streamers haven

YouTube Shorts Overview

I just finished watching this video by income school that informed me about YouTube shorts. This is extremely exciting news for streamers because you guys have a ton of content that you can throw on YouTube that fits the 1-minute mark (AKA, Stream clips!). This is especially important for those of you who have developed their search analysis skills, which you can learn about here if you haven’t looked into it yet.

All you need to do is create a one minute video (Or less) where you answer a simple question that you find online in your Search analysis. Or, create an entertaining video of a sort that makes liberal usage of sound effects. You can literally stomp out hundreds of one-minute videos in a day when they are this short. There is no shortage of angles that you could take this.

However, before you just start plastering hundreds of videos out, you need to be aware that there are a few prerequisites that your video needs to meet to qualify to be placed into the algorithm to be distributed, and that not all video formats do well. Your best bet is to do some direct research yourself by opening up the YouTube app on your phone and looking at shorts that have a very high view count that was recently released.

If you haven’t yet started a YouTube Channel, I highly recommend you do so.

Requirements for videos to qualify as a “YouTube Short”

In order for your video to be classified as a “YouTube Short”, there are three conditions to be met.

  1. The Video must be a “Vertical Video”, AKA, shot in Portrait mode on a Phone.
  2. Must be 60 seconds or less
  3. You will need to tag it as #Shorts in the Title or description (Probably better to do in Description to Save title real-estate)

Here is a Quote from their Beta release notes. Just know that as this feature comes out of beta, the process may change. If it does, I’ll update the article with the correct info ASAP.

If you don’t have access to the Shorts camera yet, you can still upload your existing vertical videos that are less than 60 seconds using the hashtag #Shorts in the title or description. We’ll be testing out a section on the YouTube homepage to highlight videos created from the Shorts camera, as well as any vertical video up to 60 seconds that have been uploaded to YouTube. We’ll be rolling out even more ways to find Shorts over the coming weeks – stay tuned! 

Jenson – Team YouTube

Why I am confident YouTube Shorts will be huge for your channel

Yes, I am aware that there are other platforms that exist solely for the purpose of short videos, but the fact that YouTube is placing them in the recommended feeds for people is a huge incentive to create them for your channel on YouTube.

Once upon a time, Short-form content had a place on YouTube. Over time, videos grew longer and longer. As to the reason why this happened, I can’t say for sure. However, with the resurgence of short video content on platforms like TikTok, Vine, and Instagram, it became apparent that interest for shorter videos was still there, and these platforms capitalized on this and grew rapidly. Unfortunately for Vine, that didn’t last, but now that YouTube has taken up the mantle, I have a feeling this is here to stay.

I feel this was further emphasized by their release of “Google Stories”, which is essentially a mobile-optimized Super short-form written content. With these two together, I suspect that “quick and easy answers” are the way to the future.

With that said, I wouldn’t say that all of your content should be short-form content, But the amount of effort it takes to make a 1-minute video is absurdly low, making it far easier to record and get it out there.

Things NOT to do

While I am normally all-for content recycling, I think that there is something you should consider. If you already have uploaded a video to another platform, don’t capture it and re-upload it as a short, especially if it has the watermark from that platform visible. I have heard reports of Shorts that have the “Tik-Tok” watermark on them. The reason for this caution is because YouTube is in direct competition with these platforms.

While they may not overtly “disallow” you to re-upload these videos, new, unique videos will likely perform better. My thought process revolves around the fact that it would likely be flagged as “Duplicate content” by Google’s SERP at the very least. You want to avoid that, for sure, because the more search engines that your content is able to show up on, the better it is for your discovery.

Here are some Video Ideas I think would get traction

As I stated earlier in the article, I feel that Short content videos that directly answer a question that people ask, is a good way to start. I have a few ideas that might help you get started. You are free to use any of these ideas without crediting me in any way, I am just here to help you take advantage of this opportunity.

At the very least, you should try creating videos in this short-form design, It might be pretty fun!

Idea 1: Ask Google/Alexa A question

Admittedly, this isn’t exactly a unique Idea, but the faces that you make during it can make all the difference.

You could create a “video Short series” Where you ask Alexa, or Google a question and get an answer. While the AI is answering the question, you could be making contemplative faces, or just any kind of face you want while you listen. Then, you could finish off with something humorous. AKA, Satire.

Like “How far is it to the moon?” Well, you can answer that very quickly by asking Alexa or Google. And pretty much any question you ask really.

Idea 2: Talk about Something that you enjoy

Talking about something I like and am knowledgeable about is very evident in my tone. The Excitement in my voice is literally bleeding into my diction, and my enthusiasm is palpable. You could talk about things that excite you, and those that share the excitement will feed off of that energy and feel happy they found somebody that likes the same thing they do.

Idea 3: Memes

Ahh Memes…Yes, Memes…

Cause Why not?

Idea 4: Quick Tips for X category

Are you skilled in something? Maybe consider giving a quick tip regarding that.

ETC.

The things that you can create are nearly endless. Proceed with enthusiasm, but a healthy amount of caution to back it up. I wish you luck in your YouTube Shorts Journey, and I will be seeing you guys on there!

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