The clickable links on all your YouTube shorts are being banned by YouTube from August 31st, 2023. That means Pinned Comments in YouTube Shorts or any other Shorts will no longer be clickable. It also means the clickable link in the shorts description or in the descriptions of any other Shorts videos will no longer be clickable.

What? 

Why is YouTube making this change which will affect millions of shorts videos that are already uploaded to YouTube? 

YouTube says it’s making this change to prevent users from being exposed to malware, phishing scams, and other harmful scam related content. Fortunately, the links in the descriptions and comments of your long form videos will still be clickable and remain unchanged.

In the video below, I’ll show you a solution to this change and how YouTube is introducing a new and safer way for creators to link their Shorts viewers to their other YouTube content.

Get My New Shorts Course: Mastering YouTube Shorts: The Complete Guide
Click here for more info

Which kinds of links are clickable on YouTube? 

• Channel profile links
• links placed in long form video comments and descriptions
• links placed in YouTube live chat mentions
• hashtags in Shorts comments and descriptions
• YouTube shopping affiliate program links
• Shorts green screen
• Rimix attribution links.
  The only links which are non clickable are the links in Shorts comments and descriptions.

Warning from YouTube
You can’t create external links that sends users to websites containing featured content that violates YouTube’s external links policies. Click here to read YouTube’s external link policy..

Here are the current clickable links that you see on a Shorts video.

• I’ve got my channel link…drostvideo
• the subscribe button.
• If I tap share, I can share the Shorts URL on my social media sites or copy the link.
• If I tap remix, I can remix a long form video into a Short. An attribution link will appear
  on the Short that links back to the original video

Here are some ways to direct viewers from your Shorts to other YouTube content.

Reply to comments with a Short.
– Tap on the comments to select a comment to reply to
– Tap on the comment
– Tap on the shorts icon. Now I can read the comment that I wish to reply to.
– Tap record. “Thanks for this comment. I wish you the best of luck with your YouTube video.
– Tap the check mark.
Now you can preview what you said. When viewers watch your short, they can go back to the original video it’s attached to. 

Once a Shorts video reply is posted, it’ll appear as a reply in the comments.

What’s the goal of highlighting comments in Shorts?
“The goal is to provide a way for creators to invite their viewers to participate in their content.”

How To Create Shorts from your own long form videos.

• Select one of the videos on your channel.
• Tap the remix button, so you can edit into a short, use the sound from this video or cut the video by using a segment from the video or use a green screen as a background.
• Keep in mind that the option to edit into a short is only available to you.
• Tap edit into a short.
• You can select 15 or 40 seconds..i selected 15 seconds
• Tap next
• Tap the back arrow.
  Now you can record a Short. So tap the record button. I’m recording a short, 
• Tap the check icon. 
• Tap Next
• Add your title
• Select visibility…public, private or unlisted
• Tap upload short.

Now you’ll notice that if I tap the link on my Short “created from drostvideo”, it redirects to my original long form video.

How to cut a segment from any video on YouTube to make into Short.

• Tap on the video
• Tap remix.
• I can use the sound from the video, cut it by using a segment from the video or use a video as a background. 
• Tap cut.
• I use up to 5 seconds.
• Tap next.
• Now I can record a 15 or 60 second shorts video. If I want  60 seconds Tap 15. I’m just gonna add 15, so I’m gonna tap 60. it goes back 15 seconds. Hey, I’m just adding another segment to this video.” 
• Tap the check mark
• Tap next
• Add a title.
• Select visibility…public
• Tap upload short.
• If I tap on the link “cut from parktool”, it redirects me back to the original video.

How to create content links in Shorts

YouTube is introducing a new and safer way for creators to direct Shorts viewers to other content on YouTube. When a viewer clicks on the content link in the shorts, it redirects them to the longer form content.

How to create channel profile links

Previously I mentioned channel profile links. Now you can showcase up to 14 links on your channel homepage, and the first link will be prominently displayed in the profile section next to the subscribe button. The remaining links will show when the viewer clicks to see more links.

Watch this video to learn how to create channel profile links that’ll replace the links that have been removed from your Channel Banner.

Get My New Shorts Course: Mastering YouTube Shorts: The Complete Guide
Click here for more info

Do you want to take your Shorts to the next level so you can grow your channel fast? 

YouTube shorts are now being watched by over 6 billion users every month, and YouTube is introducing 6 new ways to create shorts on YouTube.

Get My New Shorts Course: Mastering YouTube Shorts: The Complete Guide
Click here for more info

Here are 6 new ways to level up your YouTube Shorts.

1. Remix with Collab.
   Collab is a new creation tool that lets you record a short in a side-by-side format, using other YouTube videos or Shorts. 
   
   You just need to tap “remix”, then “collab” to remix an eligible video or short. 
   
2. New effects and stickers.
   YouTube has added dozens of new stickers and effects over the last few months, so you can add new creative effects to your shorts. 
   
   For example, they’ll soon start rolling out a new Q & A sticker so you can ask your audience questions and get responses right there in the comments. Keep in mind, you can also reply to comments with a Short. 
   
   Click here to watch my video on how to reply to comments using a Short. 
   
3. Go live and get discovered on Shorts.
   YouTube is testing a mobile first vertical live experience. This will allow creators to go live and get discovered right in the shorts feed. Viewers in this test will see previews of vertical live videos mixed into the shorts feed. If someone taps into this experience, they’ll be placed in a scrollable feed of other live videos.
   
   Just make sure that when you go live, your camera is in a vertical orientation. With this new live experience, you’ll be able to get discovered in more places.
   
4. Streamline your video creation with Suggestions.
   This new suggestion feature automatically bundles the audio and effect from the Short you are remixing. 
   
   From the shorts player, Tap the remix button, then tap “use sound”.
   
   YouTube will automatically surface the same timestamp from the short video you just watched, and the same effect as a creation suggestion. You can always mix and match to make it your own.
   
5. Save Shorts to playlists.
   YouTube recently introduced an option to save shorts to playlists, so if you find a shorts in your shorts feed that you really love, you can immediately save it to a playlist. This will make it easier for you to find that short or shorts that you’ve saved to the playlist, when inspiration strikes. 
   
6. Easily transform your horizontal videos into Shorts.
   Up to now, it’s been difficult to transform your long form videos into shorts using a remix tool, but YouTube is adding new recomposition tools.
   
   Once you choose a long-form video to remix, you’ll be able to adjust the layout, zoom and crop of the video segment.
   
   Split screen Effects will also be available so you can preserve key parts of your long form content to create more engaging and original YouTube shorts.
   
   Watch this video to learn “How to Upload a Short From Your PC” It has accumulated almost a million views.

Get My New Shorts Course: Mastering YouTube Shorts: The Complete Guide
Click here for more info

Do you sometimes waste hours trying to come up with YouTube video ideas,
scripts, titles, descriptions, and want to find a solution?

Millions of people use chat GPT, or AI to make their life easier.

In the video below, I’ll show you 5 highly effective chat GPT Hacks to Grow Your YouTube channel.

Click here to get my video course…”Secrets To Increase Audience Engagement On YouTube” You’ll discover how to hook your viewers, get them to spend more time on each video and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to a wider audience.

How to use Chat GPT to come up with YouTube video ideas.

I went to chat.openai.com and entered. “Give me 10 video ideas for how to get more views on YouTube”. Let’s see what it comes up with.

• Top 10 tips for YouTube success
• Behind the scenes of your channel
• Collaboration with other YouTubers
• Reacting to viral videos
• q and a with your subscribers
• Exploring trending topics, et cetera.

If you want to get 10 more ideas, just enter the prompt. “Give me 10 more”

Let’s see what it gets.

• Hacks and tips in your niche
• Mistakes to avoid
• Rapid fire q and a challenge
• Epic transformation makeover
• Exploring unique places or events

Within a few seconds chat GPT can spit out new video ideas that you may not even have thought of.

How to use chat GPT to write multiple video titles.

I chose the video topic, Top 10 Tips for YouTube success. I then asked chat GPT to list out 10 super engaging titles for top 10 tips for YouTube success.

Here are the 10 titles… 

• YouTube domination 1
• 0 proven tips for explosive channel growth
• Crack the code: 10 Insider Tips to Master YouTube success.
• 10 YouTube Secrets you need to Know for massive viewership. 
• From zero to hero: 10 tips for building a thriving YouTube channel

If I’m not happy with those 10 titles, I can ask ChatGPT to give me 10 more.

How to use chat GPT to write a video script within a few seconds.

I asked ChatGPT to write a script for a video titled YouTube Domination. 10 Proven Tips for Explosive Channel Growth.

Let’s see the results…

• Define your niche
• Tip two, compelling content creation.
• Tip three, optimize video SEO, 
• Tip four, consistency is key.
• Tip five, engage with community.
• Tip six, collaborate and cross promote.
• Tip seven, harness the power of social media.
• Tip eight, study analytics and improve.
• Tip nine, create eye-catching thumbnails
• Tip 10, stay true to yourself.

If I wanted to create a new script, I can ask Chat GPT to rewrite the script.

Instead of using the script as is when you film your video, try to include personal stories, facts, et cetera. This will help make your video content unique and keep your audience engaged.

How to use Chat GPT to create a super engaging video hook.

I asked chat GPT to give me 5 ideas for attention grabbing hooks for the first 10 seconds of a YouTube video titled YouTube Domination. 10 Proven Tips for Explosive Channel Growth.

Let’s see the results…

“Attention All Aspiring YouTube rock stars. In this video, I’m about to reveal 10 jaw dropping tips that will skyrocket your channel growth and turn you into a YouTube powerhouse.

That sounds pretty good, I think I’ll use that one.

Keeping your viewers engaged in the first 10 seconds of your video increases the likelihood of viewers watching the whole video, so it makes sense to create a strong hook.

How to use Chat GPT to create a search engine optimized description for a YouTube video.

I asked chat GPT to write a short search engine optimized description for a video titled YouTube domination. 10 proven Tips for Explosive channel growth.

Let’s see the results…

Want to conquer YouTube and see your channel explode with growth? Discover the ultimate roadmap to success with YouTube domination. 10 proven tips for explosive channel growth, Unveil insider secrets and battle tested strategies to skyrocket your views, subscribers and engagement.

If I want to make the description shorter, I can ask chat GPT to shorten it to 3 lines.

Let’s see the results…

“Crush YouTube with YouTube domination. 10 proven tips for explosive channel growth. Unveil insider secrets to skyrocket views, subscribers and engagement. Optimize SEO, and craft captivating content for ultimate success.”

In this case, it’s enough to just use the first two lines.

What if you want to use Chat GPT to identify your ideal viewer so you can target
the right audience with the right content? 
Watch this video titled, “Why Is It Important to Know Your Target Audience?“

Click here to get my video course: “Secrets To Increase Audience Engagement On YouTube” You’ll discover how to hook your viewers, get them to spend more time on each video and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to a wider audience.

Do you spend hours filming, editing, promoting your video, but it only results in a few views? 

You’re probably targeting the wrong audience because the YouTube algorithm helps viewers find the videos that they want to watch based upon their browsing behavior.

If you deliver the content your viewers want to watch, they’ll keep coming back for more, which results in the growth of your channel.

In the video below, you’ll learn how the YouTube algorithm works, how to quickly identify your target audience and the mistakes to avoid.

Click here to get my video course. You’ll discover how to hook your viewers, get them to spend more time on each video and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to a wider audience.

How does the YouTube algorithm work? 

YouTube says, “Our algorithm doesn’t pay attention to videos. It pays attention to viewers. So rather than trying to make videos that make the algorithm happy, focus on making videos that make your viewers happy.” 

Keep in mind the YouTube algorithm follows the audience, what they watch, what they don’t watch, how long they keep watching, and if they return to watch more.

So your goal should be to help viewers find the videos that they want to watch keep viewers on the YouTube platform as long as possible, then get viewers to keep coming back for more of your content.

If people love your content, the YouTube algorithm will surface your content to a wider audience resulting in more views.

How do you identify your target audience on YouTube? 

One of the biggest mistakes YouTubers make is trying to appeal to everyone. If you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one. It’s like throwing mud at the wall, hoping some of it will stick.

Avoid uploading content that you want to make without considering the interests of your audience. Your audience consists of an individual viewer, which is sometimes called an Avatar, which represents your target audience. Ideally, you want to create content that you love to make and your audience will love to watch.

How do you identify your ideal subscriber that reflects the audience you wish to reach? 

Look at this Venn diagram to identify the personality of your ideal viewer. I call him Steve. Demographics refers to the age and gender of your ideal viewer.

Here’s how to find the demographics of the audience in YouTube analytics.

• Click on analytics in YouTube studio
• Click on the audience tab.
• Under top geographies, you’ll see the top countries where most of your audience watches your videos. You’ll also see the top languages and the age and gender of your audience.

According to my demographics, Steve is a male 34 years old that resides in the United States and speaks English.

Here’s how to get more insights about your target audience from YouTube analytics.

• Click on the audience tab in YouTube analytics.
• Look at videos, growing your audience channels your audience watches,. what your audience watches, formats your viewers watch on YouTube, when your viewers are on YouTube

You can also use the Research Tab to discover the top searches of viewers on your channel.

• Click on your research tab,
• Click on searches across YouTube.
• The research tab explores what viewers are searching for on YouTube.
• Use this tool to research some of the top searches from viewers on your channel and across YouTube in the last 28 days.
• Click on your viewers searches.
• Here are the search terms my audience is searching for on YouTube.
• If I click on all searches, then click on content gaps only and click apply, it shows the content gaps on my channel.
• If I click saved, then it shows the Keyword phrases that people are entering into the search engines. This gives me a clear idea what kind of content my audience is interested in.

After demographics, look at your viewers psychographics. While demographics are the external traits of a person, psychographics refers to the internal traits. This refers to the beliefs, values, attitudes, motivations, lifestyle choices, fears and vulnerabilities.

It’s what they’re most passionate about and drives them.

For example, Steve is passionate about growing his channel, impacting others, and generating revenue from his channel. His hobbies include traveling and spending time in nature.

One of the ways you can discover the psychographics of your ideal viewer is to survey your audience. You can add a poll or quiz to your community tab, study the recurring questions in your comments or in the comments of your competitors’ videos, or study the most popular videos of your competitors’ channels.

• For example, you create a list of 10 different channels that are in the same niche as your own niche.
• Go to the first channel click on the videos tab to sort the videos by the most popular. 
• Watch, the most popular videos that were uploaded to that channel over the past year.
• Study their titles, thumbnails, hooks, how they present their content, call to actions, and how many views and subscribers they were able to get.
• Do the same for all the other channels.

What you’re looking for are patterns in the content creation and in the audience’s behavior. This will help you to see what is currently working in your niche so you can create the right content on your own channel. If you have an email list, survey your list, or if you have a Facebook group, you can also add a poll. If you’re just starting out, just use yourself as your own target audience, what are your values, beliefs, burning questions, et cetera. You also want to write down the offline and online behavior of your ideal viewer, like where do they hang out online in other social media sites.

How To Use ChatGPT (AI) To Identify Your Ideal Viewer

For example, if I go to Chat GPT at Chat.OpenAI.com, I enter…

“My YouTube channel is about growing  your audience on YouTube. Write a viewer persona for a male 34 named Steve that lives in the USA.” ChatGPT spits out the answers in a few seconds.

For example, ChatGPT gives me the background, demographics, interests and hobbies, goals and challenges, and the preferred content. This will give you a great starting point if you don’t know your ideal subscriber.

As your channel grows, you can refine your audience profile to make it more detailed. After you’ve researched all the characteristics of your ideal viewer, it’ll be easier to create the right content for your target audience. Every time you create a new video, look at the audience profile you’ve created so you know you’re targeting the right audience.

Mistakes To Avoid

Your niche is too broad.
If you try to appeal to everyone, you won’t attract your target audience.

For example, instead of having a general fitness niche, you could specialize in functional fitness for seniors. Instead of having a general travel niche, you could focus on adventure travel for families. When you narrow your niche, it’ll be easier to attract a target audience.

Lack of Patience
Sometimes a video doesn’t gain many views in the first few hours or days after you’ve uploaded it. This may mean that your video topic or content is not a perfect fit for your dedicated viewers, but is a good fit for new viewers.

For example, this video only received 200 views and one subscriber in the first 24 hours of uploading it in September 19th, 2019. If I select September 19th to October 19th, 2019, and click apply, it only received 326 views and 3 subscribers in a one month period.

If I select since uploaded or lifetime views, it says this video has gotten over 161,000 views since it was uploaded, It has accumulated one and a half thousand subscribers and generated revenue of over $1,000.

This is primarily due to the video ranking number 1 on YouTube search. It may take a while for the YouTube algorithm to match the new content with a new audience, so be patient.

Not tracking your traffic in YouTube analytics.
The 2 top metrics to keep an eye on is clickthrough rate and audience retention. To find the Clickthrough Rate for a specific video, click on the content tab in YouTube studio, then click on analytics for that specific video. Click on the reach tab and look under impressions and how they’re led to watch time. This video has a 9.1% click rate.

If you have a low click rate, it means that viewers are not motivated to click and watch your video because of your titles and thumbnails. If you have a low audience retention, it means that viewers are not remaining engaged throughout your video.

How To view Audience Retention

• Click on the engagement tab
• Look under audience retention.
• You’ll be able to see the intro top moments.. This is the part that kept your viewers watching for longer than usual.
• Dips mean viewers are abandoning or skipping certain parts of your video.

It could be that the content you’re presenting is not what was promised in your title and thumbnail. When you make your next video, try to improve your click through rate and audience retention.

Do you want to know the secrets to audience engagement on YouTube?

Click here to get my video course. You’ll discover how to hook your viewers, get them to spend more time on each video and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to a wider audience.

YouTube’s video editor doesn’t allow you to combine 2 videos into one,  so in this video I’m going to show you how to merge 2 videos into one using a free online video editor called Kapwing.

Click here to Get My New Video Course
“SECRETS TO AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT” You’ll discover how to hook your viewers’ attention, get them to spend more time on each video, and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to other channels

How To Merge 2 Videos Into One Video

• Create a free account at Kapwing.com.
• Click sign in
• Click create new project.
• Click add media
• Drag and drop your files or click to upload. I’m going to drag these two files.
• I’ve got my two video clips added over here in the add media section.
• Now I’m going to create my document.
• I’m going to click “Start with a blank Canvas” 16:9 is for YouTube, or you can do 1:1 for a square video, 4:5 or 9:16 which is a TikTok or Instagram story.
• Click 16:9.
• Drag the file onto the canvas. You can reposition it or enlarge it.
• Take the other video file and drag that to the canvas also next to the other one.
• You can put them side by side on the timeline.
• If you want to adjust the timeline, just move the slider to the left or right.
• Now you can see you’ve got the two clips here on the timeline.
• To trim the clips, you can just click on the clip, grab one end of it & move it to where you want it.
• To split the clip at a certain spot, just right click it then click split.
• If you made a mistake and want to undo it, just hover over where it says “Undo”.
• You also have the ability to add text subtitles, more videos, images.
• If you click on elements, then you can add any of these new elements.
• You can also add audio, sound effects and different music clips.
• You can also click record to record a screen,  camera or record audio. 
• If you click on more, you can do  shapes, emojis, sound effects.
• Click on the video clip to trim, crop, filter it, zoom or adjust the volume.
• You’ve got effects, transitions, all these different transitions and timing.
• Click “Export Project” after editing or rearranging your video clips or the timeline
• Click export as mp4.
• Now I’ve got the Pro version, so I’ve got faster processing and watermark free.
• You can also copy the link, embed it or you can download the file.
• You’ll also receive an email from Kapwing that your video is ready for download. 
• Click download file to download the file to your computer.

The FREE version gives you unlimited exports containing a watermark, and allows you to create videos up to 7 minutes long. If you upgrade to the PRO version, you get everything that’s in the free version plus many extra features.

CLICK HERE to get The FREE or PRO version of Kapwing, the online image and video editor

Keep in mind, you can add multiple video clips or images to the timeline to create your video.

If you want to know how to trim an existing video on YouTube without re-uploading it, watch this video on “How to use YouTube’s video editor to trim an existing video without losing views and comments“

Click here to Get My New Video Course
“SECRETS TO AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT” You’ll discover how to hook your viewers’ attention, get them to spend more time on each video, and motivate them to watch more videos from your channel, so YouTube will recommend your content to other channels

If you’ve been struggling to get your first 500 subscribers, now that YouTube has lowered the eligibility requirements for monetization, you probably haven’t focused on these 7 things that I’m about to share with you.

Discover my top strategies to get your first 500-1000 subscribers FAST, so you can join the YouTube Partner Program and start generating a passive income from your YouTube Channel
Click here for more info

1. Clearly define your target audience.

If you’re not making content your audience loves, you’re probably not gonna gain many subscribers because you haven’t captured their interest.

So how do you get to know your target audience? 

You must know their burning questions, what they struggle with, and what they enjoy. You can do this by adding a poll to your community tab, starting a conversation in your comments, or by observing recurring questions in the comments of your competitors videos. You can also view the suggestions that YouTube provides when you enter a keyword phrase in the YouTube search box.

I use an indispensable keyword research tool called TubeBuddy to find keyword phrases that will easily rank in the YouTube search engines.

When you make videos that answer the most burning questions from your viewers, you’ll get more subscribers.

2. Create quality content.

You won’t get more subscribers by just uploading content that you want to make. Instead, you should focus on creating quality content that captures your viewer’s interests from the beginning of your video to the end of the video, and then keep them coming back for more of your content.

How can you do this? 

Think about creating a video series based upon a common theme, so after a viewer’s finished watching one video, they’ll be motivated to watch the next video. For example, in this video series on how to get more views on YouTube, I placed in a playlist so when someone starts watching a video, they’ll automatically be linked to the next video in the series. You can encourage this binge watching session by linking to a playlist at the end of the video that the viewer has just watched.

YouTube says, “you can increase the chance of YouTube suggesting your content by increasing the clickthrough rate and YouTube watch time”.

Clickthrough rate refers to how many people click and watch your video, and audience retention refers to how long people stay watching your video or continue watching more videos in a row.

You can also link to related content by putting your playlist link in the first three lines of your description and pinning that playlist link to the top of your comments.

So how should you structure your content so viewers will watch your video all the way through? 

Use a strong hook in the first 30 seconds of your video like asking a question, making a bold statement, or teasing about what’s come out later in the video.

After you’ve hooked a viewer, deliver the content that you promised in your thumbnail and title. You can keep the attention of your viewer throughout the video by using lots of B-roll,  transitions, graphics, text, et cetera.

You can also remind your viewers to subscribe to your video, particularly if they are first time viewers, by adding a subscribe graphic or just asking them to subscribe after you’ve delivered some of your main content.

For example, you can say, “if you liked the content so far, hit the subscribe button to be notified about more content like this every week“.

Your call to action at the end of the video should be to encourage your viewer to watch the next video in the series or to watch a related video or playlist. If you want to capture their contact information so you can follow up with them, then offer a free lead magnet such as a free report or free ebook in exchange for their contact information.

Another way to keep viewers watching your video is to add video chapters in the description below your video. This enables viewers to skip to that part of the video that they’re most interested in. When you consistently upload quality content your viewers are interested in, they’ll become your biggest fans and want to keep coming back for more of your content. Your goal should be to build an engaged community on your channel.

3. Create clickable thumbnails and titles

If no one clicks on your thumbnail, then they won’t watch your video and you’ve wasted all your time filming, editing and uploading your video.

So how do you create a clickable thumbnail? 

Use bold and  contrasting colors. Add three words or less or none at all. Add your face, differentiate your thumbnail from your competitor’s thumbnails. Add a curiosity factor so viewers are curious to want to click and watch your video.

If you want to improve the click rate of your thumbnails, I highly recommend using TubeBuddy’s thumbnail split testing feature.

Besides the clickable thumbnail, you also want to create a clickable title because viewers read the title before they click and watch your video.

How do you create a clickable title? 

You can make a bold statement like this video titled “The Scariest Day in the NFL History“ that currently has 2.4 million views. This video titled “He Farms 35 hours a week by himself and Makes six figures” currently has 1.4 million views. You can also include words in your title like “Secrets” to make people curious to want to click and watch your video. For example, this video is titled “Underwear Secrets Every Woman Should Learn“ and currently has 1 million Views.

If you want to get more subscribers, build curiosity into your titles and thumbnails,

4. Optimize your channel homepage.

Your channel homepage is a great resource for new subscribers because it’s the  first thing new visitors see when they visit your channel.

Add a channel banner that clearly states what your channel is about. For example, my channel banner says, “Grow your audience with video”. You only have a few seconds to impress your first time visitors, so make a clear value proposition on your banner.

Include a channel trailer that motivates viewers to subscribe to your channel. If you have a video on your channel that’s already gained thousands of subscribers, use that video as your channel trailer because it’s already proven to be successful.

How To Add A Channel Trailer

• Click on your customization tab in the left hand column.
• Under Layout…video spotlight, you can add a channel trailer for people who haven’t subscribed, and you can also add a featured video for returning subscribers.

I also recommend adding sections containing playlists to your channel homepage so viewers can take a deeper dive into your content, and this will motivate them to subscribe to your channel. As you can see, I’ve added multiple playlists to my YouTube channel homepage, and I recommend you do the same.

Place your most popular playlist at the top and then the other ones in  descending order.

How to add a featured section to your channel homepage

• Click on the customization tab in the left hand column. 
• Under featured sections, click add section, then click on single playlist.

Under branding, you can add a profile picture, change your banner image, and include a video subscribe watermark that appears across all the videos on your channel. When someone clicks on your video watermark, they’ll be prompted to subscribe to your channel, so make sure you add that as well.

I also recommend adding basic info to your about page by clicking on basic info under channel customization.

Here you can add a unique handle for your channel, like I’ve used @drostvideo,  add a description that summarizes the content of your channel, and you can also include up to 5 links on your YouTube channel banner.

For example, on my channel banner, I’ve got a link to a free e-course called “21 Days To Get Free Traffic“ I’ve added a link to my Facebook group called TubeVideoBootCamp. I’ve got a tip jar, a link to my Twitter account, and a subscribe link to my channel.

Keep in mind that the first sentence of your video description appears under your channel title. For example, mine says, “I’m passionate about helping small business owners generate traffic, leads and sales.“  If you correctly optimize your channel homepage, it’ll encourage first time viewers to subscribe to your channel,

5. Promote your videos.

After you’ve uploaded your video, promote your video on and off YouTube to get more subscribers.

Here are some other ways you can promote your video on YouTube.

• Add your video to a playlist so viewers will watch more than one video and stay longer on the YouTube platform.
  
• Link to the playlist or next best video to watch in the end screen or end card.
  
• You can also pin your next best video or the playlist to the top of your comments.
   
• Include the video link or playlist in the first three lines of your video description. 
  
• Use the community tab to notify viewers about your latest YouTube video.
  You can also use your community tab to post an image, add an image or text poll or quiz. The beauty of using the community tab is that you can schedule a post in advance so you can remain active between uploads.
• Click here to learn how to use the community tab.
  
• Upload a transcript of your video content.
  If you do this, it improves the probability of your video ranking on YouTube and Google.
  
• Edit your long form video into a short.
  When you do this, a link to your long form video will appear at the end of your shorts video. Click here to watch my video on how to edit a long form video into a short.

How can you promote your videos OFF YouTube? 

Click the share button under your video to share your videos on social media sites such as Tumblr, Pinterest, blogger, Twitter, LinkedIn, et cetera.

If you have a blog, you can embed your video in your blog. This will help your video get discovered in Google search, which is the largest search engine on the net.

Typically, I’ll extract a clip from a long form video and share it on Instagram and in my Facebook group at  TubeVideoBootCamp. This enables me to expose my content to an audience off YouTube and gain new subscribers. Keep in mind, most subscribers to my channel are gained weeks, months, or even years after uploading the videos.

6. Track your videos performance in YouTube analytics.

When you know which videos got the most views, subscribers, highest retention, and clickthrough rates, you can double down on those videos. If you approach the video topic from a different angle, there’s a high probability that video would do just as well.

How To View YouTube Analytics

• Click on the overview tab in YouTube analytics to look at the top videos in the last 28 days.
• Click the dropdown to look at the top videos in the last 90 days.
• Click on the content tab to see key moments for audience retention. You can see the intro, top moments, spikes and dips. You’ll also be able to see how viewers find your videos and here are the top traffic sources.
• If you click on the audience tab, you’ll be able to see videos that grow your audience, channels or audience watches, what your audience watches and formats your viewers watch on YouTube, as well as when your viewers are on YouTube.
• If you click on the research tab, you can explore what viewers are searching for on YouTube, so you can explore searches across YouTube, your viewers searches.
• You can also explore content gaps, which is a way of measuring what viewers are searching for and the results they find. If you’re stuck for video ideas, I highly recommend using the research tab in channel analytics.

Another way to track the performance of your videos is to use Click Magnet Tool from TubeBuddy.

7. BONUS TIPS to get more subscribers. 

• Increase upload frequency.
  If you’re already uploading once a week, increase your upload frequency to two times per week or add a livestream.
  
  Alternatively, you can upload shorts videos because they’re quick and easy to make and attract new subscribers.
  
• Collaborations. 
  This is a great way to expose your content to a different audience. You can do this by approaching creators that have similar channels with a similar size.
  
• Improve each new video you upload by 1%.
  For example, you can improve the click-through rate by creating a better thumbnail and title. You can improve audience retention by creating a better hook and linking to related videos. You can upload quality content by providing answers to the burning questions of your viewers.

After you’ve reached 500 subscribers, you’ll be able to monetize your YouTube channel by activating channel memberships, super chat, super stickers, super thanks, and YouTube shopping.

Just keep in mind, you won’t be able to earn ad revenue from your videos until you’ve reached 1000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours, or 1000 subscribers and 10 million valid public shorts views.

So after you’ve reached 500 subscribers, keep growing your channel, by implementing the points that are mentioned here or watch the video above.

If you want to make money from your new or small channel, but you don’t have 500 or a 1000 subscribers, watch this video for 10 ways to monetize YouTube channel without 1000 subscribers. You’ll be glad you did.

Discover my top strategies to get your first 500-1000 subscribers FAST, so you can join the YouTube Partner Program and start generating a passive income from your YouTube Channel
Click here for more info

Hey YouTube, are you there? 
How come you’re not answering? 

If you’re not a YouTube partner, you won’t be able to contact YouTube support through live chat or email.

So how can you contact YouTube support in 2023 when you have a specific problem with your channel video or want to ask a question? 

In the video below, I show you how to get help from YouTube, even if you’re not a YouTube partner. Later in the video, I’ll show you how to get live chat support or support via email, if you are already a YouTube partner. 

Get My New Shorts Course: Mastering YouTube Shorts: The Complete Guide
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4 ways to contact YouTube customer support, even if you’re not a YouTube partner. 

YouTube help center
YouTube help video channels
YouTube help community
Team YouTube Twitter handle.

YouTube Help Center
You can access the YouTube help center by going to support.google.com/youtube. Alternatively, you can go to youtube.com and click on the help link in the left hand column.

How to access help from the YouTube homepage

• Click help in the left hand column. 
  I’ve got popular help resources, delete or restore your photos and videos, Verify YouTube account, get help as YouTube user, replace or delete your video, change language or location, and visit the help forum.
• If you click Get Help as a YouTube user, it shows you the 4 options. YouTube help center, YouTube help video channels, YouTube help community, Team YouTube Twitter Handle, copyright questions and policy questions.
• Let’s go to the YouTube help center at support.google.com/youtube. Here you can describe your issue. I entered Impersonation, hit enter on the keyboard, and we got the impersonation policy, protecting your identity, how do I get my YouTube account unbanned, Why did my YouTube channel get deleted for no reason. So you’ve got all these particular resources that you can look at. Whatever issue you have, just enter it in the box here.

YouTube Help video channels

• Check out our YouTube viewers channel for videos that keep you up to date and help you how to learn to use our products.
• So if I click on that, Here’s the YouTube viewers video channel, so it’s got what’s new and how to, how to cue videos on your mobile device. Get started with YouTube kids, et cetera.
• If I click on videos, you can see all the latest videos.
• If I click on shorts, you see also latest shorts.
• Another official YouTube channel is the Creator Insider YouTube channel. Here you find the most recent how to videos to keep you up to date of the changes on YouTube.  For example, I’ve got the weekly YouTube newsflash, setting up your live shopping stream, stories are going away, introduction to live shopping, the YouTube algorithm, et cetera. If you click on shorts, you’ll be able to see the latest shorts from Creator Insider. .

YouTube Help Community

• It says, find answers in the YouTube Help Community powered by Team YouTube. This works similar to the YouTube help center where you can describe your issue in the box.
• YouTube says, posting in this form has been disabled. Over the next several months. YouTube community team is working on improvements.
• You can check out frequently asked questions, announcements, feature experiments about the contributors program, et cetera.
• We’ve also got trending posts, can’t access the YouTube notifications on the iOS app, can’t publish or process new uploads, or if it takes longer, users unable to access YouTube. It says the issue should be fixed. We’re still working on a fix, but in the meantime, most issues should be fixed by refreshing YouTube or by restarting the app. 

Team YouTube Twitter Handle.
I highly recommend this option if you’re not a YouTube partner because it gets you the best response. It says, follow us at Team YouTube on Twitter for real time updates, troubleshooting tips from the team that brings YouTube support.

Our support team replies to questions in English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and Behasa, whatever that is.

So if you have a specific question and you don’t have access to live chat support because you’re not a YouTube partner, go to team YouTube on Twitter.

If you follow team YouTube, you can ask a question by sending them a tweet. Just click on tweet. Then just enter your question. “How do I remove channels that are impersonating my channel?”  It says, your tweet was sent. Click view and here’s my tweet, and then I’ll wait for their reply. Team

YouTube replied, “we take this kind of stuff very seriously. If you think someone is violating YouTube’s policies for impersonation, follow these steps and we’ll try to get it resolved as soon as possible.” If I click on the link that YouTube sent me, it takes me to this page, “how to report inappropriate videos, channels, and other content on YouTube.” Then I just need to follow the instructions.

Send feedback

• Just click send feedback in the left hand column. 
• So it says, describe your feedback. Tell us what prompted this feedback.
• You can also send a screenshot. After you’ve filled out the form, just click send.

If you’re a member of the YouTube partner program...

You can get in touch with the YouTube creator support team via live chat and email. To be eligible for the YouTube partner program, you must have 1000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in the past 12 months, or 1000 subscribers and 10 million valid public short views in the last 90 days.

How to get live chat support if you’re a YouTube Partner

• Log in to your YouTube channel,
• click on your profile icon.
• Click on YouTube studio.
• Click on the icon that says, chat with creator Support. It says you’re number 1 in line. Thanks for your patience. My question is, how can I get Impersonators channels removed? 
  
  Here are the answers to my conversation.
  Thanks for patiently waiting. Content intended to impersonate a personal channel is not allowed on YouTube. YouTube also enforces trademark holder rights. When a channel or content in the channel causes confusion about the source of goods and services advertised, it may not be allowed. If you feel that your or another creator’s channel is being impersonated, you can report the channel by following the instructions here. And here is the url, how to report a video, Short, channel, et cetera. It says, I hope this helps a lot with your concern. I want to make sure we’ve got everything covered. Have we discussed everything you need to? 
  
  My answer
  I’ve reported a channel, but it was not removed what to do? 
  
  YouTube’s answer
  I see. If that’s the case, then it would be best to report the channel again. 
  
  My answer 
  Is there anything else I can do besides reporting numerous times? 
  
  YouTube’s answer
  Unfortunately, this is the best possible way we can provide for you at the knowledge. Other than that, you can always send us feedback with any suggestions you may have so that our engineers may look at it, may implement it in the future.
  
  If I click on this link, it takes you to Google’s send feedback form where you can report a YouTube issue.
  
  Here’s how YouTube uses the feedback.
  Your feedback goes directly to YouTube and we use it to troubleshoot issues, make product improvements, and fix problems. Video creators do not see any feedback that are sent through the Send Feedback tool. While we may not reply to every report, we’re reviewing and working to fix issues as fast as we can.

After you’ve entered your live chat conversation, you’ll get this message that says, do you want to end the chat? Just click end chat session. If you want a copy of your conversation with YouTube, just check the box that says Email conversation.

How to get email support.

There are 2 ways to get email creator support.
Help center
YouTube

How to access email creator support from the help center.

• Go to support.google.com/youtube and sign in.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says, need more help.
• Click contact us
• Enter what you need help with in the box.
• Click next.
• It says, choose the best description of your issue.
• I’m going to check other. Click next step. It gives me a bunch of resources that I can look into, such as the impersonation policy, get in touch with YouTube creator support team, protecting your identity, defamation, report inappropriate videos, channels, and other content.
• Click next step. I can select the chat option, or I can select email.
• Click email.
• Just fill out your name, your channel url, how YouTube can help you.
• Is your issue about a specific video? No.
• Is this request for verification? No.
• Please attach a file if it helps describe your issue
• Click “submit”. It says “your email has been sent. Thank you for submitting your request. A member of our team will be in touch soon.”

How to access email creator support from the help center.

• Log in to your YouTube channel.
• Click on your profile picture.
• Click help.
• Click contact us.
• Then just follow the prompts.

That’s all there is to it.

If you want to chat live with the YouTube Creator support Team. Just choose the live chat option.

Now you know all the ways that you can contact the YouTube customer support team.

What if someone’s impersonating your channel and stealing your videos? 
Watch this video on how to report a YouTube channel for impersonation and submit a copyright takedown request

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