Elevate Video Engagement by Inserting Captions

How To Add Captions to YouTube Videos

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.

This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.

How To Turn On Captions on YouTube

In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.

To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.

If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.

If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.

Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps

1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.

2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.

3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.

4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.

Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.

Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.

Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.

Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.

Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.

The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.

This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.

How To Turn On Captions on YouTube

In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.

To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.

If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.

If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.

Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps

1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.

2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.

3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.

4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.

Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.

Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.

Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.

Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.

Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.

The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.

This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.

How To Turn On Captions on YouTube

In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.

To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.

If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.

If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.

Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps

1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.

2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.

3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.

4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.

Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.

Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.

Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.

Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.

Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.

The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.

This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.

How To Turn On Captions on YouTube

In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.

To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.

If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.

If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.

Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps

1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.

2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.

3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.

4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.

Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.

Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.

Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.

Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.

Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.

The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Mastering the Art of Crafting Compelling Content in 60-Second Videos

How to Get More Views with YouTube Shorts

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

One of the biggest challenges that people face while using YouTube Shorts is how to get more views. Many new users wonder what and how should they prepare a video that is both 15-to-60 seconds long, and at the same time, it is engaging enough to make the audience view them with excitement.

With that said, the following sections discuss some best practices, and share a couple of tips to increase views on your YouTube Shorts videos.

• Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section
• Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

---

Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section

Comparatively different from other videos, the ones that are added under the ‘Featured’ section are recommended to the audience throughout the YouTube platform on the basis of the algorithms that automatically determine which clips should be liked beach viewer individually.

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

• 100 Million+ Users
• 150+ Countries and Regions
• 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
• 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

To elaborate, generally, YouTube suggests you a video as per your viewing history, browsing statistics, and other such information that the streaming media giant collects over time. On the other hand, the ‘Featured’ videos are suggested according to what YouTube ‘thinks’ might be of your interest, or could be somehow useful to you.

Therefore, when any clip is added as a ‘Featured’ video, YouTube suggests it to more viewers as compared to those that are published under the ‘Recommended’ category.

Note: Although there is a lot more to cover under the ‘Featured’ videos and channels section such as branding, advertisements, etc., such topics are beyond the scope of this piece.

Adding YouTube Shorts videos to the ‘Featured’ section is fairly simple, and the instructions given below explain how this can be done:

Note: It is assumed that you already have a couple of shorts video published on YouTube.

Step 1: Get to YouTube Studio Customization Section

Go to YouTube on your PC’s web browser, sign in to your Google account, click Your videos from the navigation bar in the left, and click Customization from the left bar when the Studio page opens up.

Step 2: Add YouTube Shorts

Click ADD SECTION from the Layout tab in the right window, and click Short videos from the list that appears next to add the YouTube Shorts category.

Step 3: Add Short videos to Featured sections and Save the Changes

Hold the Short videos bar from the moving handle at the left, and move it right below the Featured sections segment. Once the Short videos category is in the right place, click PUBLISH from the top-right corner of the page to save the changes. From this point onward, any YouTube Shorts video that you publish on your channel will be automatically added as ‘Featured’ after its approval.

Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The thumbnails are the face of the videos that you publish anywhere online. Therefore, it is imperative to take down the default one that is automatically added by YouTube, and add your own, custom image instead.

To have your own thumbnail, you can either pick any frame from within the video itself, or you can upload a separate photo from your PC, and replace the existing one with it.

Things to Consider for creating attractive thumbnail

While using your custom image as a thumbnail for your YouTube Shots videos, a few things that you should keep in mind include:

• Relevance

Make sure that the new photo that you are planning to use as a thumbnail is relevant to the short video. Any image that is out of context might confuse the viewers, and you may lose your audience and the subscribers forever and for good.

• Clarity

Always use an image with clear content and large text (if any). This lets the viewers easily determine whether the video is of their interest.

• Correctness

You should avoid using misleading images as thumbnails. While such photos would attract more viewers initially, people will gradually lose trust in your channel if they do not find what they expect by the glimpse of the thumbnail.

Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The fact of the matter is, YouTube Shorts videos aren’t much different that any other video that you publish on the platform. Therefore, the process of optimizing both short and regular videos is identical.

A few things that are extremely important, and play a vital role in optimizing YouTube Shorts videos include:

• Attractive Thumbnail

As mentioned above, the thumbnail of a video is its face, and the prettier and appealing the face is the more audience will it attract, and the more hits your video will get. Therefore, ensure to make the thumbnail of your short videos as attractive as you possibly can.

• Compelling Title

The title says it all. Your short videos will have good chances of getting noticed and hits if they have an impulsive and compelling title that can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect from the clip.

• Detailed Description

The description of your short videos should be complete, and must explain the theme, genre, and nature of the clip. With the detailed description, the viewers will be able to assess if the video would be helpful to them in some manner.

• Tags

Make sure to add relevant tags to your short videos. For instance, adding ‘#Shorts’ in the title or description of the video tells YouTube that the clip is created for YouTube Shorts. Likewise, other tags that are related to the genre and/or theme of the short videos help YouTube suggest your media to the relevant audiences across the website.

Filmora - Best YouTube Shorts Video Editor for PC

• Easily record a video on PC and Mac.
• Edit videos quickly with a wide range of gaming effects.
• Rich video tempaltes and resources for YouTube videos.
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

Try It Free >>

Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

YouTube Shorts are videos that are no more than 60 seconds long in length. When added under the ‘Featured’ category, you can see a significant amount of increment in the hits, and therefore the view count and the playback duration of your YouTube channel gets directly affected.

However, because these short videos cannot be monetized, at times you may notice that even though the total playback duration and view counts of your YouTube channel are high, your earnings may not be as much as what you would receive if those clips were published as regular videos.

FAQ: Will YouTube Shorts Performance Impact Other YouTube Stats?

Yes. As mentioned above, the view counts and playback durations of YouTube Shorts videos are added to your channel’s statistics. Therefore, with the number of views your short videos get, the overall performance of your YouTube stats is affected accordingly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

One of the biggest challenges that people face while using YouTube Shorts is how to get more views. Many new users wonder what and how should they prepare a video that is both 15-to-60 seconds long, and at the same time, it is engaging enough to make the audience view them with excitement.

With that said, the following sections discuss some best practices, and share a couple of tips to increase views on your YouTube Shorts videos.

• Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section
• Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

---

Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section

Comparatively different from other videos, the ones that are added under the ‘Featured’ section are recommended to the audience throughout the YouTube platform on the basis of the algorithms that automatically determine which clips should be liked beach viewer individually.

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

• 100 Million+ Users
• 150+ Countries and Regions
• 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
• 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

To elaborate, generally, YouTube suggests you a video as per your viewing history, browsing statistics, and other such information that the streaming media giant collects over time. On the other hand, the ‘Featured’ videos are suggested according to what YouTube ‘thinks’ might be of your interest, or could be somehow useful to you.

Therefore, when any clip is added as a ‘Featured’ video, YouTube suggests it to more viewers as compared to those that are published under the ‘Recommended’ category.

Note: Although there is a lot more to cover under the ‘Featured’ videos and channels section such as branding, advertisements, etc., such topics are beyond the scope of this piece.

Adding YouTube Shorts videos to the ‘Featured’ section is fairly simple, and the instructions given below explain how this can be done:

Note: It is assumed that you already have a couple of shorts video published on YouTube.

Step 1: Get to YouTube Studio Customization Section

Go to YouTube on your PC’s web browser, sign in to your Google account, click Your videos from the navigation bar in the left, and click Customization from the left bar when the Studio page opens up.

Step 2: Add YouTube Shorts

Click ADD SECTION from the Layout tab in the right window, and click Short videos from the list that appears next to add the YouTube Shorts category.

Step 3: Add Short videos to Featured sections and Save the Changes

Hold the Short videos bar from the moving handle at the left, and move it right below the Featured sections segment. Once the Short videos category is in the right place, click PUBLISH from the top-right corner of the page to save the changes. From this point onward, any YouTube Shorts video that you publish on your channel will be automatically added as ‘Featured’ after its approval.

Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The thumbnails are the face of the videos that you publish anywhere online. Therefore, it is imperative to take down the default one that is automatically added by YouTube, and add your own, custom image instead.

To have your own thumbnail, you can either pick any frame from within the video itself, or you can upload a separate photo from your PC, and replace the existing one with it.

Things to Consider for creating attractive thumbnail

While using your custom image as a thumbnail for your YouTube Shots videos, a few things that you should keep in mind include:

• Relevance

Make sure that the new photo that you are planning to use as a thumbnail is relevant to the short video. Any image that is out of context might confuse the viewers, and you may lose your audience and the subscribers forever and for good.

• Clarity

Always use an image with clear content and large text (if any). This lets the viewers easily determine whether the video is of their interest.

• Correctness

You should avoid using misleading images as thumbnails. While such photos would attract more viewers initially, people will gradually lose trust in your channel if they do not find what they expect by the glimpse of the thumbnail.

Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The fact of the matter is, YouTube Shorts videos aren’t much different that any other video that you publish on the platform. Therefore, the process of optimizing both short and regular videos is identical.

A few things that are extremely important, and play a vital role in optimizing YouTube Shorts videos include:

• Attractive Thumbnail

As mentioned above, the thumbnail of a video is its face, and the prettier and appealing the face is the more audience will it attract, and the more hits your video will get. Therefore, ensure to make the thumbnail of your short videos as attractive as you possibly can.

• Compelling Title

The title says it all. Your short videos will have good chances of getting noticed and hits if they have an impulsive and compelling title that can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect from the clip.

• Detailed Description

The description of your short videos should be complete, and must explain the theme, genre, and nature of the clip. With the detailed description, the viewers will be able to assess if the video would be helpful to them in some manner.

• Tags

Make sure to add relevant tags to your short videos. For instance, adding ‘#Shorts’ in the title or description of the video tells YouTube that the clip is created for YouTube Shorts. Likewise, other tags that are related to the genre and/or theme of the short videos help YouTube suggest your media to the relevant audiences across the website.

Filmora - Best YouTube Shorts Video Editor for PC

• Easily record a video on PC and Mac.
• Edit videos quickly with a wide range of gaming effects.
• Rich video tempaltes and resources for YouTube videos.
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

Try It Free >>

Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

YouTube Shorts are videos that are no more than 60 seconds long in length. When added under the ‘Featured’ category, you can see a significant amount of increment in the hits, and therefore the view count and the playback duration of your YouTube channel gets directly affected.

However, because these short videos cannot be monetized, at times you may notice that even though the total playback duration and view counts of your YouTube channel are high, your earnings may not be as much as what you would receive if those clips were published as regular videos.

FAQ: Will YouTube Shorts Performance Impact Other YouTube Stats?

Yes. As mentioned above, the view counts and playback durations of YouTube Shorts videos are added to your channel’s statistics. Therefore, with the number of views your short videos get, the overall performance of your YouTube stats is affected accordingly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

One of the biggest challenges that people face while using YouTube Shorts is how to get more views. Many new users wonder what and how should they prepare a video that is both 15-to-60 seconds long, and at the same time, it is engaging enough to make the audience view them with excitement.

With that said, the following sections discuss some best practices, and share a couple of tips to increase views on your YouTube Shorts videos.

• Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section
• Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

---

Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section

Comparatively different from other videos, the ones that are added under the ‘Featured’ section are recommended to the audience throughout the YouTube platform on the basis of the algorithms that automatically determine which clips should be liked beach viewer individually.

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

• 100 Million+ Users
• 150+ Countries and Regions
• 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
• 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

To elaborate, generally, YouTube suggests you a video as per your viewing history, browsing statistics, and other such information that the streaming media giant collects over time. On the other hand, the ‘Featured’ videos are suggested according to what YouTube ‘thinks’ might be of your interest, or could be somehow useful to you.

Therefore, when any clip is added as a ‘Featured’ video, YouTube suggests it to more viewers as compared to those that are published under the ‘Recommended’ category.

Note: Although there is a lot more to cover under the ‘Featured’ videos and channels section such as branding, advertisements, etc., such topics are beyond the scope of this piece.

Adding YouTube Shorts videos to the ‘Featured’ section is fairly simple, and the instructions given below explain how this can be done:

Note: It is assumed that you already have a couple of shorts video published on YouTube.

Step 1: Get to YouTube Studio Customization Section

Go to YouTube on your PC’s web browser, sign in to your Google account, click Your videos from the navigation bar in the left, and click Customization from the left bar when the Studio page opens up.

Step 2: Add YouTube Shorts

Click ADD SECTION from the Layout tab in the right window, and click Short videos from the list that appears next to add the YouTube Shorts category.

Step 3: Add Short videos to Featured sections and Save the Changes

Hold the Short videos bar from the moving handle at the left, and move it right below the Featured sections segment. Once the Short videos category is in the right place, click PUBLISH from the top-right corner of the page to save the changes. From this point onward, any YouTube Shorts video that you publish on your channel will be automatically added as ‘Featured’ after its approval.

Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The thumbnails are the face of the videos that you publish anywhere online. Therefore, it is imperative to take down the default one that is automatically added by YouTube, and add your own, custom image instead.

To have your own thumbnail, you can either pick any frame from within the video itself, or you can upload a separate photo from your PC, and replace the existing one with it.

Things to Consider for creating attractive thumbnail

While using your custom image as a thumbnail for your YouTube Shots videos, a few things that you should keep in mind include:

• Relevance

Make sure that the new photo that you are planning to use as a thumbnail is relevant to the short video. Any image that is out of context might confuse the viewers, and you may lose your audience and the subscribers forever and for good.

• Clarity

Always use an image with clear content and large text (if any). This lets the viewers easily determine whether the video is of their interest.

• Correctness

You should avoid using misleading images as thumbnails. While such photos would attract more viewers initially, people will gradually lose trust in your channel if they do not find what they expect by the glimpse of the thumbnail.

Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The fact of the matter is, YouTube Shorts videos aren’t much different that any other video that you publish on the platform. Therefore, the process of optimizing both short and regular videos is identical.

A few things that are extremely important, and play a vital role in optimizing YouTube Shorts videos include:

• Attractive Thumbnail

As mentioned above, the thumbnail of a video is its face, and the prettier and appealing the face is the more audience will it attract, and the more hits your video will get. Therefore, ensure to make the thumbnail of your short videos as attractive as you possibly can.

• Compelling Title

The title says it all. Your short videos will have good chances of getting noticed and hits if they have an impulsive and compelling title that can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect from the clip.

• Detailed Description

The description of your short videos should be complete, and must explain the theme, genre, and nature of the clip. With the detailed description, the viewers will be able to assess if the video would be helpful to them in some manner.

• Tags

Make sure to add relevant tags to your short videos. For instance, adding ‘#Shorts’ in the title or description of the video tells YouTube that the clip is created for YouTube Shorts. Likewise, other tags that are related to the genre and/or theme of the short videos help YouTube suggest your media to the relevant audiences across the website.

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Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

YouTube Shorts are videos that are no more than 60 seconds long in length. When added under the ‘Featured’ category, you can see a significant amount of increment in the hits, and therefore the view count and the playback duration of your YouTube channel gets directly affected.

However, because these short videos cannot be monetized, at times you may notice that even though the total playback duration and view counts of your YouTube channel are high, your earnings may not be as much as what you would receive if those clips were published as regular videos.

FAQ: Will YouTube Shorts Performance Impact Other YouTube Stats?

Yes. As mentioned above, the view counts and playback durations of YouTube Shorts videos are added to your channel’s statistics. Therefore, with the number of views your short videos get, the overall performance of your YouTube stats is affected accordingly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

One of the biggest challenges that people face while using YouTube Shorts is how to get more views. Many new users wonder what and how should they prepare a video that is both 15-to-60 seconds long, and at the same time, it is engaging enough to make the audience view them with excitement.

With that said, the following sections discuss some best practices, and share a couple of tips to increase views on your YouTube Shorts videos.

• Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section
• Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
• Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

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Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section

Comparatively different from other videos, the ones that are added under the ‘Featured’ section are recommended to the audience throughout the YouTube platform on the basis of the algorithms that automatically determine which clips should be liked beach viewer individually.

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To elaborate, generally, YouTube suggests you a video as per your viewing history, browsing statistics, and other such information that the streaming media giant collects over time. On the other hand, the ‘Featured’ videos are suggested according to what YouTube ‘thinks’ might be of your interest, or could be somehow useful to you.

Therefore, when any clip is added as a ‘Featured’ video, YouTube suggests it to more viewers as compared to those that are published under the ‘Recommended’ category.

Note: Although there is a lot more to cover under the ‘Featured’ videos and channels section such as branding, advertisements, etc., such topics are beyond the scope of this piece.

Adding YouTube Shorts videos to the ‘Featured’ section is fairly simple, and the instructions given below explain how this can be done:

Note: It is assumed that you already have a couple of shorts video published on YouTube.

Step 1: Get to YouTube Studio Customization Section

Go to YouTube on your PC’s web browser, sign in to your Google account, click Your videos from the navigation bar in the left, and click Customization from the left bar when the Studio page opens up.

Step 2: Add YouTube Shorts

Click ADD SECTION from the Layout tab in the right window, and click Short videos from the list that appears next to add the YouTube Shorts category.

Step 3: Add Short videos to Featured sections and Save the Changes

Hold the Short videos bar from the moving handle at the left, and move it right below the Featured sections segment. Once the Short videos category is in the right place, click PUBLISH from the top-right corner of the page to save the changes. From this point onward, any YouTube Shorts video that you publish on your channel will be automatically added as ‘Featured’ after its approval.

Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The thumbnails are the face of the videos that you publish anywhere online. Therefore, it is imperative to take down the default one that is automatically added by YouTube, and add your own, custom image instead.

To have your own thumbnail, you can either pick any frame from within the video itself, or you can upload a separate photo from your PC, and replace the existing one with it.

Things to Consider for creating attractive thumbnail

While using your custom image as a thumbnail for your YouTube Shots videos, a few things that you should keep in mind include:

• Relevance

Make sure that the new photo that you are planning to use as a thumbnail is relevant to the short video. Any image that is out of context might confuse the viewers, and you may lose your audience and the subscribers forever and for good.

• Clarity

Always use an image with clear content and large text (if any). This lets the viewers easily determine whether the video is of their interest.

• Correctness

You should avoid using misleading images as thumbnails. While such photos would attract more viewers initially, people will gradually lose trust in your channel if they do not find what they expect by the glimpse of the thumbnail.

Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The fact of the matter is, YouTube Shorts videos aren’t much different that any other video that you publish on the platform. Therefore, the process of optimizing both short and regular videos is identical.

A few things that are extremely important, and play a vital role in optimizing YouTube Shorts videos include:

• Attractive Thumbnail

As mentioned above, the thumbnail of a video is its face, and the prettier and appealing the face is the more audience will it attract, and the more hits your video will get. Therefore, ensure to make the thumbnail of your short videos as attractive as you possibly can.

• Compelling Title

The title says it all. Your short videos will have good chances of getting noticed and hits if they have an impulsive and compelling title that can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect from the clip.

• Detailed Description

The description of your short videos should be complete, and must explain the theme, genre, and nature of the clip. With the detailed description, the viewers will be able to assess if the video would be helpful to them in some manner.

• Tags

Make sure to add relevant tags to your short videos. For instance, adding ‘#Shorts’ in the title or description of the video tells YouTube that the clip is created for YouTube Shorts. Likewise, other tags that are related to the genre and/or theme of the short videos help YouTube suggest your media to the relevant audiences across the website.

Filmora - Best YouTube Shorts Video Editor for PC

• Easily record a video on PC and Mac.
• Edit videos quickly with a wide range of gaming effects.
• Rich video tempaltes and resources for YouTube videos.
• Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats.

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Secure Download

Try It Free >>

Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

YouTube Shorts are videos that are no more than 60 seconds long in length. When added under the ‘Featured’ category, you can see a significant amount of increment in the hits, and therefore the view count and the playback duration of your YouTube channel gets directly affected.

However, because these short videos cannot be monetized, at times you may notice that even though the total playback duration and view counts of your YouTube channel are high, your earnings may not be as much as what you would receive if those clips were published as regular videos.

FAQ: Will YouTube Shorts Performance Impact Other YouTube Stats?

Yes. As mentioned above, the view counts and playback durations of YouTube Shorts videos are added to your channel’s statistics. Therefore, with the number of views your short videos get, the overall performance of your YouTube stats is affected accordingly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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