This short (see image below), currently ranks #1 on YouTube and has gotten over 75,000 views since it was published and still gets over 283 views every 48 hours.

Notice how my custom shorts thumbnail stands out from all the other shorts thumbnails. It’s also currently ranked on the first page of Google for “how to trim videos on your iPhone or iPad without an app”.

In the video below, I’ll show you how to choose a frame for your Shorts thumbnail when uploading it from your phone using the YouTube app. You’ll also learn how to add text and filters to your Shorts thumbnail after uploading it to YouTube. Later, we’ll look at the best practices of using this tool and how YouTube plans to improve it.

How to Select A Frame for Your Custoim Shorts Thumbnail

• Tap the YouTube app,
• tap the plus sign.
• Select short from the bottom menu.
• Tap add to add the shorts video from your phone.
• Select your video.
• Tap the check mark.
• Caption or title your short. “How to trim a video on your iPhone or iPad without an app.”
• Tap the pencil icon on top left hand corner to select the frame from your shorts video.
• Slide your finger along the bottom to select the frame.
• Add text, emojis and filters by tapping the icons on the thumbnail.
• Tap the text icon.
• Type your text.
• You can change the font by tapping at the top.
• You can add some background to it,
• you can also align it to the left or right.
• If you want to change the color, just tap on the colors, red, green, et cetera.
• If you want to enlarge the text, just move the slider up to enlarge it or move it down to shrink it.
• When you’ve finished adding the text, tap done.
• If you want to add a filter, tap the filter icon. You’ve got all these ones down here.
• I chose the “pop” filter so the colors pop
• When you’ve finished adding the filter, tap the check mark.
• If you want to remove the text, tap the text icon again.
• Tap on the text,
• tap the X on the keyboard
• tap done.
• When you’re happy with the thumbnail, tap the check mark.
• Select your visibility…public, unlisted, or private. I’m gonna select unlisted for now.
• Tap the back arrow,
• tap upload Short. It says, “now uploading to your videos, see video”
• Now you can see the videos uploading and being processed.
• If I tap shorts, then I can see my new shorts video with the custom shorts thumbnail.

Your custom shorts thumbnails will appear on YouTube Search, your channel pages, and even on hashtag pages.

Keep in mind, most viewers will discover YouTube shorts in the shorts feed while scrolling the YouTube app on their phones.

They won’t see your custom shorts thumbnail.

Most viewers found my shorts via external traffic source, which is mostly Google search.

My second highest traffic source was YouTube search, and my third highest traffic source was the shorts feed. Therefore, it makes sense to upload a custom shorts thumbnail so it stands out in the search engines and differentiates your thumbnail from your competitors.

If you go to your video details page and look under thumbnail, it says
“you can change the thumbnail on the YouTube mobile app”.

Currently, you can only edit your Shorts thumbnail after uploading it via the YouTube app. You can’t upload a Shorts thumbnail or customize it by selecting a frame using a desktop computer.

My recommendation is to design a Shorts thumbnail, then add it to your Shorts video during the creation process. You can then select that frame after you’ve uploaded it to YouTube.

Here’s what YouTube says about future improvements.

“Although Shorts thumbnails don’t display in the shorts feed where the majority of views come from, the goal of these features is to give creators more aesthetic control over their short across devices and shelves like home, subs and channel pages.

As a reminder, short thumbnails will only show on search, hashtag and audio pivot pages and on your channels. We’re exploring bringing additional functionality to shorts thumbnails next year, and we’re curious to better understand what you’d like. So leave us your thoughts in the comments. Specificity is appreciated.”

If you want to learn how to create clickable thumbnails that capture the attention of your viewers, watch this video right now titled “How to Create YouTube Thumbnails Viewers Can’t Ignore“

Are your thumbnails struggling to get clicks? 
You’re putting in the effort, but the views just aren’t coming in.

Today, I’m going to break down why your thumbnails aren’t working,
and more importantly, how to fix them fast.

Let’s get into it!

Cluttered Design

When your thumbnails are packed with too many words, images or graphics, viewers won’t know where to focus and they’ll click right past your video. You can fix this by simplifying your design.

Focus on a single clear focal point, whether it’s a face, product or action shot, and keep the text minimal. Limit your design to three main elements like a face, object and an arrow. This helps viewers quickly understand the thumbnails message.

Ignoring Contrast & Color

Colors that blend into each other aren’t going to grab anyone’s attention. Use bright contrasting colors that make your thumbnail pop.

For example, in this thumbnail I use the background gradient colors of purple and blue, so it stands out from my competitors.

Notice how I circle the text “Hindu Dubbed” in this video on “how to reach global audiences with YouTube dubbing”. By circling the text, it immediately draws viewers’ eyes to the thumbnail and makes them curious to want to find out the solutions.

Tiny or Hard To Read Text

Keep in mind, most viewers are viewing your thumbnails on a mobile device. Therefore, if they can’t see the text, they’re going to instantly click away. Stick with bold, simple fonts and keep the text large enough so it stands out on small screens. Also, don’t include too many words in your thumbnail because it’ll just look cluttered. Only include a maximum of up to three words, and sometimes you can even make a thumbnail without words.

For example, this video is titled “Five Surprising Mistakes, killing Your Audience Retention. How to Fix” The Words On the Thumbnail, say, “Fix It Now”, so it makes viewers curious to want to click and watch a video to find out the surprising mistakes.

Here’s a thumbnail that doesn’t use any text, but I use a red arrow to draw viewers’ attention to the object in the thumbnail.

Using Low Quality Images

If the images in your thumbnail are blurry or pixelated, it looks unprofessional and will turn viewers away. To fix this, always use high resolution images so your images are crisp and clean. I always design my thumbnails with a image size of 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high, and with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch. The minimal thumbnail image size to use on YouTube is 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels high.

For example, Peter McKinnon uses high contrast and vibrant photography. These closeup shots and dramatic lighting help capture viewers’ attention and convey professionalism.

Lack of Emotional Appeal

Emotions are processed faster than rational thought. Therefore, make a thumbnail that evokes an emotional response so it instantly connects with the viewers causing it to click.

One way to do this is to include your face in a thumbnail. It could be smiling or surprised. Displaying these kind of emotions in your thumbnail can help trigger viewer engagement.

Tell A Story

Designing thumbnails that tell a story is a powerful way to capture your viewer’s attention and entice them to click and watch your video.

Here’s a thumbnail I used for a video on how to hack proof your YouTube channel. By just including the one word “HACKED” in the thumbnail, it motivates viewers to want to click and watch the video.

Here’s a thumbnail I used for a video titled “How I ranked a video on the first page of YouTube for multiple keywords” Showing how the number of views increased on my thumbnail,  makes viewers curious to want to find out the solution.

Here’s a thumbnail I used for a video on “how to find hidden content gaps on YouTube” Including the text HIDDEN CONTENT with a red arrow pointing down between two mountainsides makes you as curious to want to check out the content. 

In this video from Mr. Beast titled “Men and Woman Survive the Wilderness for $500,000,”  the thumbnail tells a story comparing men and woman. Doesn’t the thumbnail make you curious to want to hear his story?

Misleading Thumbnails

Creating misleading thumbnails may be good for clickbait, but will hurt your channel in the long run. If you promise something outrageous or incredible in your thumbnail that’s unrelated to the content in your video, it’ll be a big let down for your viewers.

Misleading thumbnails are the classic bait and switch tactic. They might get the click once, but will turn off your viewers to want to keep coming back for more of your content. Make sure your thumbnail is a true reflection of your video content so when they click on the thumbnail, they’ll get the content they deserve. Try to capture the most interesting moment in your video and use that in your thumbnail.

No Focal Point

If you don’t have a single focal point on your thumbnail, it’ll make it more difficult for your viewers to take action. Decide on an eye-catching element such as a face or product, and build a thumbnail around it.

For example, in this thumbnail from Marcus Brownley, the focal point is the Dyson product that he’s holding up to his ear. Adding an arrow and having a contrasting background immediately draws your attention to the product.

In this video from Mr. Beast titled “I Survived 50 Hours in Antarctica”, he uses bold and contrasting colors to draw viewers attention to the thumbnail. Obviously, the main focal point in the thumbnail is himself because he’s the main character in the video.

Not Optimized For Mobile Viewing

Most creators, including myself, designed the thumbnails on a large computer screen, however, when a viewer views that thumbnail on a small device, it can look very different.

Before you upload your new thumbnail, make sure the elements on the thumbnail are clear and readable on a smaller screen so the text and images are not lost.

For example, I used large bold text on this thumbnail, so it not only can easily be viewed on a computer, but also on a smaller screen like a phone.

Inconsistent Branding

If your thumbnails don’t have a recognizable style, viewers won’t connect them to your channel. For example, on my channel, I always include my face in the thumbnail, so viewers immediately recognize which channel it comes from, even if they view the thumbnail in the search engines, suggested videos, or on the home screen.

Try to develop a consistent style across all the thumbnails on your channel. Use similar fonts, colors, and design elements for all your thumbnails. This will help build your brand and make your videos instantly recognizable.

If you rely on a single thumbnail design, it can limit the potential of your video. For example, when I first started my channel, I created thumbnail designs that I thought were great, but were actually horrible because they didn’t win the click. I kept using the same designs, then wondered why I didn’t see an increase in traffic to my videos.

Albert Einstein said:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” 

That was exactly what I was doing. 

When I changed the design of my thumbnails from thiS, to this (see image below), I saw a huge increase in traffic to my videos. I also used the a/b thumbnail testing feature from TubeBuddy to see which thumbnail resonated best with my audience.

You can now use the free. test and compare thumbnail tool from YouTube to test up to 3 different designs for your videos.

Watch this video right now to learn how to MASTER YouTube’s
Test and Compare thumbnail feature in minutes.

You’ll be glad you did!

Do you want to maximize the views to your videos? 

In the video below, you’ll learn how to master YouTube’s test and compare  feature in minutes.

Here’s what you’ll learn…
How it works,
The eligibility requirements,
How to use it to get the best results
How to read the test results
Pros and cons of using the thumbnail test and compare feature.

How It Works
– Click on content in YouTube studio
– select the video that you wish to test.
Testing is only available for public long form videos and the testing begins once you publish the video. 
– Hover over your thumbnail, then click on options. 
– Select test and compare. You can  upload up to 3 images to learn which one viewers prefer.

YouTube will show you 3 thumbnails evenly across your videos audience, then select your winning thumbnail, based on which one generates the most watch time share.

Here are my 3 images for this video. YouTube will see which thumbnail performs the best.
Wait up to 2 weeks for the results. 

Viewers will see the winning thumbnail because YouTube automatically updates your video when the test is done.

Later, I’ll show you the test results and the pros and cons of using this test and compare feature.

What if you don’t have the feature yet? 
Here are the eligibility requirements to use the test and compare feature.

• It’s currently only available on computers through the YouTube studio, so you can’t use it for Shorts thumbnails.
  
• You need to enable advanced features to be eligible.
  
  Here’s how to check if you have advanced features enabled.
  – Click on settings,
  – click on channel,
  – click on feature eligibility.
  Make sure you have advanced features enabled.
  
  Here are all the options you get with advanced features,
  including test and compare different thumbnails.
  
  – You can test thumbnails on public long form videos and even podcasts.
  – You cannot test thumbnails if your videos are made for kids, mature audiences or are set to private, therefore, make sure your videos are set to public to use this feature.
  – When your test results are ready, they’ll be available in your YouTube studio.
  
  You can view them by going to your content page, then selecting the video where you’ve run the test. Hover over the details page. Hover over the 3 dots that are on your thumbnail where it says options. Click on that. Click “view test report”.
  
  You can also view your results in analytics.
  
  – Click on analytics,
  – click on the reach tab and here are your thumbnail test results.
  – I could redo the test by uploading 3 different thumbnails or just choose the
  best thumbnail that I think performs the best.
  – Keep in mind, you can test a new video or run the test on an existing video. It’s up to you.

Here’s my test and compare report that tested these 3 different thumbnails.

• Thumbnail 1 got 32.4%, watch time share.
• Thumbnail 2 got 45% watch time share,
• Thumbnail 3 got 22.6 watch time share.
  Because the test results were so close to each other, YouTube says the test finished
  without a conclusive result, so they chose the first thumbnail.

If there’s a statistically significant result, you see the winner label, YouTube will
automatically update your video to this winner.

If you see a preferred label, it means results were not statistically significant, but there was a thumbnail that performed slightly better.

If there’s no clear winner out of the 3 thumbnails that you’ve uploaded to your video, as in my case, YouTube will select the first thumbnail and show it to your audience.

The winning results may take up to a few days or 2 weeks to be finalized.

How’s the winning thumbnail selected? 
YouTube selects the thumbnail that generated the highest share of your videos watch time. Watch time refers to how long your viewers were engaged on your video. The longer the better.

Why didn’t my video have a clear winner? 
Here are 3 reasons why YouTube didn’t select a clear winner.

• There was minimal difference between thumbnails. There was not much difference in design between the 3 thumbnails, so there’s not a measurable impact on the video performance. To remedy this, upload thumbnails that have very different designs. For example, you can upload a thumbnail with a face and one without a face.
  
  You can also try different backgrounds and colors. 
  
• Not enough impressions. If your video doesn’t generate a sufficient amount of impressions, then you may not receive a clear winner. If it gets a higher number of views, it’s more likely that a winner will be selected.

Why is watch time share used? 
A great thumbnail doesn’t just get viewers to click. It also helps viewers understand what the video is about so they can make an informed decision about what to watch. When selecting a thumbnail based upon watch time share, the winning thumbnail gets viewers to both click and to stay to watch the video.

Pros & Cons of Thumbnail Test & Compare Tool

Pro 
Free and as available to all creators.
Con
It takes longer to upload 3 different thumbnails.

Pro
YouTube will select a winning thumbnail.

Cons
If your video doesn’t get a high number of impressions, YouTube won’t select a clear winner.
If the designs are similar across all 3 thumbnails, you may not get a clear winner.

Pro
Easily upload thumbnails from your computer.

Cons
This feature is currently only available on computers through YouTube Studio.
You cannot test thumbnails on videos that are set made for kids, mature audiences, or set to private. 

Pro
The more your thumbnails differ or get a high number of impressions, the faster your thumbnail test will finish.

Con 
The winning results may take a few days or up to two weeks to be finalized.

Pro
Evaluating winning thumbnails by watch time share will best support creators growth. 

Con
3rd party tools like TubeBuddy often optimize solely for click-through rate, which may determine a different winning thumbnail than measuring for watch time share.

My recommendation

• Use this test and compare feature from YouTube since it’s free and available to everyone.
• When you upload 3 thumbnails that have different designs. YouTube will select the winning thumbnail that’s generated the highest share of video watch time. 
• By selecting the thumbnail based upon watch time share, your winning thumbnail is the one that gets viewers to click and to stay and watch your video.

Watch this video on “5 game changing tips that will increase your click-through rate: #3 will shock you!

In the video below, I’m going to show you 10 ways that Mr. Beast, who has the number one channel on YouTube and almost 300 million subscribers, keeps viewers watching his videos and gets over 80% audience retention rate.

His latest video is titled, “I Built 100 Houses and Gave Them Away”, and it currently has 68 million views at the time of recording this content. As you can see, most of his videos get over 150 million views within a few weeks.

How does Mr Beast keep viewers watching? 

Start with a strong hook
If 70% of your viewers or more are still watching your video in the first 30 seconds, there’s a high probability they’ll watch the rest of the video. Here’s an example from Mr. Beast’s video.

“In this video, we are building and giving away 100 houses”.

When you make your next video, start with a strong hook, such as asking a question, making a bold statement or teasing about what’s coming up later in the video,

Emotional Connection
Mr. Beast makes an emotional connection with the audience by telling a story of how he gave away a hundred houses to very poor people in poor countries. This was their reaction.

“Take off your blindfolds and turn around. Behind you is your brand new Home” .

Try to make an emotional connection with your audience by telling your own personal story related to the content of your video.

Preview what’s coming up later
If you preview what’s coming up later in your video, it’ll motivate viewers to keep watching the video to find out the answers. Here’s an example from Mr. Beast’s Video.

“With every single home we’re building in this video, we’re improving quality of life for families who don’t have a safe space to call home, and we spent millions of dollars just on this video building these houses”.

One of the easiest ways to preview what’s coming up later in your video is to create a listicle video. For example, you could list the main points that are going to be covered later in the video.

Use Cliffhangers
A cliffhanger is a situation or part of a play or movie that is very exciting or frightening because you are left for a long time not knowing what will happen next. Here’s an example of how Mr. Beast uses a cliffhanger in his video to keep viewers engaged.

“You are about to witness a family that lives in this house go to living in this house, and I cannot wait to see the look on their faces”.

Think about how you can include a cliffhanger in your own videos so it’ll motivate viewers to keep watching the video. Here’s another example of a cliffhanger used in Mr. Beast video,

“While walking through their new home, we realized they didn’t even know their house was free yet. Oh, you haven’t told ’em it’s free. No, no. Yeah, tell ’em it’s free.”

Add curiosity hooks
Curiosity Hooks are similar to the Strong Hook used in the first 30 seconds of your video, but you can use them throughout your video such as this example from Mr. Beast.

“But of course, this was just the beginning. We were able to build home after home for families in Jamaica, and we weren’t going to stop until we had built 100 houses”.

One way to add a curiosity hook in your own videos is to tease a valuable insight or solution, such as “By the end of this video, you’ll learn one trick that professionals use to engage their audience.” 

Include a subplot
A plot contains the essential elements of a story, whereas a subplot contains extra elements that add interest and depth. Here’s an example clip from Mr. Beast’s Video.

“Come over here. I have something way better than just a picture. Can you ask him if he wants to play football with me?

Yeah.

Well, that’s convenient because not only are we giving this community houses, but we’re also giving them this giant soccer field.” 

Mr Beast includes multiple subplots throughout his video to maintain viewer’s interest. I’ll   place a link to his video in the description.

Keep viewers surprised
If you keep stacking value in the video by keeping them surprised, it will inspire them to keep watching, such as in this example,

“And this got me thinking. While giving away all these houses, I noticed a lot of people were struggling with transportation and I’m gonna solve it with this truck. Open it up. We’ve got bicycles for every single kid in this village.”

Think about how you can include a surprise factor in your video so you can wow your audience.

Higher Purpose
This is what Mr. Beast says on the about page on his channel…

“I give away money because it makes me happy”. Instead of keeping the millions of dollars he makes from his YouTube channel for himself, he gives it away by helping others.”

Do you have a higher purpose for your own videos rather than just making them for yourself? 

Impactful Ending
How you finish presenting your content will determine if viewers will stay watching a video to the end as shown in this example from Mr. Beast

“And finally, house 100, take your blindfolds off and look at your new home”.

You probably won’t be able to create as high impact as Mr. Beast within your own videos because he has a whole team working for him and uses high production graphics

“I say used to because a tornado destroyed it.”

You can add a strong ending to your video by encouraging viewers to watch a related video. This will increase your viewing session on YouTube, which increases the probability of your video being recommended by YouTube.

Connect with viewers
YouTube is a social media platform, so it’s important to connect with your viewers in your videos so you can keep them engaged and keep them coming back for more of your content. Here’s how Mr. Beast. does it.

“Shout out to you guys because obviously if you didn’t watch these videos, we wouldn’t have been able to build a hundred houses, and if the channel continues to grow, I hope to do a thousand in the future.”

Here are the 10 ways Mr. Beast keeps viewers watching his videos and gets over 80% audience retention rate.

Watch this video for “5 surprising mistakes, killing your retention rate and how to fix it.” 

61% of viewers are still watching this video around the 30 second mark, which is above typical.

How did I achieve that? 

If over 60% of your viewers are still watching your video after 60 seconds, there’s a higher probability they’ll keep watching your video all the way through.

Here are 5 tips to make your YouTube Videos more engaging

1. Strong Hook

Some of the ways you can use a strong hook at the beginning of your video is by…
– asking a question
– making a bold statement
– teasing about what’s coming up later in the video
– telling a story.

Here’s an example of a strong hook where over 61% of the viewers were still watching after 30 seconds.

“When I first upload a video, it often only gets a few views, but a few days later, the views skyrocket due to ranking in browse features. How does this happen?”

Use curiosity hooks throughout your video
For example, you could ask a provocative question, such as, “Have you ever wondered why some videos go viral while others don’t?” 

You could present a surprising statistic such as, “Did you know that 80% of people never finished the videos they started watching…here’s how to keep your viewers hooked” 

You can also tease a valuable insight or solution such as “By the end of this video, you’ll learn one trick that professionals use to engage their audience.” 

2. Use Visuals

No one wants to watch a boring video, so if you reset the attention of your viewers every 20 seconds or so using visuals, it helps keep them engaged. You can use pattern interrupts such as props, graphics, transitions, change camera angles, or change scenes.

3. Study Audience Retention Graph

If you click on the engagement tab for an individual video in YouTube analytics, you will see the key moments for audience retention.

• You’ve got the intro where people are still watching around the 30 second mark.
• You’ve got the top moments where viewers are watching for longer than usual. 
• Spikes appear when more viewers are watching, rewatching or sharing moments of your video.
• Dips in your video means viewers are abandoning or skipping certain parts of your video.

When you make your next video, try to eliminate the dips and get more spikes. Ideally, you want to keep viewers engaged all the way through your video.

How to view the key moments for audience retention for the videos
on your channel over the last 365 days. 

• Click on analytics in YouTube studio.
• Under the content tab, select videos.
• Scroll down to where it says “Key moments for audience retention.
• It’s got above typical intros and below typical intros.
• On the right, you’ve got the intro, top moments, spikes and dips.
• If you click on “top moments”, it’ll show the videos with the top moments for audience retention.
• If I click on spikes, it shows my top video with the largest spikes.
• If I click on dips, it’ll show all the videos that got dips for audience retention.
• I can also see how viewers find my videos and also the top videos on my channel that got the most traffic.

When you study audience  retention data in YouTube analytics, you’ll be able to identify what needs to be improved and what needs to be rejected so you can make a better video in the future.

4. Engage with your viewers while they’re watching your content

When you engage with your viewers while they’re watching the content, it’ll help you make your content more interactive.

For example, you can ask a question in your video, “What method do you use to keep viewers engaged…let me know on the comments below?” 

You can also encourage real time interactions, such as “If you find this video helpful, hit the like button and share it with your friends” 

You can also respond to viewers’ comments. For instance, “Last week I asked you about the best camera settings… here’s my answer” 

5. Storytelling

When you include stories in your video, it helps make a deeper connection with your audience.

For example, here’s how I use visual storytelling to make a video on 5 powerful ways to film a cinematic biking video.

“Recently, I biked the Kaikoura Coastal Trail on the east coast of the south island of New Zealand. It takes you along the coast, through native bush, along rivers and across back country roads while giving you picturesque views of the mountains. Watch this video to the end to learn 5 powerful ways on how to film a cinematic biking video as a solo creator.” I’ll include a link to this video in the description.”

What if you can’t break through your creative blocks to find fresh, creative video ideas? 
Watch this video right now for “10 creative ways to find inspiration for your next YouTube video”.

Do you struggle to create new videos that your audience is interested in? 

The new inspiration tab, formerly called the research tab, can help you think of new video ideas your viewers want to watch.

It’ll also save you time by creating an outline for your next video.

Let me show you how to get to the inspiration tab and how it works.

• Click on analytics after you’ve logged into your YouTube channel,
• Click on inspiration. You’ll see…
  get ideas for your next video,
  what people are looking for,
  new ideas to inspire you
  make a short.

Later, I’ll show you how to access the inspiration tab from your phone.

Let’s look at “Get Ideas for your next video”.
Enter a search term under “Get Ideas for your next video.
I entered “YouTube Algorithm”.
Hit return on your Computer.
Under YouTube algorithm, it says “Your viewer’s interest in related topics in the last 28 days”.
If I click the heart symbol, it’ll show me similar topics on my feed.
If I click the 3 dots, I can save the topic, not interested, report or get help.
Under similar ideas, I’ve got..
– how to optimize your videos for search engine rankings,
– tips for optimizing your videos for the algorithm,

If I click refresh, I get even more similar ideas.
If I scroll down, it shows what type of videos people are watching for this particular keyword phrase.
If I click “show all”, it’ll show all the videos that people are currently watching for that particular topic.
If I click on videos, it’ll show all the videos that people are currently watching based upon the keyword phrase “YouTube algorithm”.

For example, this video from Think Media has currently 62,000 views.
This video from VideoIQ currently has 3.7 million views.

Instead of copying the title and content for any of these videos, come up with your own title and content, so your video is unique and stands out from your competitors.

For example, here’s a couple of videos I created on the YouTube algorithm that currently rank on the first page of Google.

If I click on Shorts under the what people are watching then I can see all the top shorts videos for that particular keyword  phrase…. “YouTube algorithm”.

For example, this shorts video made three years ago has 3.4 million views, whereas this video made six months ago has 2.3 million views. I can then study all the top shorts videos to get inspiration for my own shorts video. It also shows me the top searches for this topic, how to break YouTube algorithm, how to check YouTube algorithm, how the YouTube algorithm works.

If I click show all, I’ve got all the top searches for this topic. If I click “content gaps”, it’ll show me topics that I can make new videos on.

What do content gaps mean? 

A content gap happens when viewers can’t find enough quality search results on YouTube for that particular search. You can use content gaps as inspiration for content that doesn’t exist or needs to be improved. A content gap happens when viewers can’t find any results for their searches, they can’t find an exact match for their searches, they can’t find relevant videos for their searches because the videos are too old or of low quality.

The create outline feature included in the inspiration tab can help you quickly generate an outline for your next video. Keep in mind the outline feature on the inspiration tab can only be accessed from a computer, not from mobile devices.

Here’s how the “Create Outline” feature works.

• Enter a topic in the search bar. 
• I entered get more views on YouTube.
• If you want to create an outline, just click create outline,
• Here’s a quick outline,
  – 3 ways to check YouTube video SEO.
  – Check your videos title, description and  tags.
  – Learn how to improve your YouTube video SEO.
  – Get more views on YouTube videos.
  – Improve your YouTube channel rankings.
  – Learn how to use YouTube SEO to grow your channel.
• Copy the outlines so you can use it for your next video.

Keep in mind, this is AI generated content, so it’s going to vary in quality, but I highly recommend adding a personal touch to make it unique.

Here’s how to get to the inspiration tab from your phone

• Tap the YouTube studio app, tap analytics.
• You’ve got Explore Topics, top searches, recent videos, and content gaps for Shorts.
• Enter your search topic. 
• Under “Get more YouTube views” I’ve got recent audience activity, searched on YouTube and watched on YouTube.

If you need more ways to find fresh, creative ideas to overcome your creative blocks, watch this video on titled “10 Creative Ways to Find Inspiration For Your Next YouTube Video”

Are YouTube Short’s worth it?

I wanted to see what would happen if I uploaded a Short every day for 30 days then pass on what I learned to my audience.

In the video below, I show you the strategy I used, the results I got, and what I learned after 30 days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix86Xczw0ZY

My Shorts Strategy

First, I chose a topic that my audience was interested in. In this case I chose the YouTube Algorithm. If I enter YouTube algorithm in the YouTube search bar, I get a bunch of suggestions.

YouTube algorithm 2024,
YouTube algorithm explained.

If I place _ YouTube algorithm, I then get all the other keyword phrases such as
how YouTube algorithm works,
how to reset the YouTube algorithm,
how to beat the YouTube algorithm,
how to get your videos in the YouTube algorithm,
how the YouTube algorithm works in 2024.
These are all keyword phrases people are entering into YouTube search to find out the answers.

My Shorts strategy is that I can target one keyword phrase and provide the answer in the video. I also checked out what people are searching for on Google related to the YouTube algorithm.

If I enter YouTube algorithm in Google search. Under “people also ask“, it says,
What is the algorithm for YouTube,
How to trigger the YouTube algorithm,
How do you ace the YouTube algorithm,
How to control the YouTube algorithm.

If I scroll down to related searches. I get…
YouTube algorithm for views,
YouTube algorithm for shorts,
YouTube algorithm change,
YouTube algorithm for money.

Here are the titles of some of the shorts I created….
How to beat the YouTube algorithm in 2024,
YouTube Shorts Algorithm versus Longform algorithm.
How does the YouTube shorts algorithm work 2024,
What determines which videos show up in YouTube shorts,
Does the YouTube algorithm ever give up on your videos

Primarily I target how-to topics to increase the probability of my shorts videos being discovered in YouTube search and Google search.

The idea of focusing on one topic, the YouTube algorithm, means that I could create a series of videos based upon that topic.

Another idea I had of creating a short series was to test out different video ideas. So even though my main topic was YouTube algorithm, I also created shorts videos related to the YouTube algorithm, such as..
How do you attract views as a small YouTube channel,
How does YouTube choose which videos to promote,
How to find your target audience on YouTube 2024,
How to get YouTube to recommend your shorts,
How does the YouTube recommendation algorithm work,
Why do YouTube Shorts views suddenly drop, YouTube suggested videos algorithm.

My video structure started off with a strong hook, such as asking a question, making a bold statement, then delivering the content and ending with a strong call to action, such as subscribing to the channel. Most of the shorts were between 30 to 60 seconds at length that I filmed and edited myself.

After filming and editing the video, I’d upload it to Kapwing, an online video editor to add captions and create a transcript.

The reason for adding captions on YouTube shorts is that when people are scrolling their phones using the YouTube app, they’ll be able to read the captions on the video. I made sure that the first caption of my shorts video contained the title of my video, such as “How to Reset the YouTube algorithm on the phone.”

By doing this, I can select the first frame as a custom thumbnail when uploading my video using the YouTube app on my phone. The strategy behind doing this is that when the thumbnails appear in YouTube and Google search, viewers immediately would know what the video is about. The thumbnails would also stand out from the competition.

The reason behind creating a transcript of the video content is that I can place that transcript in the description below my video. This improves the chances of my content getting picked up by YouTube and Google and appearing on YouTube and Google search.

My thinking about encouraging viewers to subscribe at the end of the video was that it would increase my subscriber rate for my channel. Now you know what strategy I used for uploading shorts daily for 30 days. Let’s look the results.

My Shorts Results

Here are my shorts results after uploading Shorts videos daily for 30 days. Fortunately, I can study the data in YouTube analytics.

• Log in to YouTube studio and click on analytics.
• Under the content tab, click on shorts.
• Here I’ve got the last 28 days, so let’s change that to 30 days.
• Click the dropdown,
• Click custom. I’m going to select May 1st to May 30th when I stopped.

I received over 30,000 views in 30 days from YouTube shorts on my channel. Some of those views came from existing shorts on my channel. 35,000 were shown in the feed, I got 496 likes and gained 67 subscribers.

Under how viewers found my shorts, 46% was external, 29% from the shorts feed, and 16% from YouTube search.

If I click on external, it shows that 70% of external traffic came from Google search.

Under “how many chose to view”, 45.8% were viewed versus 54.2% swiped away.

Viewed versus swiped away gauges the percentage of times that viewers watch your shorts instead of swiping away from them. You can also see the top shorts that got the most traffic from my channel.

If I click on “See More”, I can see the number of impressions, impressions, clickthrough rate, views, average view duration, and watch time hours.

Let’s select another metric. If I want to add more metrics to the table, just click the plus sign. Under reach, I can select “shown in feed”. This is how many times content was shown in the shorts feed 35,377 times.

Total views accumulated was over 30,000 views.
Watch time hours 241 hours.
Subscribers 67,
Estimated revenue. this is pretty dismal $1.79.
Average view Duration about 30 seconds.
Impressions about 93,000 Impressions
Impressions click through rate around 3.8%.

Let’s select another metric. Click on the plus sign. Click on new viewers. I received over 25,000 new viewers.

Lets select returning viewers. Returning viewers, only 1,352.

So you can see that Shorts mostly attracts new viewers rather than returning viewers.

Let’s look at subscribers gained versus subscribers lost.
I lost 5 subscribers in 30 days and gained 72 new subscribers.

What I Learned After 30 Days after uploading shorts daily for 30 days

I discovered that most shorts did well in the first 24 to 48 hours of Upload and then they flatlined. This is because YouTube exposed your content to a small targeted audience, then if that audience is no longer interested in your content, it won’t spread it to a larger audience.

Shorts videos that received the most views contained questions in the titles such as…
“Why do YouTube Shorts Views Suddenly Drop”
“How does video performance affect the YouTube algorithm”
“Why the YouTube shorts algorithm sucks”
“How to beat the YouTube algorithm. 2024”.

I also discovered that uploading shorts videos didn’t affect my longform videos. In fact, you can link a shorts video to a longform video used related links.

I also discovered that shorts reach a different audience, mostly non-subscribers. This means you can reach an audience that doesn’t normally watch your long form videos.

I also noticed that my current subscribers didn’t receive any notifications when I uploaded a new short probably ’cause they’re not scrolling on their phones with the YouTube app.

Another thing I learned about shorts is that it’s a great way to test new ideas for your channel. In my case, I focused on one major topic, then made a shorts video answering a frequently asked question on that topic.

Shorts videos can also appear in Google search and get a ton of traffic. For example, a majority of views from shorts on my channel come from external source, which is mostly Google search.

For example, this shorts video has gotten over 52,000 views since it was published and still gets 167 views every 48 hours. As you can see, it’s currently ranked at the top of Google search. It’s also ranked at the top of YouTube search under shorts.

Keep in mind, most shorts videos won’t appear in Google search until weeks, months, or even years later. If they remain ranked on YouTube and Google search, you’ll receive evergreen traffic year after year.

Disadvantages Of Shorts

One big disadvantage of uploading shorts is that you don’t make a lot of money. For example, after uploading shorts videos daily for 30 days, I only made a total of $1.69.

Another disadvantage is that you can no longer place live links in the description of your shorts video.

So Are YouTube Shorts Worth It?
Not for generating a lot of revenue, but great for testing out new ideas on your channel. It’s also a great way to educate your audience by giving them quick tips.

The success of your shorts videos will depend on your strategy. If you don’t have a good understanding of what your target audience likes to watch, it’ll be like throwing mud at a wall.

My recommendation is to test out uploading shorts to your channel to see how your audience responds.

Do YouTube shorts get more views than long form videos?
Watch this video right now titled “YouTube Shorts versus YouTube video, which gets more views?”

Affiliate marketing is the fastest and easiest way to start making money on YouTube. For example, I’ve made over $14,000 in lifetime commissions promoting the TubeBuddy affiliate program.

In the video below, you’ll learn the top benefits of promoting affiliate products on YouTube, how to choose relevant products, the types of content to create, where to include your affiliate links, and how to optimize and promote your videos.

Top Benefits Of Promoting Affiliate Products On YouTube

It’s easy and cost nothing to get started.
You don’t have to become a YouTube partner. You don’t have to create a product, and you don’t have to create the marketing materials. All you have to do is sign up for an affiliate program for a product that you wish to promote on YouTube, then you get the affiliate link, which you can promote in the description of your video. 

Saves time.
As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to spend hours creating your own product or creating the marketing materials to promote the product. The company that is offering their products to promote by affiliates, will often contain marketing materials such as banners, email swipe files, et cetera. For example, TubeBuddy has banners such as this one to help you promote their product.

Earn Passive Income.
The way affiliate marketing works on YouTube is that you first select the product that you wish to promote. You sign up for the affiliate program, and you place the affiliate link in the description below your video. When a viewer purchases the product through your affiliate link, you receive a 50% or higher commission. For example, if your video continually ranks on the first page of YouTube and Google, you receive Evergreen commissions. If you promote multiple affiliate products on YouTube, you’ll increase your earnings and won’t have to rely on AdSense income.

Massive Audience Reach.
YouTube has over 2 billion active users and attracts a wide range of age groups, demographics and interests that allow you to target specific segments effectively. It also allows you to host all your videos for free and you can actively engage with your viewers. Another huge benefit of YouTube is that it’s the second largest search engine after Google. This means if you optimize your videos with relevant keywords to improve visibility, your video can appear in the YouTube and Google search results. If your video continually ranks on the first page of YouTube and Google, you can receive Evergreen revenue for years to come.

How To Find Relevant Products To Promote

The easiest and fastest way to find a relevant product to promote is to choose a product that you already own. For example, I use TubeBuddy’s keyword research tool to discover topics that people are entering into the YouTube search engines. I also use TubeBuddy every day to manage my channel. Therefore, it makes sense to become an affiliate of TubeBuddy.

Other popular affiliate programs include the Amazon Associates program, ClickBank, and individual brand affiliate programs.

For example, I use the GoPro action camera to capture the stunning landscapes while hiking the trails in Mount Cook National Park, South Island of New Zealand. If I go to my Amazon Associates account and type in GoPro, I can get the affiliate link for the GoPro action camera. At the top, it says “Get Link”, so if I click on text, here’s my Amazon affiliate link to promote the GoPro action camera and receive commissions for every sale.

My recommendation is to look for affiliate programs that offer good commissions and have high quality products. Ideally, choose products that align with your niche and that your audience finds interesting and useful. Avoid products that won’t be helpful to your audience.

Types Of Content To Create

Here are the 4 types of content you can use to promote your affiliate product.

Product reviews.
This could be a product you already own or use, or a product that a company wishes for you to review. When reviewing a product, talk about the pros and cons based upon your personal experience. Here’s a clip of a product review video I did for the best wireless microphone for a laptop or phone.

“You can use these 2 microphones to get high quality audio from your DSLR or mirrorless camera, conduct interviews with 2 people, live stream from your laptop computer, or vlog from your phone.” 

Tutorials and how-tos. 
Viewers love it when you can show how the product works. When you’re promoting your affiliate product, show how you’re using the product, its benefits and practical applications.

“”Now I’ve got one mic, the smart mic light clipped to my shirt and the Smart mic plus plugged into my Canon M50 camera. So I can be close to the camera or I can even be far away”.

End your video with a strong call to action telling viewers to check out the link in the description.

Unboxing videos.
You can make unboxing videos to show the product’s packaging, initial impressions and setup process. Here’s a video clip of me demonstrating the switch pod. “I’m excited to bring you the SwitchPod. In my opinion, it’s the best travel tripod for 2020. 

Comparison videos.
When you compare two different products within the same category, it helps your audience make an informed decision. Here’s a video clip of a product view video I made comparing the toner TRC 777 USB microphone with the blue Snowball USB microphone.

“Here’s what the microphone sounds like when I’m really close to it. Here’s how it sounds. If I’m really close to the mic, let me know in the comments below which mic you prefer the to mic or the blue snowball mic?”

How To Add Affiliate Links On YouTube

There are 3 ways to add affiliate links to YouTube videos. Description box.

1. The best place is to include a live affiliate link in the first three lines of your video description. When viewers are watching the video, they’ll easily be able to see the link below the video and be able to click on it to make a purchase. 
   
2. Use onscreen adaptations. 
   During your video or at the end of the video, you can direct viewers to click the link in the description. For example, in this video when I talked about a TubeBuddy keyword research tool, I directed viewers to the link in the video description. 
   
3. Pinned comments.
   YouTube gives you ability to pin a comment to the top of your comments to make your affiliate links more visible to viewers when they scroll through the comments. Just make sure you use the full URL to make a live link so when viewers click on it, they’ll be taken directly to that product page.

“Hey, Herman, does YouTube allow live affiliate links on YouTube Shorts?’ 

Thanks for asking. YouTube no longer allows live links in the video description of YouTube shorts, however, you can add a related link that links to a long form video.“

Watch this video to learn how to link shorts directly to your long form videos using related links. So you could do a short review of your affiliate product using YouTube shorts, then link to the full review using a related link.

Optimize Your Video To Increase Visibility

If you want to increase the visibility of a video on YouTube and Google so you can get more views and make more sales, it makes sense to optimize it. To do this, include the name of your affiliate product in your title, description, tags, so it’ll rank higher in the search engines.

Create eye-catching thumbnails to increase your click-through rates. If your thumbnail stands out from your competitor’s thumbnails when they first see it in the search engines on the YouTube homepage on suggested videos, there’s more likely they’ll click on it and watch your video. Make sure you use contrasting colors, bold text and add a curiosity factor.

How To Promote Your Videos

Engage with the viewers in the comments.
YouTube is a social media platform, so viewers will often leave comments under your video to start a conversation. Sometimes they’ll even ask follow up questions concerning your product so you can continue the conversation.

Track your video performance. 
Use the analytics provided by your affiliate program to track clicks, conversions, and commissions. You can then adjust your strategy based upon the performance data to maximize your earnings. You can also track the performance of your video in YouTube analytics.

For example, if you click on the reach tab in YouTube analytics, you’ll be able to see how viewers find this video, impressions and how they led to watch time, external sites or apps, YouTube search terms and content suggesting this video.

If you click on the engagement tab, you’ll be able to see audience retention such as…
– the key moments for audience retention,
– how many viewers are still watching around the 30 second mark,
– top moments when your viewers watch for longer than usual,
– where spikes occur when more viewers are watching, 
– rewatching or sharing moments of a video.
– You’ll also be able to see the dips, which means viewers are abandoning or skipping certain parts of your video.

When you make tweaks to your next video, based upon the data you studied in your previous video in YouTube analytics, you’ll be able to improve your sales.

Promote Your Videos OFF YouTube

If you want to expose your video to a wider audience than just YouTube, share it on other social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etcetera. You may even generate some extra sales.

If you have a website or blog, embed your video in the blog post to receive additional traffic. For example, here’s a review of TubeBuddy that I posted on my blog. Creating an optimized blog post increases the chances of your video getting discovered in Google search, as well as your blog post.

If you follow all the steps I outlined in this video, you can effectively use affiliate marketing on YouTube to generate a decent income. Just keep in mind that successful affiliate marketing requires constant effort in building a connection with your audience.

Do you want to know my proven strategies to make your bank account grow even while you’re sleeping? Watch this video right now on “how I make money on YouTube while sleeping and earn more with less effort”