Thumbnails and titles are a user’s first impression of your video. Making sure they’re attention-grabbing while encompassing a video’s topic is an art. (To see my thumbnail creation in action, head to the “Social Media Graphic Design” page)

Descriptions are a chance to further signal to the algorithm what your video entails. See the “SEO” section for me.

Thumbnails aren’t the only graphics you need for a YouTube video. Adapting a thumbnail into other aspect ratios (such as 9:16 or 1:1) allows you to promote a video on other socials or as a YouTube Community Post.

As for one’s channel overall: YouTube banners are another opportunity to solidify your brand or promote a product or show.

Since YouTube is a search engine, your titles and descriptions should contain relevant search terms. That being said, both should sound like they were written by a human. To me, seeing a title that is stuffed with keywords is a bit of a turn off. Balance is key.

There are a myriad of minor details that go into packaging a single video, let alone maintaining an entire YouTube channel. Luckily, l'm a "leave no stone unturned" type of person.