YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform in the world, with over 122 million daily active users. Most use it to expand their online profiles, grow their brand, and market their products. Others use it simply to watch videos to learn or entertain themselves.
Regardless of your purpose for visiting the platform, there’s no harm in learning a few YouTube tips and tricks. We’ve prepared a list for you to read below with helpful advice when using YouTube.
1. Take Advantage of Keyboard Shortcuts
Most people don’t realize that they can control videos using keyboard shortcuts on the platform. Some keys allow you to control the volume of the video you’re watching and even its playback speed. Some shortcuts allow you to scrub a video without lifting your hand to move the mouse.
You can even skip to the next frame using certain keys if you want to capture a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the video. These shortcuts bring a ton of convenience, enhancing your experience when using YouTube.
2. Get Links to Specific Timestamps
Do you want to share a specific moment in a video with your friends? You can do that by sending a link that leads to a specific timestamp on the video. Do this by clicking “Share” and filling out the “Start at” box with the timestamp you have in mind.
Doing this means your peers don’t have to sit through the content and preamble at the beginning of the video. It’s a great hack to use if your friends prefer you get to the point.
3. Pull Transcripts From Videos
Did you know you can pull transcripts from videos? It’s a great way to quote a video or see what the dialogue is if you can’t understand it. You can do this by clicking the kebab menu at the bottom right of every YouTube video, next to the “Save” button.
4. Create GIFs From Videos
YouTube technology has come a long way and now allows you to create a GIF from a video. Doing this is as simple as adding the word “gif” to the video’s URL.
Remember that you can only make GIFs up to 20 seconds long. These also don’t have sound, so make sure your GIF doesn’t rely on the video’s audio to make sense.
5. Make Branded YouTube URLs
Do you want to make YouTube help you expand your brand? One simple way of doing so is by registering an account and making branded YouTube URLs. YouTube allows its creators to create custom URLs to become instantly recognizable to their audience.
It’s also a great way to cement your brand online. YouTube has prerequisites, though, like having 100 subscribers and a 30-day-old account. This makes it a great way to grow an established brand so long as you already made an account beforehand.
6. Write Custom Closed Captions
If you want your videos to reach more people, customize your captions. YouTube autogenerates closed captions for all videos uploaded on the platform. However, they only generate English captions and are often inaccurate.
Typing out captions yourself ensures the accuracy of the text. Doing so also improves your video’s discoverability.
YouTube enjoys recommending videos with closed captions because they’re more accessible. Deaf users or those who are hard of hearing won’t have a problem understanding your videos with this.
7. Enhance Engagement With Cards
YouTube allows creators to enhance their content by adding cards throughout their videos. These are intuitive, interactable areas in the video that lead watchers to different websites, polls, or other content creators.
You can put up to five cards in one video, with most placing them at the end. Content creators often use them to promote their other videos and entice viewers to subscribe. Custom subscribe buttons that lead to auto-subscribe URLs are more effective at this.
8. Curate Videos to Fit Playlists
If you want your audience to lean back and enjoy your videos, create playlists for them. Doing this makes it so viewers need not search for the next video on their own. It encourages them to watch more of your content, increasing your channel’s views.
Playlists can also become collaborative tools. Invite other content creators to add their videos to your playlists, too. Doing this introduces their audience to your content, and vice versa, expanding viewership.
9. Be Consistent With Uploads
One way to become a successful YouTuber is by consistently uploading videos. An active YouTube channel has a chance of getting more views per video. YouTube also pushes videos from active channels to viewers, making it more likely you grow your brand on the platform.
If you don’t have time to publish videos every day, you can schedule uploads instead. Tons of programs on the Internet can help you do this. It’s easy for your channel to be consistent with daily uploads this way.
These programs only work if your country doesn’t block YouTube, though. However, there’s still a way for you to bypass these blocks. You only need a YouTube unblocker and you’re good.
10. Block Words for Community Friendliness
Do you want to set a certain culture for your community? It’s easy to do this by blocking certain words. By doing so, commenters can’t leave comments with the words you’ve listed in your community.
It’s a great way to keep everything family-friendly in your comment sections. You avoid comments with slurs, vulgar language, and even controversial topics with this.
11. Use Trends for Video Ideas
Are you having trouble with video ideas? It’s a common case among content creators, often leading to low-quality videos. One way to beat the mental block is by looking up what’s trending.
You’re sure to make a video out of what’s hot on the Internet. By doing so, you also increase the chances of going viral, expanding your relevance over the web.
Use These YouTube Tips and Tricks Today
You need not miss out on what YouTube offers simply because you’re unfamiliar with the platform. Use these YouTube tips and tricks and familiarize yourself with the largest video media sharing platform in the world. Grow your brand or keep yourself entertained today!
Do you want to learn more about YouTube and other websites on the Internet? We offer more than this guide to YouTube for beginners. Check out the rest of our guides and learn a thing or two now!
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