfect position... in fact it is the exact opposite. Some times we need to step away from the micro-analysis of a few select views on a video and take a look at the variables of a larger trend. Sometimes there are things staring us right in the face, if only we look up from the book to see it. Analytics give amazing insight into the things that are happening around us but you need to take those numbers and put them into the actions of the people enjoying your content. What do those numbers mean and who are the people behind them? If you figure that out you will have a much better connection with your audience... and this will do wonders for both them and you.
