In this article we are going to discuss YouTube Annotations. First, we need to understand what an Annotation is. If you are watching a video and you see a clickable link on top of the video, that is an annotation. If you look at the picture below the Annotation is in the upper right hand corner of the video and it is linking to the subscribe button for the channel.

YouTube annotations are a great way to drive traffic to your other videos. If you have links to similar videos OR on topics that you are discussing in your video, I have found that this is a great traffic generator for older content.

In order to add an annotation to your videos you need to login to your YouTube account and go to your video manager. If you don’t know how to get there just click your username in the upper right hand corner when logged into YouTube and you will see some options. Click on Video Manager. For a full rundown of your Video Manager and how to use it Click Here.

Once you are in your Video Manager click on “Edit” below the video that you want to add Annotations to.

After you have clicked the edit button below the video you want to add annotations to, you will then be presented with multiple customization options for your video. You want to click the Annotations tab above the video. It will look like this.

Once you are in the annotations editor you will see many different options.

The first thing you need to decide is what type of annotation you want to add to your video. Here are the different types of Annotations and what they are below.

• Speech Bubble – This annotations looks like a cartoon Speech Bubble. It is great to put in vlogs beside you if you are speaking about a specific topic or video that you want to link to.
• Note – The note annotations is very similar to the Speech Bubble except it doesn’t have the line and bubble shape. It is great as well for linking to videos and topics.
• Title – This annotation is one that allows you to draw a box around large text within your video to link to a video.
• Spotlight – This is a great annotation to use around videos or pictures. I use this at the end of my videos to link to similar videos. If you want to see an example of this go watch this video and fast forward to the last 45 seconds.
• Label – The label annotation is similar to the Spotlight annotations except it has text and a box border to place around objects and text within your video.

As far as which one is the best to use it all depends on the content you create as well as the way you are going to use them. I prefer the spotlight and label annotations for my videos because you can actually have some other videos/images at the end of your video that link directly to them and it is visual. I think the visual aspect of those annotations make a big difference in CTR (Click Through Rate).

The purpose of putting annotations on your videos is to have you viewer watching your content longer. The thought is if they have direct and convenient links to your other content they will be more likely to stay on your channel page and then in the long run possible subscribe to your channel.

Tips and Tricks When Using Annotations

• Do NOT Clutter your video with to many annotations. There is nothing more annoying than trying to watch a video with annotations littered all across the screen to the point you can’t even see what the video is about. Use them in moderation.
• DO NOT link to outside links and affiliate links. This is frowned upon within the YouTube space. You cannot link to another website UNLESS it is your connected personal site that you have linked to your YouTube channel.
• Make sure you spell things correctly. It looks extremely bad when you are trying to gain more viewers and you have misspelled something on your annotation.
• EXPERIMENT – Growing a youtube channel is a process and sometimes it boils down to trial and error. Try different types of annotations and see which one works best for your content!

Here is a video tutorial talking about YouTube Annotations and How To Use Them:

YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine on the internet, only begind Google. (Who by the way owns YouTube). With that being said being able to utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on your videos is an important part in growing your YouTube channel and brand.

All of these SEO tips will be done BEFORE and DURING the video upload process. Understanding SEO is very important for A YouTube creator and getting started online in general. Search engines like Google and Bing are looking for content that people are searching for and then they rank this content. Depending on a number of variables your content will be ranked on a list.

If someone searches for “YouTube SEO Tips”, there will be a number of options come up. The ones that come up first are ranked higher in the search engines due to the Search Engine Optimization behind the scenes.

I am going to share 5 Tips that I have learned that will help your YouTube videos rank higher in search.

1.) Content Is King – The first tip is not so much a tip,  as it is just common sense. If you want your video to rank higher in search results create content that is engaing and that people want to watch. If you do this, the video will receive a TON of YouTube and will be shared accross multiple social networks. This is organic traffic, this is the kind of traffic that you want to grow your channel.

2.) Publishing Content On A Regular Basis – This is extremely important. If your viewers/community know that you are consistent and are not going to just up and quit one day, they will be more likely to subscribe and stick around. When you are looking for content creators to invest in you are not going to subscribe and watch someone who only puts out 1 video per year, you are going to look for those creators who are committed to great content every week, and by doing this YouTube takes notice and will rank your videos higher due to your consistency.

3.) Title, Tags, and Description – These three things are crucial when uploading your video to help your video rank higher in search. Lets talk about each of them seperately.

• Title – When coming up with a Title for your video there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, make sure your keywords are in the front of the title and then you brand the video at the end. When you are writing your title for your video really think about what your Title is saying. Make it a “Clickable” title, something that when in a list stands out.

Example: 5 YouTube Seo Tips That Will Make Your Video Rank Higher – YouTube Creators Hub

• Tags – Tags are words or phrases that you place in the Tag box of each video that are related to your video. If your video is about YouTube SEO tips you could put tags like;  SEO Tips, Video Seo Tips, SEO, and other related keywords. A great thing to do when trying to come up with the best tags for your video is to use the Google Keyword Tool. With this tool you are able to search for specific terms and phrases and see how many times a month that this keyword/phrase is searched for.
• Description – The description of your video is where you are going to explain what your video is about. In the description it is always a good idea to break down your video and put as much relevant information about the video in the description area. This is also a great location to put your social media information for your viewers to contact you outside of YouTube.

4.) Playlists – Having your videos in playlists also helps your video’s ranking as well. If your content is segmented and orgainzed into groups of similar content this helps YouTube even more in knowing what the video is about. With that being said YouTube’s algorithm will value your content even more if it is placed in a relevant playlist.

*** If you need to know how to create a YouTube Playlist Go Here***

5.) Comment On Your Videos – Interacting with your audience and community not only helps you build your core audience BUT it also helps in search results as well. If you are commenting on your videos when your viewers are asking your questiosn and commenting on your videos this lets YouTube know that this video is active and somebody wants to talk about it. Always respond to your viewers when you upload your videos, because the more comments that are on your video the better.