When viewers come to your YouTube channel, they need a quick summary of who you are and what they can learn from you. The faster they discover those things, the more likely they'll be to watch your content, engage with it, and subscribe to your channel.

The best way to make sure that happens is by customizing your YouTube channel homepage. There are many features to experiment with, and depending on how you organize them, you can take your channel from novice to pro YouTuber - at least visually. A YouTube channel with these five assets is in a better position to get more views and subscribers:

A profile icon that looks good in a small, circular format

A featured playlist(s) section to showcase your topics/niche

A channel trailer that explains your content

Visually, those are the things you need to set yourself apart from the competition.

If you want to know how to set up these features, keep reading. We’ll walk you through the various steps of customizing your YouTube channel homepage - something every creator should learn how to do.

How to Find The YouTube Channel Customization Screen

Let’s start by customizing the layout of your YouTube channel homepage. You can make these changes and more in the YouTube Studio via the customization screen. Before you start tinkering with the settings, keep in mind that all changes affect your channel’s layout on both desktop and mobile.

Follow these steps to reach the customization screen:

From most YouTube desktop screens, click on your profile image in the top right corner and go to the YouTube Studio.

Go to the left menu panel and click ‘Customization’. Next, you should see a page that allows you to add a channel trailer, featured sections, featured channels, profile icon, channel banner, video watermark, an about section, channel links, and more.

Need a quick visual walkthrough? Watch our video tutorial about how to customize your YouTube channel:

The customization screen - and all the features mentioned above - is divided into three tabs. The layout tab helps you build the visual foundation of your channel. The branding tab is for adding specific styles, colors, and creating an overall design. And lastly, the basic info tab lets you add text and clickable links to your channel.

Be sure to hit ‘Publish’ in the top right corner of the screen when you’re finished editing. Otherwise, the changes won’t appear on your YouTube channel!

Adding a Trailer to Your YouTube Channel Homepage

Now that you’ve reached the customization screen, let’s take a look at the video spotlight feature. You can find it under the layout section, here:

This screen lets you add a trailer to your channel, which is a video that introduces you and your content. It automatically plays when a viewer arrives on your channel, so it’s a good thing to have on your homepage.

If you want to show different trailers to specific viewers, YouTube has some convenient options. For example, you can show one trailer to non-subscribers and a different trailer to people who’ve already subscribed.

To change either of these settings, mouse over the appropriate box below ‘Video spotlight’ and click the three dots to either remove or change the trailer, like this:

In the pop-up screen that appears, search your channel for the video you want to feature, select it, then publish the changes.

At this point, you may not have a suitable video for your channel trailer, and that’s OK. As soon as you’re ready, use these tips to create the best introductory video:

Keep it brief. Aim to make your video no longer than 45 seconds.

Include some B-roll of your best content as you introduce yourself.

Tell viewers who your content is for and why they should watch.

Inject as much personality into the video as you can.

How to Add, Edit, or Remove Featured Sections on YouTube

Below the video spotlight section is an area for featured content. When you want to quickly communicate your niche to viewers, you can add topic-based playlists or video collections to this section.

To start tinkering with this feature, return to the layout tab in the customization screen, then scroll down to ‘Feature sections’.

This will show you all the sections you’re currently displaying on your YouTube channel homepage. To reorder these, simply click and drag the three-lined icon next to any section up or down. To display a new section, go to the top right corner of the screen and click ‘Add Section’. A drop-down menu will appear with several featured content options, including recent uploads, popular uploads, live streams, and more.

For each section, you can click the three dots on the right to edit the content there. In some cases, it will allow you to change a playlist. But no matter what, you’ll always have the option to view or delete one, as shown below:

Want to create a featured section that encourages people to watch and subscribe? If so, keep these four important things in mind:

You can add a maximum of 10 sections to your YouTube channel homepage. Create as many as possible to summarize your channel for new viewers.

Create a playlist that shows viewers what type of content you make. On the vidIQ channel, our introductory playlist includes videos about how to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time on YouTube. That’s our niche!

Create a recent uploads playlist. It’ll help new visitors understand that they’ve landed on an active, consistent channel.

Write descriptions for your featured playlists. The text shows up in the featured section and adds more context to your video collections.

How to Customize YouTube’s Featured Channels Section [2021 Update]

Right now, the featured channels section appears on the right side of your YouTube channel homepage. It’s been there for years, but apparently, that’s going to change in 2021. Here’s the notification from YouTube explaining exactly what’s happening:

As you can see, YouTube is letting creators display featured channels in the same area as playlists and video collections. You can make the switch today if you want, so here’s how to make it happen:

Click ‘Add Section Now”, as shown in the screenshot above.

Next, a pop-up screen will appear. In the top right corner, type some brief, explanatory text that will become the title of your section.

Navigate to the search bar and type the name of any YouTube channel. Select the one you want to make it appear in your featured channels section.

Once you have a few channels in this section, you can click + drag each one to reorder the list. You can also remove channels from this section.

When you’re done, here’s what the new section will look like:

How to Add a YouTube Profile Picture and Channel Banner

Next, let’s explore YouTube channel branding. To see all your options, click the branding tab on YouTube’s customization screen. You should see a variety of settings for adding logos to different parts of your channel, which helps you build a reputation on YouTube.

We’ll start with the first item on the list, the YouTube channel profile picture. Adding one is simple - all you need to do is click the ‘Change’ or ‘Remove’ buttons on the customization screen to add a new image. This is the same process for adding a channel banner, which we’ll explain very soon.

Beyond that, there are a few things to keep in mind about YouTube profile pictures. Although you’re uploading a square image, it will be displayed on YouTube as a circular image. That means you’ll have to crop your profile picture using YouTube’s uploader, so don’t put important information in the corner of the image.

There are even more things to consider with your channel banner. First, it needs to fit the dimensions of three media types: TV, desktop, and mobile. When you upload a banner image, YouTube will show you how it looks on different devices. If you need to, you can click and drag the corners of the image to resize it.

Another thing to consider is how visually complex the image is. It’s best to keep it simple and communicate what your channel is about with minimal text, plus some breathing room in your design. 

As a side note, you can change both images - the profile picture and channel banner - by going to your homepage, mousing over either one, and clicking the camera icon.

 This will redirect you back to the customization page in the YouTube Studio.

How to Add Watermarks to Your YouTube Videos

The next branding feature is video watermarks. Enable this setting on your channel, and a small square image will be added to the bottom-right corner of your videos. It’s great for displaying your logo or serving as a call-to-action, encouraging viewers to mouse over the image, and subscribe to your channel.

That's why we recommend adding a subscription-style image rather than a logo. As an added bonus, 

 to download an image that works perfectly as a ‘subscribe now’ button. Use it as you please:

Adding a watermark to your videos is the same process as adding a profile picture or channel banner. While on the YouTube customization screen, click the branding tab, scroll to the watermark section, and click ‘Change’ or ‘Remove’.

Once you have your button, you can decide when (and how long) the watermark appears in your videos. We recommend having it visible the entire time, as that gives your viewers more opportunities to subscribe.

The basic information tab is our last stop when it comes to YouTube channel customization. For this section, we’ll start with something close to many creators' hearts: the name of your YouTube channel.

If your channel name is already the most epic thing ever, you might not need this section today. But if you ever want to change it in the future, the process is simple. While on the customization screen, click the branding tab then look below the ‘Channel name and description’ header. You should see your current channel name, as well as a pencil icon right beside it. Click that icon to type a new name, as shown below:

It’s easy to change your channel name, but you do have to bear in mind the impact it has on your Google accounts. If you have a personal YouTube account and you change your YouTube channel name, that can actually change your Google account name. However, if you have a brand YouTube account, changing the name of your channel doesn't impact your Google account.

We know that sounds really confusing. The topic requires more explaining than we can do here, so watch this video to get all the information you need:

How to Customize Your YouTube Channel’s ‘About’ Section

About a minute ago, while you were reading about YouTube channel names, you may have seen a screenshot showing vidIQ’s channel description. On the front end of YouTube, this is called the ‘About’ section. When viewers want more information about you and your content, they’ll head to this section to find the answers.

That’s why it’s important to speak directly to your target audience when writing your short bio. At the very least, you should:

Explain the value people gain from watching your content.

Include keywords related to your content.

When you’re finished writing your channel bio, go to the basic info tab and paste it in the text box below ‘Channel name and description’.

How to Add Links to Your YouTube Channel Banner

Did you know you can add a maximum of five links to your channel banner? You can use them to promote your website, social media profiles, online store, or other landing pages your audience might find useful.

No matter which links you decide to add, always remember that the first is super important. That’s because on desktop, only the first link includes text. Take a look at our channel banner links and how we draw attention to the most important one:

Underneath the basic info tab on the YouTube customization screen, you’ll see a header that reads ‘Links’. In this section, you can add, remove, and reorder the links in your channel banner as needed. These only appear on desktop; on mobile, links are buried deep in the about section.

How to Add a Contact Email to Your YouTube Channel

Want to collaborate with other creators? Collect inquiries from viewers? First, you’ll need to create and share an email address where people can reach you.

Don't use your YouTube account email as your channel’s contact email. 

This might present a backdoor entrance for hackers. Instead, create a separate email for YouTube inquiries.

When you’re ready to add an email address to your channel, head to the basic info tab. Scroll down to the ‘Contact info’ header and paste your email into the text box.

We hope you find this guide useful! At vidIQ, it’s our mission to educate you on your YouTube journey as you pursue a successful video-making career. If you want more content like this, be sure to subscribe to the 

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and get more views on YouTube then make sure to 

. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps to succeed.  ​ ​ ​

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel.

Your YouTube channel will either entice viewers or make them hit the back button on their browser. To get as many views and subscribers as possible, read these channel customization tips! 

How to Customize Your YouTube Channel

How do you get discovered on YouTube, especially as a new creator? In the past, we at vidIQ answered that question by saying, “Focus on your audience.” Whether it was posting evergreen how-to videos or addressing in-demand topics, we knew YouTube success came from answering viewers' search queries.

However, content aside, there are two best practices that creators have always been true about dominating YouTube. If a creator wanted to give the best viewing experience or profit from mid-roll advertisements, their videos had to be:

Months ago, YouTube introduced a new section in its app called 'Stories and Short Videos.' This shelf sits below any video you’re currently watching and only shows vertical videos of less than 60 seconds. 

We weren’t sure how that would affect YouTube, a platform that champions lengthy, landscape videos, so we ‘tested’ the shelf and shared our findings in a blog titled, “

Can You Get 1 Million YouTube Views By Making Short Videos?

” Our answer to that question was ‘maybe’ because to our dismay, the Stories and Short Videos shelf houses unpredictable content. Creators got thousands of views if their short video landed on the shelf, but there was no way to ‘make’ a video appear there using keywords, titles, or any kind of strategy.

Nonetheless, YouTube’s relationship with short video content is getting clearer. On September 14, the platform announced a new feature called 

, which lets creators upload videos of 15 seconds or less by segmenting clips, adding music, and incorporating special effects. Of course, you’ve heard of that before - it’s basically TikTok and Instagram Reels, except this time, it’s coming from the pioneer of online video.

watch our video explaining the feature and how it works.

Now that you have some background details, it’s time to take a closer look at YouTube’s newest, boldest feature. Here’s everything we know about YouTube Shorts and why you should test them on your channel.

Right now, YouTube Shorts is in beta mode. That means only select users, which for now happens to be YouTube’s Indian audience, can fully access the feature.

The rest of the world isn’t restricted from posting YouTube Shorts, though. The platform is letting all creators participate by adding the hashtag #Shorts to vertical videos of less than 60 seconds. Additionally, YouTube is 

 a section on its homepage to highlight videos created from the shorts camera, plus any vertical video up to 60 seconds uploaded to the platform.

By the way, those are important requirements to remember when making YouTube Shorts. 

Your video has to be vertical, less than 60 seconds, and include the hashtag #Shorts in the title/description.

We recently posted a #Shorts video on YouTube, and it’s a great template to use when you test the feature for the first time. Check it out below! You’ll discover how popular YouTuber 

 is using YouTube Shorts, plus tips for creating your own:

Essentially, YouTube Shorts is a new version of YouTube Stories. And on the homepage of the mobile app, YouTube already has a dedicated shelf for these stories. The only problem? It's restricted to creators with more than 10,000 subscribers. So hopefully, YouTube Shorts will give every creator a chance to excel at short-video making - if that’s where the platform is heading.

YouTube Shorts is a bold new feature, and we’re excited to see how it affects creators. Can they get more views in less time? Does it expose them to new audiences? These are the questions we want to answer, so let's investigate!

The same day YouTube Shorts was announced, we used the hashtag #Shorts to search YouTube for videos of less than 60 seconds. We wanted to see how many views these videos were getting and how many subscribers the channels posting them had. To do that, we typed ‘#Shorts’ in the search bar and filtered the results to show videos posted in the past 24 hours. Here’s what we found:

In the screenshot above, you’ll see a few channels testing the Shorts feature. 

y, a channel with 2k subscribers, used the hashtag #Shorts in both the title and description of its video. But unfortunately, the video only had 15 views, which isn’t great for a channel of that size.

Scrolling down, we spotted another channel with 5k subscribers testing Shorts. Their video had two views within 13 hours of uploading - even grimmer than Ninja Monkey’s results.

We kept scrolling and found more channels posting Shorts and getting almost no views. The only channel we could find that had any success was 

. This 112-subscriber channel got almost 400 views within 17 hours of uploading a Short. You can see this in the screenshot below:

That’s better than what we’ve seen, but not exactly mind-blowing.

This is all based on one day of data, which was the same day YouTube announced the Shorts feature. So of course, we know there’s more testing to do.

We Need More Research Around YouTube Shorts

I think it's clear now that YouTube wants to take a huge slice out of TikTok's pie when it comes to the short, vertical video market. But there’s just one problem. YouTube already established itself as a different video distribution platform. And the way they're implementing these new tools is confusing for creators.

What creators want to know is how to maximize these new tools as quickly as possible. Because in six to 12 months, everybody on YouTube will probably be making Shorts. By then, the window of opportunity to research, understand, and create quality Shorts that compete at a high level may have passed.

Adding to that concern, there are still many unknowns about YouTube Shorts, especially:

How to get your content seen on the shelves consistently

Should you create a Shorts channel to protect your main channel’s Watch Time?

Or should you post Shorts to your main channel and hope everything works out?

We don’t have the answers to these questions, so we’ll keep testing the feature. If we crack the case in the future, you’ll be the first to know!

Want To Learn More YouTube Tips and Tricks?

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ for more subscriber insights. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

Are YouTube Shorts the golden ticket to creator success? How do you even make one? Those are valid questions, so here’s everything you need to know about the new feature!

YouTube Shorts: What We Know About How They Work

There used to be a time when YouTube users could see the exact number of subscribers to a channel. Viewers and creators alike would log onto YouTube, see one definitive number, and instantly know where a creator was heading numerically.

And for a while, everyone was on the same page during this golden era. Live celebrations for reaching a massive subscriber count were the norm, and fans would tune in to watch the count go up and down in real-time: 999,982...999,999… then, bam! 1,000,000 subscribers.

This YouTube feature is now a thing of the past. Instead of displaying a number that constantly updates, channel pages get an abbreviated subscriber count, like this one:

YouTube made the change to only show abbreviated subscriber numbers 

in 2019 and originally, it caused some confusion. On the public side of YouTube, a channel’s subscriber count appeared as an abbreviated number. But in the YouTube dashboard, a totally different number would show up. 

We created a video around the topic so click below if you want to learn more:

So, which one is correct? Is it the public-facing number or the private one? Let’s take a deeper dive to find out.

Public Subscriber Counts vs. Private Subscriber Counts

 recently hit 40 million subscribers on his channel? He tweeted the good news on August 5, and around that time, we here at vidIQ were watching and waiting. We had no idea, however, that the process would give us such a headache. 

You see, we were screen recording just to capture that special, 40-million moment. Unfortunately, it wasn't until several hours later that MrBeast, according to the public YouTube subscriber count, actually hit that landmark.

We recorded the screen below for 18 hours before his 39 million subscribers became 40 million. True story.

Originally, we had a theory on why the update took so long. Here’s what we imagined:

1. On the public side of YouTube, viewers saw an abbreviated subscriber count for MrBeast, perhaps 39,000,000.
2. When the actual, unabbreviated subscriber count reached a significant number, such as 39,953,786, YouTube rounded up to the next abbreviated count: 40,000,000.

We don't have access to MrBeast's private dashboard so we can neither confirm nor deny this, but we do have the next best thing: our YouTube channel.

 displays 656,747 subscribers. That should be enough to round up to 657,000 subscribers, right?

Apparently not. We went to the channel homepage and discovered that YouTube doesn't round up public, abbreviated counts to match private YouTube Studio counts. So we disregarded that theory altogether.

Our next hypothesis sparked a different experiment. While logged into YouTube with the vidIQ account, our YouTuber-in-residence Rob Wilson set up a test channel with no content, three subscribers, and a lovely channel banner. Using the vidIQ account, he subscribed to the test channel and then updated this page:

In this instance, the subscriber count updated instantly to reflect the new sub and display a total of four subscribers:

But why did this happen? Why are we suddenly seeing an exact count instead of an abbreviation?

 abbreviate the count when a channel has under 1,000 subscribers. Take a look at this handy graph from the YouTube Help Center to learn more:

With this in mind, we returned to the test account to check the channel analytics dashboard. And still, it displayed three subscribers.

However, the vidIQ realtime stats bar at the top of the screen showed four subscribers. And if we tried to switch accounts, the figure in that menu option also reported four subscribers.

Why There’s a Difference In YouTube Subscriber Counts

To sum everything up, on the one hand, multiple sources showed the same subscriber number - even if abbreviated - for all users to see. On the other hand, the analytics dashboard shows a specific number only the creator can see.

To clarify things, we decided to ask YouTube why that is. Here’s what they said:

"The number of subscribers that you see in YouTube analytics is delayed by approximately 48 hours. Before we post the stats in analytics, we want to make sure they're 100% accurate, so we perform additional verification and spam reviews. That's why it takes a little longer."

Public subscriber counts will always be ahead of your channel analytics count, which is delayed

. I know that's really annoying, but it's nothing to worry about. It's just how YouTube works.

The funny thing is, this subscriber count setup has always been the standard. We just didn’t realize it because no one used to pay attention to the channel analytics count. Before the 2019 update, channel homepages showed the exact subscriber count, which was all anyone needed to know.

Nevertheless, YouTube’s delay in analytics reporting is a good thing. Most creators don’t want spam accounts, fake subscribers, and bots to sully their analytics, and YouTube is making sure of that.

But we do have one loose end to tie up. These two numbers - the channel page subscriber count and the YouTube API real-time subscriber count - come from the same source. So how did MrBeast tweet his 40-million subscriber milestone before it actually happened? Our theory is that, well... maybe he cheated and tweeted the news early.

Hey - he was going to reach 40 million subscribers anyway, right?

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and get more views on YouTube then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps to succeed. 

Is your YouTube channel homepage reporting one subscriber count while your analytics page reports another? Here’s why.





Why Your YouTube Subscriber Count Sometimes Looks Wrong

Did you know you can restrict certain ads so they don't run against your videos if you have monetized your channel? Many creators aren’t aware of this feature, but it comes in handy when you want to keep your channel controversy-free.

Right now, political campaigns and religious beliefs are two of the most heavily debated topics on the internet. There’s a 2020 presidential election approaching in the U.S., and year-round, religious debates float from one corner of the internet to the next. By blocking such ads, you can stop awkward, sometimes off-putting messages from reaching your viewers.

Want to restrict these ads right now? Here’s what you need to do.

How to Block Unwanted Ads on Your YouTube Videos

 account.
2. Once you’re in, select ‘Blocking Controls’ from the left menu.
3. In the expanded menu below ‘Blocking Controls’, click ‘YouTube Host’.
4. In the new page that opens, click the ‘Sensitive Categories’ block in the middle of the screen.
5. Next, you'll see a list of ad topics. Disable the ones you don’t want to see by switching the toggle button from ‘Allowed’ to ‘Blocked’.

Want a visual rundown of these instructions? Watch our video tutorial for helpful screenshots highlighting exactly where to click:

From drugs and supplements to get rich quick schemes, the list of ads you can block or allow is pretty long. Scroll to the bottom, and you’ll even see which ads may appear on YouTube videos that are already ad-restricted, such as alcohol and gambling.

If you want, you get really granular and block specific websites from advertising on your channel. To do that, return to the previous page and click ‘Advertiser URLs’ in the middle of the screen. From here, you can type in any URL and block ads that lead to those websites.

Lastly, you can restrict entire advertising categories on your channel. Simply return to the previous page, click ‘General Categories’, and explore all the topics you’d like to block. There are layers upon layers to choose from, so you have tons of customization options here. For example, you can click ‘Beauty & Personal Care’, and that brings up another list of topics to consider. You could end up disabling ads about deodorant, shaving cream, toothpaste, or whatever you’d like to eliminate, as shown below:

What to Consider Before Blocking YouTube Advertisers

As you explore your AdSense account, keep in mind that restricting or allowing certain ads is a balancing act. Of course, it makes sense to restrict advertisers when you don't like what they’re promoting. But at the same time, you don't want to under-monetize your videos to keep one advertiser away. Just remember to handle your selections with care!

In addition to that, here are some extra things to know:

- If you’ve joined a multichannel network (MCN), you may not be able to block ads via AdSense. Instead, contact the network directly.
- Be careful when blocking entire ad categories. You may accidentally restrict ads you’re perfectly happy with.
- If you decide to block an ad category, bookmark the AdSense website, and set a reminder to check those categories in a few months. You don’t want to lose tons of money by accident!

Placing ads on your videos may seem like an easy, innocent thing. However, we sometimes forget the consequences of this practice. We know ads can earn creators money, but in the long run, no one knows which ads will play. If you have strong ethical beliefs and don’t want to see these ads, do what you feel is right - even if that means turning them off.

Tired of seeing cringey political messages and other sensitive ads on your videos? Block them from your channel in five easy steps.

How to Block Unwanted Ads on Your YouTube Content

But before we talk about short videos of 60 seconds or less and how that could change YouTube forever, let’s do a quick test. To see if you have YouTube’s latest short-video feature, follow these steps:

Take out your phone and go to the YouTube app.

Watch any video, perhaps the first one you see.

Scroll down past the video description, comments, advertisements, and suggested videos. What do you notice?

Here at vidIQ, we’re seeing something we’ve never seen before on YouTube, and it looks something like this:

’, is YouTube’s way of testing short video on its app. Back in 2019, the platform announced the test on its support page, claiming it was “running an experiment to display vertical videos, under 30 seconds, alongside YouTube Stories on mobile.” And of course, YouTube would be “looking forward to feedback” about this new feature.

Well, we’ve had some time to test this new shelf, and yes, we do have some feedback! The feature is still new, but our early assessment is that it could drive video discovery. We’ve got tons of questions swirling around in our heads about this, such as, “

Can you get a million views if your short video appears on this shelf?

What’s the future of short video on YouTube?

Now that we’ve tested the feature, we have some answers and predictions to share. But before we do that, watch our latest video explaining YouTube’s short video shelf:’

First of all, let us explain why this new feature interests the experts at vidIQ. Typically, successful channels get most of their views from YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. This means the viewer doesn’t do any work to find new videos. Instead, YouTube is actively promoting more content to watch. As a creator, this is exactly what you want because it’s essentially free advertising.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. As we’ve always understood, having a high click-through rate and 

 on your video increases the chance of YouTube suggesting it to viewers. That’s the Playbook creators have lived by for over 15 years: make compelling, click-worthy thumbnails, and once users reach the video watch page, encourage them to stay for as long as possible.

But how do short videos factor into the equation? If YouTube is displaying those in a place where they get watched over and over again, does that translate to viral content? We don’t know the answer for sure, but already we’re seeing short videos with hundreds of thousands of views sitting on YouTube’s new shelf.

Shockingly, the channels posting these videos aren’t always large YouTube powerhouses. Some have less than 5,000 subscribers, which is interesting to say the least.

How Short Video Currently Works on YouTube

OK, let’s dive into the short video shelf itself. To quickly summarize, here’s what you can expect when it comes to short video on YouTube:

The 'Short Videos and Stories' shelf appears on Watch pages in the YouTube mobile app - usually after the first suggested video, which is prime real estate for suggested content.

Each video is vertical and 60 seconds or less in length.

The videos don’t have custom thumbnails and instead use a random freeze frame.

When you watch a short video, you're funneled into a TikTok-style play format that keeps moving onto the next video.

You can't rewind or fast forward, but you can scroll to the next video.

You can engage with short videos via comments, likes, and shares.

Any video can potentially appear on the shelf and earn a channel hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views.

Now, let’s clarify a few of these points. First of all, any video on the shelf displaying a video length is a full YouTube video, not a YouTube Story. You can tell the difference between the two by looking at the control icons. 

Have you seen anything new on YouTube lately? Perhaps a brand new shelf for short videos under 60 seconds? We definitely have, so... let’s investigate!

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

How to Customize Your YouTube Channel

YouTube Shorts: What We Know About How They Work

Why Your YouTube Subscriber Count Sometimes Looks Wrong

How to Block Unwanted Ads on Your YouTube Content

Can You Get 1 Million YouTube Views By Making Short Videos?

YouTube Kids App: 6 Things Creators Should Know

How to Make Money as a 'Made For Kids' YouTube Channel

Make More Money on YouTube With Channel Memberships

How YouTube Can Help You Tackle Harassment and Bullying

YouTube Premium: An Extra Way For Creators to Make Money

Why Online Harassment May Be Even More Devastating Than We Thought

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video