In our previous article “YouTube Video Thumbnails: The Test & Compare Feature Is Here”, we took an in-depth look at the video thumbnail testing functionality, explaining how the experiment works and offering some strategic advice.
On YouTube, however, the other element that is just as important as the thumbnail is the title. The thumbnail and title represent a preview of the video; they act as a bridge between creator and user and serve to communicate what will be shown and what the topic is. They are a sort of promise between the creator and the viewer. For this very reason, they must not mislead the user and must not be clickbait. As we will see in the next paragraph, watch time matters much more to YouTube than the simple number of views.
Recognizing the importance of titles, YouTube has improved its A/B testing by allowing you to compare the performance not only of thumbnails but also of titles alone or combinations of titles and thumbnails.
An A/B test is an experiment that compares two or more variants of the same element to understand which one achieves better results based on actual user behavior.
How YouTube Title and Thumbnail A/B Testing Works
The Test & Compare feature can be accessed both during upload and after a video has been published. You can test up to three thumbnails, up to three titles, or up to three combinations of titles and thumbnails.
A test can last from a few days up to a maximum of two weeks. The duration depends primarily on the number of impressions the video receives and the number of elements being tested.
Once the experiment is concluded, you can let YouTube automatically choose the winner or manually select your preferred option.
For YouTube, the winner is the title or thumbnail (or combination thereof) that generated the highest percentage of watch time for the video, and not those with the highest CTR.
Our advice is to test titles and thumbnails separately: if you test three complete combinations, it becomes difficult to understand which element had a positive impact and which one did not work. Furthermore, if you manage a small channel and your videos get few views, it is advisable to test fewer elements to obtain more reliable and readable data.
Finally, we emphasize that these tests are useful above all for improving subsequent videos, rather than the single video being tested. In fact, they allow you to identify a winning system, an effective graphic pattern, the use of recurring terms that attract more attention, and in general, a clear direction to apply in the long term.
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