With the rise of short-form video content becoming increasingly popular, it’s no wonder why so many people are creating their very own YouTube Shorts.
There is great potential for creators to stand out and engage viewers with creative and unique content.
If you are looking at how to master YouTube Shorts, this article will help provide you with nearly everything you need to get started right away.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are a new and exciting feature that allows users to create short-form videos that are up to 60 seconds long.
These videos can be made on your home computer or mobile phone, and there are some top-notch editing software programs available to help you make your video stand out.
One of the main benefits of creating shorts on YouTube is that it can help you grow your channel’s subscribers and views.
With the rise in popularity of TikTok, many social media platforms have started introducing similar features.
YouTube Shorts is one such feature that enables users to create quick, short videos for their audience without having to worry about producing long-form content.
Overall, YouTube Shorts provides an excellent opportunity for content creators looking for ways to expand their reach and connect with their audience in a fun and engaging way.
How long are YouTube Shorts?
One of the most crucial aspects of creating YouTube Shorts is knowing how long they should be.
In general, YouTube Shorts are designed to be short-form videos that last no longer than 60 seconds.
When creating a YouTube Short video, it’s important to keep in mind that the audience’s attention span is limited, so keeping it short and sweet is best.
With only a few seconds to make an impression before users scroll past your content, making sure that your message is conveyed quickly and effectively will help ensure that your video gets seen by as many people as possible.
While some creators may choose to create shorter videos for maximum impact and engagement, others may opt for slightly longer shorts in order to provide more context or information.
Ultimately, your YouTube Shorts length should be atleast 15 seconds, and no longer than 60 seconds.
Why use YouTube Shorts?
When it comes to video, as popular as TikTok is, it pales in comparison to the behemoth that is YouTube.
People may consume lighthearted entertainment on TikTok by watching silly dances and crazy trends… but when they want information, most of them go to YouTube.
As a marketer who wants to provide value and make sales down the line, you’re better off on YouTube.
Besides the fact that your short videos can link to much longer videos, the monetization opportunities on YouTube are more plentiful and lucrative.
Why YouTube Shorts Are Great For Traffic Generation
1. Videos are easy to create
Since these short videos are only about 30-40 seconds long, they’re far easier to create than an hour-long video that will require a lot of editing and so on.
Furthermore, it’s easier to caption a short video with a tool like ContentFries (https://www.contentfries.com/).
Many people watch videos without enabling audio. So it’s imperative that you use subtitles for your videos.
2. What’s easy is also fast
Since these shorts are only half a minute each, you could easily create 5-10 videos in a day – and schedule 2-3 videos to go out daily at specified times.
Most prolific YouTube creators manage about 2-3 long videos a week.
If they’re outsourcing the work, they may publish 1-2 videos daily. But it’s a lot of work – and you’ll need to spend money on hiring a team of freelancers and so on to produce your content for you.
You won’t encounter such problems when creating videos for YouTube shorts because it’s mostly clips of bite-sized content.
In fact, you could even split your existing videos into smaller ‘shorts’ videos.
There is an asymmetrical relationship between the time required to create shorts and the reach/engagement these videos get.
It’s now possible to have a thriving channel without you having to commit too much time to video creation… And that’s fantastic.
3. Post multiple times a day
While you should try not to exceed posting 4 times a day (just to be safe and not get flagged by the algorithm), because these videos are easier and faster to create, you’ll have more opportunities to post content throughout the day to tap into a wider audience.
4. Faster feedback
This is an excellent reason that many marketers overlook. The more videos you produce and publish, the more data and experience you’ll gain.
Soon you’ll be able to see trends in your data and will discover a few key points such as:
- When are the best times to post
- Which type of content gets the most engagement
- What titles get more clicks and views
- Which thumbnails are more attention-grabbing
Once you have feedback on which videos are gaining traction, you can streamline your video creation and focus on what works.
This will exponentially increase your views, engagement and build your audience in a shorter time.
5. Short videos are easier to consume
There’s a ‘dark side’ to short videos whether they’re on YouTube or TikTok – they reduce the attention span of people who consume these types of content.
We live in an age where people are increasingly impatient and will make decisions in a fraction of second when choosing if a video is worth watching or not.
This can be blatantly seen by how fast they scroll through videos on their mobile phones.
Generally, since short videos are only about 30 seconds each, people find them easier to consume because they don’t need to invest too much time to watch the entire video.
This explains why shorts are getting more views than normal long-form videos.
6. Not much equipment required
You can easily make short videos with your mobile phone or use a Chrome extension like Mobile View Switcher (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mobile-view-switcher/bmhfelbhbkeoldaiphchjibggnoodpcj?hl=en) and use a tool like Camtasia or Screecast-O-Matic to record the screen.
No need for state-of-the-art cameras and other expensive equipment to create videos that have a possibility of going viral.
This lowers the barrier to entry for video marketing and puts it within reach of just about anyone who has a mobile phone.
7. Build an engaged audience
You can always add a quick call to action (CTA) asking your viewers to join your list or check out a product you’re selling/promoting.
Since you’ll be posting several videos a day, you’ll be seen by more people and the probability of your links getting clicked on will be higher.
With persistent effort over a couple of weeks, you’ll start seeing an increase in subscribers and people joining your email list (if you’ve set it up).
Short videos are one of the fastest ways to build an audience and a list right now.
How To Increase Views and Engagement on Your YouTube Shorts
There are several ways to ensure that your videos get the attention they truly deserve.
Once you know the lay of the land, you’ll understand what it takes to truly succeed with YouTube shorts.
1. Focus on your title
Your title is the MOST important ‘component’ in your video. Make sure it’s enticing and intriguing.
While it shouldn’t be ‘clickbaity’, it should still be attention-grabbing enough for viewers to want to click on it.
Very often, you’ll see videos with titles such as, “You won’t believe what happens at the end” … or… “Wait for it!” … or… “He didn’t expect this to happen!”
These types of titles not only perk the viewers’ curiosity, but they also ensure that the viewer watches the entire video.
You’ll also want to ensure that your keyword is in the title of the video. And make sure the video delivers on what it says in the title.
Recently, the controversial influencer, Andrew Tate was imprisoned in a Romanian prison. Many YouTubers started creating shorts with titles such as:
- “They even took ANDREW TATE’s Bugatti!”
- “SAD REALITY ABOUT TATE BEING FREED”
- “Andrew Tate’s Ex-Girlfriend Explains Why His Arrest Was FALSE ????”
- “The Side of Andrew Tate They Don’t Show????”
- “Andrew Tate NEW Jail Footage Somebody Helping Him”
Since the topic is trending and the titles are intriguing, they’re getting thousands of views.
In fact, the 5th title above is for a 1-minute video that gained 512 thousand views in 10 days!
That’s how crucial having a good title is.
2. Use captions (subtitles)
Since these videos are short, millions of people may prefer to just read the captions instead of enabling audio.
Very often, viewers are on public transport, or in a classroom at school… or slacking off at work and on their mobile phones.
With captions, they’ll easily consume your content without having to wear earphones or listen to it.
In many cases, if your video has no captions, they won’t be able to understand it… and rather than going through the hassle of wearing earphones or turning on the audio, they’ll just scroll past your video and watch someone else’s video that has captions.
Research is showing that videos with captions get much better engagement.
These videos are easier to digest and create a better viewer experience.
We all know people who watch movies with subtitles even though they understand the language.
That’s all the reason you need.
3. Model what’s working
This is the fastest way to reduce your learning curve.
Look at the popular shorts videos and figure out what the creator is doing. You’ll notice trends and similarities.
All you need to do is model them and create similar videos.
Don’t blatantly copy… but aim for similarity while putting your own spin on things.
What works for one video will probably work for another.
As you get more experienced with video creation, you can test new ideas to stand out.
But when you’re starting off, doing what’s already working will help you achieve success sooner.
4. Make your videos interesting
Since you only have 30-60 seconds to impress your viewer, you’ll want a video with frequent clip changes to hold their attention.
Use emojis in your videos, and keep your captions bright-colored.
A font that’s legible and exciting will add a ‘vibe’ to your videos.
If there’s any trending background music that is used in over 80 thousand videos, you’ll want to use that music in your shorts too.
One example is the “Tourner Dans Le Vide” track that was used in thousands of videos made about Andrew Tate.
Watch popular TikTok videos and observe which music tracks people are often dancing or making videos too.
These tracks can be used in your YouTube shorts videos too.
Try your best to hop on what’s trending. Piggybacking on popular video topics, trends, etc. will accelerate your growth on YouTube.
5. Follow the Netflix strategy
If you’re a fan of Netflix popular series such as The Blacklist, Peaky Blinders, etc. you’ll notice that each episode ends abruptly.
This ending acts as a cliffhanger – an open loop that makes the viewer want to close it.
The only way to do that is by watching the next episode.
This is why people binge watch multiple episodes (or even the entire season) at one go.
Similarly, you’ll want to end your shorts abruptly so that the viewer is ‘encouraged’ to click on more of your videos and/or follow through with your call to action at the end of your video.
In this way, your videos will get more views, higher engagement… and will signal to YouTube that your content is worthy to be shown to a wider audience.
Viewer retention is crucial for being viewed favorably by the YouTube algorithm.
Apply the pointers in this article when creating your YouTube shorts.
By tweaking and testing, you’ll discover what works and what doesn’t.
By constantly creating new content and iterating, you’ll become better at video creation – and your videos will be highly popular and may even go viral.
14 Tips to Follow When Creating ‘Shorts’ for YouTube
Follow these tips and your YouTube shorts will be far more likely to gain views and a following.
They’re in no order of importance… but it’s best to abide by all of them.
1. Grab their attention in the first 5 seconds
You literally have seconds to convince the viewer if they should watch your video to the end or just scroll on by.
Make sure your first few seconds are either exciting, funny, or captivating.
The viewer must have a reason for watching the rest of the video.
Either there’s a funny ending which is a payoff… or there’s some information they’ll discover (like the outcome of a court case) … or there’s something shocking or gossipy in nature that will be revealed at the end of the video.
This will make them click and stay until the end of the video.
2. Jump on trending topics
While your videos should be related to your niche, they should also be on trending topics, especially for YouTube shorts.
If you’re in the finance niche, that may mean covering topics such as an impending recession, crypto news, skyrocketing price of eggs, property market trends and so on.
These are the pertinent issues that the audience wants information about.
3. Insert clip changes
Insert a clip change every 3-4 seconds in your video.
This will prevent your audience from getting bored or ‘zoning out’.
It’s the same reason why stand-up comedians such as Chris Rock walk from one end of the stage to another while doing their routine.
It keeps the audience alert.
4. Do a poll
Using polls in your videos can help your audience to engage with your channel.
People love voting on issues they have strong views about.
Whichever way the polls go, what really matters is that your channel is getting more engagement.
5. Use trending music
Some music tracks are so popular that they’re used in thousands of videos.
Ideally, you should make videos that use these tracks too (if over 80,000 videos are already using the same track).
Sometimes, people will watch an entire video just because they like the music in the background.
Furthermore, if you’re using a track that’s viral, the YouTube algorithm will look upon the video more favorably.
6. Have attention-grabbing thumbnails
Just like with longer videos, short videos need a good thumbnail too.
There are many talented designers on Fiverr and other freelance platforms who will design a beautiful thumbnail for just a few dollars.
Leverage their expertise and get thumbnails that scream for people to click on your videos.
7. Post 2-4 times a day
Since YouTube short videos are easy to create, you can post several times a day.
3 times is a good number… but don’t fall below 2 or get overly enthusiastic and go above 4.
8. Keep the viewer hooked
Make sure your videos are entertaining and interesting. End them abruptly so that the viewer wants to see what other related videos you have.
This will ensure that your videos get more views and your channel has a higher audience retention score.
This metric is very important if you want YouTube to give your videos/channel more love.
9. Do NOT use automated voiceovers
What you do is just as important as what you don’t do.
Avoid using robotic automated voiceovers. Most people hate them and will scroll away quickly.
You’ll be better off hiring a freelance voiceover artist.
If that’s beyond your budget, you can record your own voice or just use captions and background music.
10. Have a CTA
Have a call to action (CTA) at the end of your video.
Either you tell them to watch the next video or subscribe to your channel or visit a link on your video.
It’s up to you… but you must have a CTA for most of your videos.
11. Make videos on complimentary topics
When making videos, you’ll want to cover topics related to your niche.
You can answer common questions, provide insider tips, offer information people are unaware of and so on.
When your videos provide value, you’ll build an audience faster.
Your goal should be to entertain while helping your audience out.
Even if it’s a short video, these fundamentals apply.
12. Not more than 1 minute
The whole point of calling it ‘YouTube Shorts’ is because the videos should be short.
It’s best they be kept to 30-40 seconds. 1 minute is pushing it a little, but still bearable.
Avoid making short videos that exceed a minute. Your videos should be concise, succinct, and easily digestible.
13. Adjust the playback speed
If you’re using a tool like Camtasia, you could speed up the video by 1.25x and then add the background music.
So your video will be able to deliver more content within a shorter duration.
14. Promote your videos on multiple platforms
Once your videos are posted on YouTube, you can also post them on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.
The more places you post your videos, the more eyeballs you’ll get on your video.
This will exponentially increase your views, engagement and help to build your tribe in the fastest possible time.
Use the pointers in this article to succeed with YouTube shorts.
Despite the competition, there’s still a lot of room for proficient video creators to make their mark.
The cream always rises to the top.
In conclusion, when it comes to the short-form video trend, it’s not a matter of if… but a matter of when – when will you get started?
It’s still the relatively early stages now and the early adopters are already seeing positive results.
You definitely want to hop on the wave of popularity YouTube shorts are enjoying… and surf your way to massive engagement and profit from it.
