We know you’re focused on growing a regular YouTube channel, but what about a Shorts-only channel? So far, Shorts creators are attracting millions of subscribers. And, they’re going viral with less than 60 seconds of content.

How This YouTube Creator Got 1.5 Billion Views In Just 80 Days

 about how he gained a million subscribers on his Minecraft Shorts channel. His recipe for success is simple: Commit to a content style that’s working, and never give up.

Of course, there’s more to the story. Here are seven practical tips to grow a YouTube Shorts channel.

1. Determine How Long Your Shorts Need to Be

A YouTube Short can be a maximum of 60 seconds, or 59 if you count the extra second YouTube adds to every video. But that doesn’t mean you should use the full minute. If you can 

Below, notice how most videos on Block Facts' channel are 27 seconds. He tells viewers what they need to know in that short period, and it's working for him.

Answer these two questions to make your Shorts the right length:

Did I make my point or should I keep going?

Is there any “dead air” I can cut or eliminate?

2. Make Valuable Shorts That Entertain or Inform

You can create a variety of content with YouTube Shorts. Some people dance to music, play with pets, or produce funny skits. Others share their expertise by showing viewers how to do something in less than 60 seconds.

make sure the video is valuable for the viewer.

YouTube Success: 3 Steps to Create Valuable, Highly-Watched Videos

Block Facts uses this strategy for every Short, and the video below is a great example. In it, he shares facts about furnaces in Minecraft, which is useful information for those who play the game. The video has more than 2 million views.

3. Create Custom Thumbnails for Your Shorts

If you’re familiar with how Shorts work, we know what you might be thinking: “If viewers are watching from the Shorts shelf – a display area that plays vertical videos non-stop – 

why should I create thumbnails for Shorts?

 They don't show up in that area anyway.”

That’s true. But did you know that Shorts are also watched as regular YouTube videos? You can view them on a normal watch page, which has advertisements and a comment section. Before someone watches a Short in that area, 

If it’s not a custom one, YouTube shows a random video frame, which makes for a lousy graphic. That’s why more creators are making custom thumbnails for Shorts.

 started doing that as well,” Block Facts says. “He makes custom thumbnails for people [watching] on PC. They’re vertical but don’t actually appear in the video. I’ve tried to incorporate my thumbnail into the video so the one on the Shorts shelf is similar, but it’s always slightly different.”

Have you noticed the more prominent areas of the YouTube Shorts player? There’s the video, of course, which fills the entire screen. Then there’s the video title, the channel’s name, a subscribe button, like and dislike buttons, a comment icon, and a share icon.

 A viewer doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the next 60 seconds of a Short, but they will if they read the title. 

The video below is titled "Minecraft Salmon Facts." Click the play button to see if this Block Facts video is consistent with its headline.

What did you discover? We spotted several facts: how salmon used to look in Minecraft, the amount of health they restored, where to find salmon in the game, and more. The video's title lives up to the hype.

To get more views on every Short, make your titles interesting 

5. Use YouTube Stories to Increase Shorts Views

Here’s a hack anyone can use to promote their YouTube Shorts channel. Instead of posting a Short and hoping for the best, create some YouTube Stories that “highlight” your best Shorts.

“Stories helped a lot,” Block Facts says. “Every time I posted a Story, it tripled or even quadrupled the amount of subscribers for that day.”

Block Facts did two things to create such results. He asked people to

 about their favorite Minecraft block. He says the extra engagement may have pushed his content to new levels within the YouTube algorithm.

6. Don’t Post Long-Form Content on Your Shorts Channel

This probably goes without saying, but lengthy videos will underperform on a Shorts channel. Viewers originally subscribed for brief entertainment – videos that play within the same time you'd microwave a cookie. 

 so viewers are satisfied and in the mood to subscribe.

This tip isn’t just for Shorts. Whether you’re posting long-form videos, 

 polls, or YouTube Stories, one piece of content won’t help you gain millions of subscribers. You must be consistent and 

 That doesn’t mean you need to upload daily, but it’s smart to have some kind of schedule. 

 depends on the type of Shorts – or overall content – you want to make.

Also, don’t forget about style consistency. Having a recognizable format and appearance for your content helps viewers remember your work.

Want more YouTube Shorts tips? Here's a quick guide to 

Are you growing a YouTube Shorts Channel? Here are seven tips to help you out.

How to Grow a YouTube Shorts Channel

 These TikTok-style clips have helped creators go viral with billions of global views. Animator 

, for example, earned more than 5 billion views while creating video game Shorts. He reached that milestone in less than a year.

Do This One Thing to Increase YouTube Shorts Views

Views aside, YouTube is monetizing Shorts; that’s another reason to learn how to make brief, vertical videos. The platform announced a $100 million fund to pay top creators through 2022. The fund hasn’t launched yet, but YouTube already has a process for selecting recipients.

“Starting later this year, we'll reach out to thousands of creators every month whose Shorts received the most engagement and views and reward them for their contributions,” Jenson of TeamYouTube wrote in a 

. Anyone who creates unique Shorts is eligible to participate in the fund.”

With the fund launching “later this year,” you still have time to learn how to make Shorts and possibly earn some money. Watch the video below for a visual guide:

Need a written version you can bookmark for later?

Use this glossary to navigate our written guide.

Open the YouTube mobile app and look for the plus button at the bottom of the homepage. If you have access to Shorts beta, you’ll see an option to “create a Short.”

By default, you can record for 15 seconds using the Shorts camera. Tap the “15” above the record button to 

To the left of the record button, tap the square button outlined in white. This allows you to 

 roll rather than record something new. The next thing you’ll see is a video editor, which allows you to trim the recording. Clicking “next” at the top right corner of the screen takes you to the fun editing tools – motion controls and special effects you’ve probably seen on TikTok.

What to Do If You Don’t Have Shorts Beta

You don’t need Shorts beta to upload a Short, but you 

 need it to access Shorts editing features. Right now, the beta version is available to creators in the U.S. and India. If you’re outside of those regions, you can still post a Short by 

making a vertical video under 60 seconds.

 Post it the way you would a normal YouTube video, and the platform will automatically recognize it as a Short.

There are three features that make Shorts super easy to record:

As you record, you’ll see these options along the right side of the screen.

 is at the top, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Use this option to switch from your phone’s front-facing camera to the back camera, and vice versa.

You can record a fast-moving or slow-motion video using the 

. Tap the speedometer for a menu of options ranging from 0.3x to 3x, with 0.3x being the slowest and 3x being the fastest. Keep in mind that 0.3x doesn’t create a smooth, slow-motion video. The graphics are a little choppy and somewhat blurred.

 is an amazing feature for recording brief videos. It’s the last option and looks like a standard clock. Tap that icon to set a recording duration (the maximum is 15 seconds). You can also set a timer that counts down the seconds before recording. You can choose between a three, 10, and 20-second countdown.

Starting and Stopping the Recorder: Two Methods

When you’re ready to make a Short, you have two options for stopping and starting the video. 

 is tapping the red button to start, and then tapping the stop button when you’re done. 

, press and hold the record button, and then release it to finish the recording.

You can record as many scenes as you’d like, as long as they’re a maximum of 60 seconds combined.

Each scene is marked by a white bar on the video timeline (at the top of the screen). If you make a mistake, tap the backward arrow in the bottom left corner to remove a scene. Likewise, you can tap the forward arrow in the bottom right corner to re-add a scene you’ve deleted.

The best part of creating Shorts is the TikTok/Instagram appeal of adding music. YouTube has partnered with music labels to make sure popular songs can be used in short videos. As a creator, you won’t get a copyright claim or strike for using music in your content, especially if you’re adding songs via Shorts beta.

The text feature is a nice add-on; it helps viewers quickly understand jokes, memes, or the educational value of a Short.

These 5 YouTube Shorts Upgrades Will Help You Make Better Content

How to Add Music to a Short Before You Record

Tap the plus icon on the homepage of the YouTube app (near the bottom of the screen).

Use the search bar to find and browse music tracks. On the right side of the screen, you can “favorite” tracks to save for later.

When you find the right track, tap it once to hear a preview. Then tap the blue button with a black arrow to add the music to your Short.

YouTube will take you back to the record screen. Press the red button to start recording, and the music will play as you film. You can dance to the beat of the track or do something entirely different. It’s up to you!

How to Add Music to a Short After You Record

Record your Short and advance to the next screen. Tap 

Use the search bar once again to find, browse, and preview music. Tap the blue button with a black arrow to add the track to your Short.

The music won’t sync perfectly, so you’ll have to do some editing. Tap 

 at the bottom of the screen to choose the exact portion of the song you need. Then you can slide the entire track to the right position, making it sync with your movements or other action in the video.

Have you used Instagram or YouTube Stories? The text controls for Shorts work the same way:

Use your mobile keyboard to type a short message.

Change the color of your text or its highlighted background using the color palette above your keyboard.

Change the font of your text at the top center of the screen.

 in the top left corner. To the left of that, tap the paragraph icon to switch between centered or justified text.

Use the slider on the left side of the screen to shrink or expand the text.

Take a look at the screenshot below to see where all the text controls are:

When you’re finished adding music and text to your Short, click 

 in the top right corner of the screen. The next thing you’ll see is the video details screen. Here, you have three tasks to complete:

Set the video’s visibility to public, unlisted, or private.

 Anyone can search for the video and view it.

 Anyone with the link can view the video.

 Only people you choose can view the video.

Schedule your video to publish in the future, if desired.

You can’t add a video thumbnail, tags, or description at this stage, so make your title count.

Also, consider adding #Shorts to the end of your title. That’s what YouTube recommends, and it might make your Shorts more visible on YouTube.

Adding a Video Description and Tags to Your Short

As of now, you have to add video descriptions and tags after a Short is uploaded. Here’s how to do that:

 in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Find the video you want to edit and tap the three dots beside it. On the menu that appears, select 

On the next screen, you can add a description and tags.

Thumbnails are a bit tricky. You need to use a desktop computer or the YouTube Studio app to add thumbnails to your Shorts.

Creating a Short is a process all its own. The next thing to focus on is views. The number of people who watch your Shorts will depend on how entertaining and attractive they are; here are four methods to help you win at those things.

4 Tips to Grow Your Channel With YouTube Shorts

1. Consider Adding Thumbnails to Your Shorts

Thumbnails are important for regular YouTube videos, but what about Shorts? Do viewers really need to see a thumbnail to watch a brief video?

 people watch your Shorts in the YouTube app. Go to the YouTube Studio and take a look at the traffic sources for your Shorts. Most of the time, people watch these videos on a display shelf within the app. Those views are labeled as 

. But viewers can also watch Shorts as a regular YouTube video – one with ads, comments, and suggested videos nearby. When viewed outside of a display shelf, the traffic source could labeled as:

YouTube is going to monetize Shorts, which means you should learn to make brief, vertical videos. Here's an ultimate guide for making YouTube Shorts.

How to Make a YouTube Short In 2021: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide

What’s your average view duration on YouTube? For every video you post, do people watch to the end or leave midway?

To us, a 50% duration is phenomenal. It’s hard to get viewers to go any further than that. Meeting or even crossing the 50% threshold means you’re doing something right on YouTube.

If you’re not there yet, don’t worry. We have two suggestions to increase your average view duration:

Post some YouTube Shorts on your channel.

Shorts, which are vertical videos of less than a minute, are capable of holding viewers’ attention. It’s easy to finish a video that’s only 20 or 30 seconds long.

That creates a huge opportunity for you. By posting quality Shorts, you can get close to a 100% view duration, on average. This helps you penetrate the YouTube algorithm, which suggests videos with a high Watch Time to viewers. And if you 

 – videos that have no discernable end or beginning – you can convince someone to watch twice, which doubles your Watch Time.

How to Get 4,000 Hours of Watch Time and Monetize Your Channel

 of 4.9 million subscribers. Viewers used to watch nearly 100% of his content. That percentage climbed to almost 200% when he started looping his 3D Minecraft Shorts. Without realizing it, viewers were watching each video twice.

The screenshot below shows Fellman's average view duration, which doubled from January to April.

Here’s how Fellman looped his Shorts to earn more Watch Time.

Fellman is used to getting several million views on a Short. He’s been doing that for months now, so the numbers have to change drastically for him to take notice.

One day, he posted a Short of a skeleton getting shot with a red arrow. It performed so much better than his previous videos, even though they had millions of views. So he decided to investigate.

“When it clicked in my head that I needed to start making loops, was when the arrowhead video went from one million to 20 million views in the course of a couple of days – which just never happens with any videos,” Fellman says. “It did 15 million views in 48 hours. Typically, my top-performing video in 48 hours, for a good week, tops off around three or four million.”

The looped arrowhead video is titled “Minecraft RTX 24% Arrowhead Loop.” Press play below to view the Short, which seems to have no beginning or end:

YouTube has a built-in loop function for Shorts. If the viewer doesn’t swipe to the next video, the same Short plays again. When the replay creates a perfect loop, someone can mistakenly watch a video twice – maybe three times – before realizing the video is over. That’s when the Watch Time soars above 100%.

Want to increase your Watch Time? Do these three things to make Shorts that seemingly play forever.

 Fellman’s looped Shorts are rarely longer than seven or eight seconds. The longer a video is, the harder it will be to replicate a scene without the viewer realizing what happened.

Add one still frame to the beginning and end of your Short. 

On YouTube, there’s a brief delay before the start of a video. So if you rewatch a video, one second will pass before it plays again. Fellman takes advantage of the delay by adding a still frame to the beginning and end of his Shorts. The frames are identical, so it’s difficult to know the video has looped after two plays.

If the music in your Short doesn’t loop perfectly, it ruins the effect. Viewers will instantly know they’re watching a loop.

Looping a Short to get more Watch Time feels like a grimy hack. But according to YouTube, that’s exactly what you should be doing as a creator. It’s one of the growth strategies YouTube suggested in a recent 

In the screenshot above, you’ll see some of the same tactics Fellman uses. YouTube encourages creators to make really short videos and add frames to the end if they want to create loops.

But maybe you’re just getting started with Shorts. If you aren’t in the looping phase just yet, 

 to increase views on short, vertical videos.

This simple hack for YouTube Shorts will help you double your Watch Time. Keep reading to harness the power of looped content.

How to Double Your YouTube Watch Time by Looping Shorts

 for creating and discovering Shorts. In addition to the U.S. rollout of Shorts beta – a tool for recording, editing, and posting brief videos – the platform has changed the layout of Shorts, how they appear in search results, and more.

As a creator, you should know what these updates are to better grow your channel. We’ve seen creators 

 but the challenging part is keeping the momentum going.

With recent updates, you may have to think differently about the way you create short videos. The latest Shorts updates have revealed four undeniable truths:

Shorts are appearing in search results, so you should absolutely create them.

If you focus on making unique Shorts that go viral, subscribers will find you.

Musical Shorts may contain trends or dance challenges, which means you should research topics and songs before you press record.

We go into detail about each truth in the video below, so give it a watch:

Now that you have some background knowledge, here are four tips to grow your channel with YouTube Shorts.

1. YouTube Shorts are Becoming More Discoverable; don’t Hesitate to Post Them!

Are you familiar with the Shorts shelf? This display area for short, vertical videos has been on the app's homepage for months. Now it’s also appearing 

 If you’re posting Shorts to YouTube, this is a new opportunity to get your content discovered.

Viewers can find your Shorts via search results but not in the traditional, topic-based way. Follow these steps to understand how they appear on YouTube:

Next to your profile icon, click the magnifying glass at the top right corner of the screen.

Type a channel name into the search bar and tap the appropriate result when it pops up.

Scroll down past the first few results – the icon that takes you to the channel, latest posts from the channel, and regular, horizontal videos – until you see the Shorts beta shelf.

When we search for vidIQ, a shelf filled with 

 appears in the results. This contains some Shorts we’ve posted as well as those from other creators who talk about vidIQ.

If you don’t post any Shorts, your channel probably won’t appear on this shelf. But you can easily 

, searching for your channel, and seeing if the shelf appears. Our suggestion has always been to upload Shorts because you never know what YouTube is going to do with them. In this case, it’s a new display area we’ve never seen before.

What About Topic-Based Searches for YouTube Shorts?

There is one downside to this feature, though. Performing a topic search instead of a channel search doesn’t return the same results. There’s no Shorts shelf when we type the word “Minecraft” into the search bar, for example. The shelf only appears in search results when we type a channel name.

If you’re a how-to or educational creator making Shorts, this is something to keep in mind. Viewers won’t find your Shorts by searching for a topic, but that’s OK. Channels like 

 are still getting millions of Shorts views from other display shelves.

2. Accept That Views, Not Subscribers, Are the Immediate Benefit of Creating Shorts

If you’ve struggled to gain subscribers from Shorts, that might intensify in the future. YouTube made some layout changes to the Shorts player, and the subscribe button is less prominent than it used to be.

In the old layout, the subscribe button was red and higher up on the player. Now the button is gray and very close to the bottom of the screen.

It seems like YouTube wants to take the emphasis off of subscribers, at least for Shorts. We’re not sure why. What we do know is that views, not subscribers, have always been the biggest reward for posting Shorts. Some creators get millions of subscribers, but that’s usually because they’re posting unique content that’s hard to duplicate – like 

Jake Fellman’s animated Among Us Shorts

. Those videos attracted 4.08 million subscribers so far.

For now, create the best Shorts you can possibly make. Make them so entertaining that people deliberately search for the subscribe button, even if it’s harder to see.

3. Use Pinned Comments to Drive Viewers From a Short to Additional Content

Shorts are similar to TikTok; viewers watch them quickly, swipe to the next video, and repeat the process as they cycle through content. It’s hard to get people to slow down, but when they do, you should give them something to look at.

The comment section is a good place to do this. Because subscribers are harder to gain with Shorts, you should 

make sure each video has a pinned comment.

 You can highlight additional content – a playlist, a Short that serves as a part two, whatever you like – and encourage people to explore your channel. If people like what they see, they may hit subscribe.

The pinned comment is your best tool because Shorts don’t have info cards or end screens for suggesting content. Even the video description is hidden behind a two-tap journey.

4. Do Some Research to Make Unique, Music-Driven Shorts

Music helps videos go viral. That’s what’s been happening on TikTok and even older platforms like Triller and the unforgettable sensation that was Vine.

Now YouTube wants to create the same appeal on its mobile app. On March 18, the platform unveiled a feature for 

. The best part? You won’t be penalized for violating copyright rules.

As more creators get this tool, you should research which songs are appearing in certain videos. Then you can 

 after seeing what others posted, hopefully making your content stand out.

To start researching, look for the icon below. If you see it, that means the creator added a song from the Shorts camera tool.

Tap the icon to see more Shorts using that song. This is where your research will really take off as you discover how the song is being used, if there’s a challenge associated with it, and more. At the top of the page, you can also see the original YouTube video for the song.

YouTube is slowly rolling out these features. You may not be able to do all the things in this post, but it’s good to know what’s coming. When the tools arrive in your app, be sure to do what we’ve mentioned in this blog. Upload Shorts without hesitation, make them entertaining, use pinned comments, and do your topic research.

YouTube is adding more updates to Shorts beta. If you learn how to use the features, you can grow your channel with short, vertical videos.

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.

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