Oct: +5 AI videos with ProOctober offer: subscribe this month and get 5 extra AI videos right away, on top of your plan.See Pro

Glossary

Thumbnail

The still image that stands for a video before anyone clicks it; with the title, it decides the click.

A thumbnail and title together are the video’s packaging. On long videos they drive CTR; on Shorts, people mostly see the video itself in the feed, so the first frame matters more.

A thumbnail that promises what the video does not show raises clicks and lowers retention, and misleading ones can break YouTube’s policies.

Generate titles and hashtags

Try it

Related terms

CTR (impressions click-through rate)

The share of people who saw your thumbnail and title on YouTube and clicked to watch.

Open

Hook

The first line or seconds of a video, written to make people stay for the rest.

Open

YouTube algorithm

The recommendation system that decides which videos YouTube shows each viewer: on the home page, next to other videos and in the Shorts feed.

Open

Aspect ratio

The shape of a video, written as width to height: 9:16 is vertical, 16:9 is wide, 1:1 is square and 4:5 is the tall feed format.

Open