YouTube has finally launched Shorts beta, an in-app camera for recording, editing, and posting TikTok-style videos, in the U.S. The rollout was announced on March 18 via the official 

“Starting today and over the next several weeks, we’ll gradually expand our Shorts beta to the U.S.,” YouTube Shorts Product Lead Todd Sherman writes. “We plan to introduce more features as we continue to build Shorts alongside creators and artists.”

The new features will help creators make better short-form videos. External audio, a text tool, and even Shorts monetization could be just around the corner for many creators.

Our first impression of this news mirrors what we’ve been saying all along. If you weren’t making Shorts before, now is a good time to start. These new Shorts features, which we discuss in the video below, confirm that short content is here to stay on YouTube.

This is it, creators. Shorts are about to get fancier, which means the competition around vertical, less-than-a-minute videos will be steep. Here’s what you need to know about the latest features heading your way.

YouTube is adding text controls to Shorts, and it's similar to what you’d see on TikTok or Instagram Stories. This is something most YouTube creators haven't used yet, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with it.

Text controls are an add-on to original Shorts tools (which Indian creators received in the first rollout), including:

2. Add Audio From Other Shorts to Your Shorts

Soon, you’ll be able to add external audio to your Shorts. That means you can sample sounds from other creators’ Shorts as you’re editing your own content in the Shorts camera.

This is a fresh, creative opportunity. YouTube has billions of videos, and you can use the audio from any one of them to put a creative spin on your content.

“trying your hand at a creator's latest recipe”

For now, creators can opt-out if they don’t want their videos to be remixed by others. Does that mean everyone is opted in by default and must remove themselves from video sharing if desired? Maybe so, but YouTube hasn’t clarified yet.

3. Add Songs From Major Music Labels to Your Shorts

In other copyright news, YouTube is making music from major labels and publishers available for Shorts use. The platform has strict guidelines around 

, so this feature may inspire some changes, especially if Shorts monetization becomes a thing. How will music copyright be treated going forward? Will there be a revenue split between YouTube, musicians, and video creators? We'll have to wait and see.

4. Seamless Viewing Experience For Shorts

YouTube wants to help viewers find more of what they enjoy via Shorts. In the coming weeks, you can expect new features for discovering music, video creators, and artists. If you’re a creator looking to get discovered, this news is for you.

On the YouTube homepage, there will be a row of content for Shorts, as shown below. 

Also, viewers will be able to swipe up to see one Short after another in some areas of the app. And YouTube is testing a Shorts mobile tab that supports one-tap viewing.

Additionally, music-based creation and listening will improve. If you hear a song you like while watching a Short, YouTube will help you find the full song or music video. There will also be a create button to make your own Short using that audio.

YouTube’s Shorts player is mostly good, especially as a carousel of short content. One thing it’s lacking, however, is a way to switch between watching short and long videos. That’s an update we’d love to see, especially for creators who make longer, more traditional videos.

5. YouTube Shorts Monetization Is a Strong Possibility

Are you ready to make money from Shorts? Well, we've got good news. YouTube recognizes the power of mobile content and is thinking about paying Shorts creators.

“Over the last three years, YouTube has paid out more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies," Sherman writes in the Shorts update blog. "We are deeply committed to supporting the next generation of mobile creators with Shorts, and are actively working on what monetization options will look like in the future.”

Still, Shorts monetization could be months away. The earliest we’d expect it is sometime near the end of 2021. When it does arrive, we’re wondering how YouTube will attribute Watch Time and subscribers earned from Shorts. Will it all go toward the 

requirements? Will there be a new monetization program for Shorts? It’s hard to predict what will happen next.

. Now that figure has doubled to more than 6.5 billion. That’s the equivalent of every person on the planet watching one Short each day.

This may be your last chance to earn some of those views before millions of U.S. creators do the same. Shorts have been 

, so if you’re interested, create and post your first Short today.

You can expect a seamless viewing experience, music from major labels, and in the distant future, perhaps Shorts monetization. 

These 5 YouTube Shorts Upgrades Will Help You Make Better Content

By now, plenty of creators know the value of YouTube Shorts. Creators with small audiences have posted vertical videos under 60 seconds, had that content featured on the Shorts carousel, and gained thousands of views and subscribers – sometimes in just three months.

Now that Shorts are a proven way to get discovered, how do you increase your views with each upload?

We’ve got one suggestion. Before you post anything, research different topics to see how many views they’re getting on YouTube. Use that information to 

, which is one that grabs the viewer’s attention and makes them watch in full. After that, it’s up to YouTube’s algorithm. As more people watch your Shorts, YouTube may place them on 

Topic research is the most important part, but it’s also time-consuming. Without the proper tools, you’d have to do countless YouTube searches and calculations to find viral opportunities.

Want to expedite the process? Use this one tool to get the data you need and increase Shorts views.

How to See the Most-Viewed Videos on YouTube

The secret to increasing Shorts views is simple. If you want the best chance of going viral, use the 

 tool. This digital gadget shows you the most-viewed videos on YouTube by genre or topic. After using it, you’ll know which videos are trending and whether it’s a good idea to capitalize on huge, cultural moments.

Here’s what the Most Viewed tool looks like:

A sort feature that shows results in three ways: total views, views per hour, and engagement.

A date range feature showing results over the last 48 hours, seven days, 30 days, or six months.

Lots of search filters. You can view videos by:

Want an in-depth tour of this tool? Watch our video tutorial for a visual rundown:

How to Get More Views on YouTube Shorts as a Small Creator

YouTube Shorts provide the biggest benefit for small, undiscovered channels. If you have less than 1,000 subscribers, here’s what you should do to increase Shorts views.

Returning to the Most Viewed tool, we’re going to run some topic searches in five simple steps:

 so you get results for as many videos as possible.

. YouTube advised creators to use this hashtag when Shorts were announced. This search term will show you brief, vertical videos instead of lengthy, horizontal ones.

After typing #Shorts, hit the spacebar and add your channel’s niche or a similar topic. That could be gardening, Minecraft, Bitcoin, seafood recipes, literally anything.

subscribers. This helps you find content from small creators getting lots of Shorts views.

. This lets you know how viral a video/video topic is.

When you run this search, be sure to do it multiple times while changing the date range. See which videos are getting the most views per hour within the past 48 hours, seven days, 30 days, and beyond. You can also experiment with the extra filters, such as video category, views, and views per hour.

This strategy shows you which Shorts people enjoy. So when you find videos with many views per hour, watch them in full. Dissect the visual elements and assess how entertaining the video is. Take notes on what you think interested viewers the most.

We’ve noticed that gaming videos become entertaining Shorts, so that’s worth looking into. If you’re a gaming creator, check out the views per hour on these Minecraft Shorts in the past seven days:

, getting 261.9 views per hour on a Minecraft Short. Considering the channel only has 363 subscribers, that’s a nice amount of views for a small creator.

And how about these results for the multiplayer game 

Here we have another small channel with 448 subscribers getting 1,000 views per hour on a Short.

How to Get Free Access to the Most-Viewed Videos Tool

So far, we’ve shown you how to research popular Shorts for any genre on YouTube. Now the only thing left to do is get the Most Viewed tool, run some searches, and use what you’ve discovered to increase Shorts views.

Getting the tool is quick and easy; simply 

 to download vidIQ for free. Your free download gives you limited access to the Most Viewed tool, but you'll need a Pro or Boost subscription to get full access.

Here’s how to find the tool on YouTube after you’ve downloaded vidIQ:

On the left navigation menu, scroll down and click 

That’s it! Now you can find viral Shorts opportunities. This tool will help you as you narrow down topics, post your first batch of Shorts, and get your YouTube channel discovered.

Did you know that YouTube Shorts get 3.5 billion views each day? Here’s how to snag some of those views as a small creator.

Do This One Thing to Increase YouTube Shorts Views

YouTube’s video editor has undergone some major changes. What used to be a limited tool is filled with features every creator needs, such as a tool for blurring faces, adding end cards, and choosing royalty-free music.

Now that the video editor seems to be complete, we can show you how to use each feature. Watch our tutorial below to get the full tour:

Need a quick way to bookmark this information? No problem. Scroll down to read the complete guide to YouTube’s video editor, then save this page for future reference.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to reach YouTube’s video editor:

Find the video you want to edit and hover your mouse over it. On the pop-up menu that appears, click the 

You’ll know you’re in the right place when you’ve reached this screen:

You can also reach the video editor from any watch page. To do that, click on one of your videos and watch it the traditional way. This means you’ll be able to see comments, your video’s description, and other suggested videos.

If you’re logged in as the channel owner, you’ll see two blue buttons below the video. Click the one that says 

 to reach the video details page, then select the video editor once again.

Basic Controls in the YouTube Video Editor

A good video editor has user-friendly controls. YouTube’s has six important ones you’ll likely need at some point:

 An area for scrubbing through the entire video, complete with a marker for clicking and dragging across the timeline.

 A tool for zooming in and out on the timeline so you can make accurate changes to the video.

 Allows you to speed up or slow down the video.

 Allows you to jump forward or backward in 10-second increments.

 A tool for erasing or reapplying certain changes to your video.

To quickly find each control, match the numbers above to the features below.

Here’s a routine task every creator needs to master. Follow the steps below to trim your YouTube videos of unwanted scenes:

Make your way to YouTube’s video editor (YouTube Studio > Content > Hover over the video > Pencil Icon > Editor).

Click the trim button to highlight the entire video, which will turn blue.

Use the gray video marker to scrub the timeline to the exact point you want to trim. Zoom in so you can see the sound waves and make an accurate selection.

Go to the beginning of the video, then click and drag the dark blue bar to the position of the gray marker. This part of the video will be grayed out and won’t play when you test the results.

Don’t worry about saving your changes just yet. In the next section, we’ll show you the most efficient way to do that.

Next up, we're going to do a split in the middle of a video and remove footage. This is a combination of splitting and trimming, and after we make those changes, we’ll show you the best way to save the video.

On the video timeline, drag your gray marker to the split point of your choice.

The gray marker should now be highlighted in blue. Drag the marker from the split point to create a split in the middle of the video. Everything that’s grayed will now be cut from the video. To cancel a split, click the X symbol above any of the gray areas.

When you’re done, follow the steps from the previous section to trim the video as you see fit. Click 

How to Save Editing Changes in the YouTube Editor

Before we go any further, we need to talk about saving your video. Here’s the best way to lock in your changes:

Instead of clicking the blue save button in the top right corner, click the three dots beside it.

This allows you to save the changes as a brand new video. If you simply click the Save button, YouTube will show the original, unedited video as it processes the changes for a few hours.

To get around this altogether, do your editing before you make a video public. If it's already public and you need to urgently change something, set it to private until the changes are applied.

How to Add Royalty-Free Music in the YouTube Editor

Unfortunately, you can’t add external audio or footage to the YouTube editor. That means last minute voice-overs or other sound effects will have to be added using a separate video editor, such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro.

 add royalty-free music. YouTube has an audio library that any creator can access from the video editor. The music is pretty nice, too!

Here’s how to add audio tracks to your video:

To the left of the video timeline, click the 

A panel of free music tracks will appear by default. You can scroll the list, listen to tracks, and perform searches. Click 

 to insert a song into the video timeline. For extra details about all the songs, click Audio Library.

When the music track is on your timeline, it shows up as a blue bar with three dots at the end. This is a menu you can click to remove the track or view its license, which explains whether you need to credit the artist in your video description.

Next to the three dots are mixing controls. Click the 

 and drag the slider to the appropriate position. By default, the music will completely replace the video’s original audio, so you need to adjust this setting to get a good mixture of the two.

To position the music track itself, simply click and drag it to the appropriate place on the timeline.

How to Blur Faces and Objects in YouTube Videos

Have you ever needed to blur something out of your video? Fortunately, YouTube has a tool for that in its video editor. You can do two types of blurs - one for faces and another for custom objects.

When you do a face blur, YouTube will scan the video for all of the faces it can detect. Then you’ll choose which faces to blur on an individual basis.

A custom blur allows you to place circular or rectangular blurs over different objects.

To access this part of the video editor, go to the timeline and click 

. The lettering is big, blue, and hard to miss. You’ll find it right below the timeline section for royalty-free audio tracks.

YouTube’s face blur will do most of the work for you. After it detects faces, and you select which ones to blur, you’re nearly done. For the custom blur, you’ll need to make more selections, such as whether to employ a circular or rectangular blur, plus motion tracking for certain objects.

We have a helpful blog post on this topic, so be sure to read it 

. If you need a visual tutorial, watch the video below to learn more about blurring in the YouTube video editor:

How to Add End Screens in the YouTube Video Editor

The video editor probably isn’t the best place to add end screens. If you go back to the video details page, there’s a dedicated end screen feature that’s less cluttered.

But if you want to add end screens in the YouTube video editor, the tools there work just fine. To add one, go to the video timeline and click the card icon. It’s right below the 

 feature we discussed in the previous section.

A pop-up will appear, allowing you to choose between promoting a:

The number of subscribers you have will determine how many of these options you can access. But in any case, you can only add four end screens to a video.

For each option, YouTube will guide you through the process for choosing the playlist, video, channel, etc., you want to promote. It’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t take much time.

Here are a few extra things to remember, though:

End screens run for a maximum of 20 seconds at the end of the video.

YouTube has templates to help you create an end screen layout for your videos. In the video editor, the template option is listed with the other promotion types above (video, playlist, etc.)

You can import end screens from previous videos.

End screens are great for suggesting content to your audience so you can get more views. And if you really want to wow your viewers, you can design something like what we have below – a nice layout where you can direct viewers to certain videos on your channel.

Need to quickly trim a video? Add royalty-free music to set the scene for your content? If so, you're going to need this guide to YouTube's new-and-improved video editor.

How to Use YouTube's Video Editor [2021 Update]

As a YouTube creator, you can learn a lot about your audience by regularly checking the comment section. You’ll discover a few things below each video, such as the number of total comments and how many likes/replies they’ve received. If you go beyond the numbers and read each comment, you’ll learn even more. 

Die-hard viewers often share video ideas and valuable feedback you need to see. The more you 

 and encourage their ideas, the tighter your community will become.

It’s incredible to see helpful suggestions of any kind, especially when you're just starting out. But did you know you can glean extra information from the hundreds of YouTube comments you receive?

What Creators Can Learn From YouTube Comments

On the YouTube mobile app, you’ll find more than a list of comments below each video. YouTube has upgraded the section to include helpful information about who comments on your content.

We don’t have a name for this feature yet (and perhaps YouTube doesn’t either), but here’s what the tool displays:

When the commenter subscribed to your channel.

How many subscribers the commenter has on their channel.

How the commenter interacts with you, such as how many comments they’ve posted on your channel and the likes/replies you’ve left on their comments.

Snippets of previous conversations with commenters, plus the option to jump to the video where each conversation occurred.

The commenter’s YouTube channel banner, which should communicate the creator’s niche (tech, gaming, cooking, beauty, etc.).

To learn more about the new comment feature and its valuable insights, watch our latest video, “Who Posts The Most YouTube Comments on Your Videos?”

How to Find Comment Insights on YouTube [New]

When you want to learn more about the viewers who comment on your videos, follow these steps:

Open the YouTube app on your mobile device.

Navigate to a public video you’ve uploaded, then scroll down to the comment section.

Find a comment/commenter you’d like to investigate. To the left of the comment, click on the channel icon beside the commenter’s name.

Next, you’ll see a screen filled with information about how the commenter interacts with you. It’ll contain everything we listed above, and here’s what the screen looks like:

This tool is filled with information, so be sure to check it out. Regardless of your subscriber count, these highly engaged viewers are worth getting to know!

Do you know who your most engaged viewers are? The ones who comment on most of your videos with encouragement and helpful tips? If not, here's how to find out.

Find Out Who Posts the Most Comments on Your YouTube Videos

. The video-segmenting feature, which allows users to click a timestamp and jump to any point in a video, now comes with a scrolling chapter list. This interactive panel is large, highly browseable, and appears on the right side of a YouTube video.

When you activate the feature, it looks something like this:

 and how to add them to the description of your YouTube videos. 

We also praised their ability to segment multi-layered topics, which helps your audience digest ‘how-to’ content or in-depth reviews. But a lesser-known benefit is how these timestamps can push your video to the top of Google search results. That’s an invaluable resource for growing on YouTube because seriously - who doesn’t want more views from the world’s largest search engine?

Every creator, especially those on YouTube’s competitive platform, deserves a slice of the SEO, video-segmenting pie. To claim yours, just keep reading.

How to Access the YouTube Chapters Upgrade

At first glance, you may overlook the new chapter upgrade because the tool is slightly hidden. To make sure you don’t miss it, follow these steps:

1. Find a YouTube video displaying chapters on its timeline.

 If you can't find one, just watch the video below. It’s our tutorial about how to access the video chapters upgrade, which of course, has several chapters to experiment with:

2. Click play, then navigate to a chapter by clicking any position on the video timeline.

 When you have one selected, the name of the chapter should appear below the video’s progress bar, as shown below.

3. Next to the chapter title, you should see a right-facing arrow.

 Click it to expand a large panel that lets you browse/select all the chapters in a video.

The good thing about this feature is that it’s completely retroactive. If you create timestamps for your existing videos, you'll start to see those upgraded video chapters appear.

On the YouTube mobile app, you get the same functionality. Simply tap on a chapter within the video player, and it will show a list of every chapter associated with the video.

YouTube Video Chapters: Do They Decrease Channel Watch Time?

When we talk about video chapters, we try to emphasize how valuable they are for introducing viewers to your content. Instead of pressing play on a video and wondering what it entails, your audience can essentially view an outline.

However, our viewers - the vidIQ community - always ask the same controversial question about video chapters. They want to know how video chapters affect a channel’s 

. After all, encouraging viewers to skip around to different points in a video cant be good for retention, can it?

Don’t spend too much time worrying about the numbers. 

Overall, video chapters are a small part of your YouTube channel’s success. They won’t make or break the journey, and the feature provides value for your viewers.

As an example, take a look at one of our top-performing tutorials, “

” This video has more than half a million views, and it has several video chapters throughout. To have reached such a high number, we’re not sacrificing as many views or Watch Time as one might think.

And remember, if your video segment gets recommended on Google search, that’s another reason to keep using video chapters. Those Googe displays consume a lot of real estate on a mobile screen, giving your video a better chance of being clicked on.

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

 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. 

And if you’re really serious about growing your channel, sign up for exclusive access to the 

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

Are you using timestamps to create video chapters? If not, YouTube just upgraded the feature so you may want to start.

Why You Should be Using YouTube Video Chapters

Phone numbers, passers-by, and license plate numbers are common things that often end up in YouTube video footage. But according to YouTube’s 

, certain types of sensitive information - even if recorded by mistake - are never OK to post on the platform.

If you need a reliable way to clear your video of anything that really shouldn't be there, YouTube is on top of the problem. 

To reduce the risk of identity theft and violation, the platform has created a tool for blurring objects and faces in creators’ videos. 

Best of all, the tool is free to use and easy to find in the YouTube Studio.

If you haven’t tried YouTube’s blur feature just yet, here’s everything you need to know to get started.

In the top right corner of YouTube, click on your profile icon and go to the YouTube Studio.

’. This will show you all of the uploaded content on your channel.

Mouse over the video you want to edit, then click the pencil icon to jump into that video.

The next thing you’ll see is a page titled ‘

’. On this screen, find the left navigation menu and click ‘

When the next page loads, you’ll see a video timeline. Go directly below this editor and click the link that says ‘

’. You should see two menu options appear, one to create a face blur and another for custom blurring.

For real-time guidance, watch our video tutorial on how to find this section of the YouTube Studio.

If you want to blur anything other than a face, your best option is to use YouTube’s custom blur tool. This feature allows you to place circular or rectangular blurs over different objects in a video.

Have you ever needed to blur a face or a logo in one of your YouTube videos? Here's a quick and easy guide on how to do just that in YouTube Studio

Posts tagged with "youtube tool"

These 5 YouTube Shorts Upgrades Will Help You Make Better Content

Lydia Sweatt

Do This One Thing to Increase YouTube Shorts Views

Lydia Sweatt

How to Use YouTube's Video Editor [2021 Update]

Lydia Sweatt

Find Out Who Posts the Most Comments on Your YouTube Videos

Lydia Sweatt

Why You Should be Using YouTube Video Chapters

Lydia Sweatt

How to Blur Anything You Need to in Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Use The Community Tab in YouTube Studio

Lydia Sweatt

25 vidIQ Tools You Need to Grow Your YouTube Channel NOW!

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Add Info Cards to Your YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How YouTube Can Help You Tackle Harassment and Bullying

Lydia Sweatt