Thumbnails and titles

The title does one job

A title tells a buyer what the clip is. It is not a place for mystery or for keyword lists. Someone scanning your store should be able to read the title and know the premise, the persona or the interest it serves, and roughly what kind of clip it is.

Good habits:

• Lead with the specific thing. If a clip is part of a series, put the series name and number in a consistent position, usually at the end.
• Use plain words buyers would actually search for. Avoid in-jokes and private shorthand.
• Keep a consistent style across the store: same capitalisation, same punctuation, same way of marking series. Consistency reads as care.
• Do not stuff the title with every term you can think of. It looks desperate and makes the clip harder to find, not easier.

Write the description to answer the questions the title raises: length, what happens in general terms, anything a buyer needs to know before paying. Be accurate. A description that oversells produces complaints, poor reviews and buyers who do not return.

Thumbnails that work in a grid

Buyers see thumbnails small, in a grid, next to each other. Design for that view.

• Pick a frame with a clear subject and a readable expression or pose. Mid-motion frames are often blurry and busy.
• Make sure the thumbnail honestly represents the clip. The frame should come from the clip or from the same session.
• Keep the composition simple. One subject, one point of focus, uncluttered background.
• Good light in the thumbnail matters even more than in the clip, because the buyer judges in a second.
• Avoid heavy text on the image. If you add any, keep it short and legible at small size; the title is already beside it.

Look at your store page as a buyer would. If every thumbnail is the same pose from the same angle, the store looks like one clip repeated. Vary framing and colour across the catalogue while keeping a recognisable look.

Previews and the promise

The preview clip or image set, if you use one, sits between the title and the sale. It should show enough that a buyer trusts the clip delivers, and no more. Watermark previews; see the watermarks guide for why.

Title, description, thumbnail and preview should all tell the same story. When they do, the buyer feels informed rather than sold to, and informed buyers leave good reviews and come back.

Fixing underperformers

If a clip gets views but few sales, change the thumbnail first and give it a week. If that does not move it, rewrite the title to be more specific. Change one element at a time so you learn what mattered. Clips with no views at all are a discovery problem, not a listing problem; look at where you are promoting instead.