What makes a good thumbnail?

[Cooksta94]

Hey! So i have photoshop and i play around with it every now and then.

So, to make a good thumbnail... Am I aiming to create a load of visual effects that catch the eye? Like a lot of colours etc? I've seen quite a lot of thumbnails with a red circle and an arrow pointing to it...? Why is that? it makes me not want to click the video as it looks cheap.

So I'm currently doing a series on my channel for FIFA and created a thumbnail that will most of the time look like this: The Journey 3.png

and i've also done one that will look like this: The Journey 4.png

Do these look appealing to you? If FIFA isn't your thing then obviously you aren't interested anyway but by looking at these 2 thumbnails here are you inclined to click to see the video? Yes/No can i have some feedback and reasons please! Thank you

 

[newage]

Most people will say to make them eye catching and to be accurate for what the video is about. But I also think it helps if your thumbnail somehow sets you apart from the crowd it will be seen in.

What I would recommend is search for a topic you want your video to be suggested in (on the right column) and use Print Screen and paste it in to Photoshop, Fireworks, Gimp or whatever image editing software you use. Now paste your thumbnail and title in that group. Would you click on that video? Would it appeal to you and your demographic?