BIG MISTAKES SMALL YouTubers STILL MAKE!

Welcome, fellow creators, to the exciting world of YouTube. But here's the thing: if you're feeling frustrated with your progress, you might be making some common mistakes that are holding you back. Don’t worry, though, because today, we’re going to fix those rookie errors and set you on the right path to success.

One of the biggest hurdles new creators face on YouTube is simply getting discovered. To illustrate this, think of yourself as a single pea in a vast sea of other peas — the only reason anyone would notice you is if they knew where to look. In the same way, on YouTube, every chance you have to get your content seen is crucial. This all starts with a fundamental concept: impressions.

Whenever a user sees the cover image or thumbnail of your video, that counts as an impression. The challenge is to make your thumbnail stand out among all the other competing videos, so the viewer clicks on yours. Unfortunately, as a small creator, you face two significant challenges.

First, there's the YouTube challenge. YouTube doesn’t have much data on your channel, and you haven’t yet established any authority within the platform’s recommendation system. As a result, YouTube will be conservative when it comes to showcasing your content.

Second, there’s the audience challenge. Simply put, people don’t know who you are, and they have no reason to care yet. When your thumbnail appears next to one from a creator that a viewer is already familiar with and enjoys, they’re more likely to choose the familiar option. The key to overcoming this is to perfect your two primary tools for attracting viewers: your thumbnail and your title.

One of the most common mistakes for new YouTubers is not spending enough time on these crucial elements. It’s understandable — you pour your heart and soul into making a great video, and by the time you get to the title and thumbnail, you’re exhausted and just want to hit publish. But going forward, I want you to adopt a different approach.

First, take however much time you normally spend creating your thumbnails and double it for the next five videos you upload. If you normally spend five minutes, make it ten; if it’s thirty minutes, make it an hour. Second, make your thumbnails half as complicated as they are now. Simplicity is key — viewers only have a fraction of a second to see and understand your thumbnail.

There’s also a third strategy you might try, although it might seem like a big step right now: create the thumbnail and title before you even start working on the video. Think about it — the first thing everyone sees is the thumbnail and the title, yet they’re often the last things creators make. This doesn’t make much sense, does it? By planning these elements first, you can ensure that your video delivers on the promise of the title and thumbnail right from the start.

Now, let’s have a little fun. Remember that pea we talked about earlier? Well, it's moved to another part of the frame. Can you spot it? Let us know in the comments. But more importantly, let's play a quick game to test your thumbnail instincts. Two thumbnails will appear on your screen, and all you need to do is decide which one you would click on and why.

That didn’t give you much time, did it? But, believe it or not, it was still more than enough. Studies show that viewers spend an average of just 1.8 seconds deciding on each thumbnail on Netflix. With YouTube presenting even more options, the time viewers spend is likely even less. This is because humans can process images incredibly quickly, but the more complex the thumbnail — with too many colors, elements, objects, or an unclear story — the longer it takes to process, and the less likely they are to click.

Once you've determined which thumbnail you would click on and why, you can start applying that insight to your own thumbnails to make them more effective.

Now let’s talk about titles. A good title complements the thumbnail without simply repeating it, and it creates a sense of intrigue. To demonstrate this, let’s look at one of the most successful thumbnails and titles from the vidIQ channel in recent months. The thumbnail is simple yet emotionally evocative, and the title adds another layer of intrigue. It targets a specific audience — new or small channels — and poses an enticing question. Is YouTube gifting 50 free subscribers to everyone, or is there something I need to do when I hit 50 subscribers? Either way, it grabs your attention and makes you want to find out more.

If you want to know more about that video, you'll have to check it out for yourself. What I can tell you is that I’ve been experimenting with tracking the click-through rate of my videos at various intervals, such as 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours. The click-through rate might be around 13.8% after the first hour and 7% after 24 hours, but these numbers are just averages for our channel. There’s no single golden metric for success; every channel is different. Instead, use the analytics tools available in YouTube Studio to see if your thumbnails and titles are improving over time.

For those of you still looking for that pea, it’s moved again — keep hunting! But for now, let's get back to the core of content creation: what happens after the thumbnail and title? The answer is simple — people start watching your video. However, it's worth noting that not many people will watch your video all the way to the end. In fact, you may lose a lot of viewers in the first few seconds, which can be pretty disheartening.

But here’s the reality — instead of focusing on how many viewers reach the end, concentrate on the first 30 seconds of your video. This is often where the most significant drop-off occurs, a sharp decline known as the "hockey stick" effect in viewer retention. The more viewers you lose at the start, the bigger the gap between what you promised in your title and thumbnail and what you actually delivered at the beginning of your video.

There are three common mistakes that can cause this. First, branded intros. No matter how fancy they look, they just stop everything dead. Most viewers don't care about your branded intro after they’ve seen it once; it becomes a barrier to the actual content. I’ve even proven that a two-second intro can hurt your video’s performance.

Second, the channel intro, where you introduce yourself and explain your channel’s purpose before providing any content. If your video hasn't given viewers a reason to stick around yet, they're not likely to subscribe. Always start by delivering on the promise of your thumbnail and title. You can introduce yourself later, once the viewer is engaged and getting value from your content.

Finally, many videos fail to provide enough reasons for viewers to keep watching until the end. This can be resolved by teasing an exciting moment that will come later in the video, showing the final product or result upfront, or adding a secondary hook that keeps them engaged, like our little pea game.

Overall, there’s a theme to these tips: front-load your creative efforts. We all have limited time, energy, and resources. Focus at least 50% of those on the most crucial parts of your video: the thumbnail, the title, and the first 30 seconds. Nail these elements, and you'll see much better results. Once you’ve got those down, you can move on to refining other aspects of your content.

And, of course, there’s one more monumental mistake that nearly every creator makes, and if you want to know what that is, make sure to start watching my next video now.