Best Practices for YouTube Shorts

• The Perfect Video Recipe Condensed:

As with any other video, you need to hook the attention of viewers on YouTube Shorts in the first second or two.Get right to the point, keep their attention throughout, and make them want more.

• Use the Tools:

The availability of music is one of the reasons this format has taken off, so consider using the trending songs that YouTube provides for Shorts. Also, the special effects and text tools will level-up your Shorts to make them more compelling and entertaining.

• Consistency and Volume:

It’s easy to create content on YouTube Shorts, but consistency and volume are the name of the game. A whole lot of creators are uploading a lot of content, so you need to make sure you’re uploading, too. If you want to connect with an audience, your uploading needs to be consistent.

Since this is still a new format, the algorithm is trying to figure out which videos to recommend, so the more Shorts you put out there, the more opportunities you have that one of them will break out. Think of it this way: the more times a batter is up to bat, the more likely it is that he will hit a home run.

• Your Main Channel or a New Channel?

It’s a good question. Should YouTube Shorts be part of your main channel, or should it be a second channel? It all depends on your goals. If you have the time to manage it, creating a second channel could be smart. Lisa Nguyen is a foodie creator with an existing channel who started a second channel on YouTube Shorts. By uploading to the second channel consistently, with two to five clips a day, she quickly gained a million subscribers and half-a-billion views in six months. In turn, her main food channel also gained additional viewers and grew. This is a great approach for established creators, but if you’re new and don’t yet have a big audience, it’s probably better to keep your Shorts on your main channel.

However, if you’re worried about Shorts disrupting your regular content schedule and the format your audience is used to, consider making it a second channel.

The fact is, YouTube Shorts is going to continue growing over the next decade. It’s almost certainly the biggest new opportunity on the platform, so while it may not become the primary part of your YouTube strategy, it would be a mistake to ignore it.