Elevate Your Channel Identity: Essential YouTube Naming Strategies

Best YouTube Names Generators [+ How to Brainstorm]

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

It’s important to have a good name for your YouTube channel – something that people will remember. The following is a list of the 3 best YouTube name generators, an easy step-by-step for brainstorming, and instructions for updating your YouTube name.

Whether you’re a YouTuber beginner or want to improve your YouTube videos to the next level, a good YouTube video editing software will be a good helper. Wondershare Filmora is a video editor for all YouTube creators with plentiful effects and templates, and you can download it directly and have a try before purchasing.

---

1. YouTube Name Generators
2. How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name
3. How to Change Your YouTube Name
4. Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Part 1: 3 Awesome YouTube Name Generators

Need some help brainstorming your channel name? Here are 3 tools for getting started. Even if you don’t use one of the names you generate you’ll get some great inspiration.

1. SpinXO

Key points:

- Lots of options

- Checks availability

This is a great generator. If you were brainstorming yourself, you’d probably write out a bunch of words related to yourself and the kinds of videos you want to make and see what goes together. SpinXO does that for you, and mixes in other words that sound good in usernames.

Here’s what happened when I tried to name a hypothetical baking channel:

Not all of the results are great, but there are some cool sounding options in there.

One of the most useful features of SpinXO is that you can check the availability of the usernames. I liked the sound of CupcakesCupola, and when I clicked on it I was able to see that nobody else was using it on other sites.

2. Name Generator

Key points:

- Can be hilarious

- Names tend to be a bit long

This is a fairly limited generator. You plunk in a prefix and a suffix, and it generates a random word or term to stuff between them. Here’s what I got for my fictional cupcake channel:

So, on one hand - that’s hilarious and I’m considering legally changing my name. On the other hand, all of the results look exactly like this (which means they’re all a bit too long). It shows you a longer list if you scroll down:

You can pick your favorite names and it’ll list them out so you can easily copy them into a word document. That’ll be useful if you’re collecting options from several sites.

3. Username Generator

Key points:

- Can generate a huge number of names at once

- You only input one word

For this name generator, you type in one important word and choose how many results you want to see. You can see up to 300 at once.

The generator will take your keyword and add endings (and occasional beginnings) to it. Some endings are words, and some are just suffixes. Here’s what I got:

Part 2: How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name – 3 Easy Steps

The name of your YouTube channel needs to accomplish two things:

1. Tell viewers what your channel is about
2. Stick in viewer’s heads by being catchy and unique

Here’s how you can brainstorm the perfect name for your channel!

Step 1: Gather up relevant words

Open up a journal (or a word document) and start writing down words that relate to you and your channel.

You may want to make one list of ‘you’ words (personality traits, nicknames, titles, etc.) and another of words related to your channel’s category (i.e. gaming, makeup, or baking).

Step 2: Combinations

Start combining your ‘you’ words with your category words to see what sounds good. You may want to use one of the name generators above (anchor) for this part.

Try to keep your name fairly short (3 words or less) so it’s easier for people to remember. Don’t include numbers if you can avoid it.

Step 3: Say it out loud

Once you have a shortlist of potential names, read them aloud to yourself to make sure they sound good. Ideally, you want to get that ‘oh, that has a nice ring to it!’ feeling.

Part 3: How to Change Your YouTube Name

In the early days of YouTube, you couldn’t change your name, but now you can!

1. Click on your account icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose settings.
2. Click Edit on Google.
3. Update your name and click OK.

Part 4: Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Here are several types of YouTube channel URL , wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of a string of numbers and letters, your channel URL included your name? YouTube can do that for you!

You need…

1. 100 Subscribers
2. to have been on YouTube for 30 days
3. use a photo as your channel icon/profile picture
4. have uploaded channel art

Here’s how to get your custom URL:

1. Click on your icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose Advanced under Settings / the gear icon.
2. If you meet the qualifications above, you’ll see ‘You’re eligible for a custom URL’ under Channel Settings.
3. YouTube will show you the custom URL you’re approved for in the Get a custom URL box. You can’t change what’s there, but you can add to the end of it.
4. Click Change URL after reading the terms of use.

You can delete your custom URL and claim a new one, but doing this might be confusing for your followers.

If you already have a YouTube channel name – are you happy with it? How did you choose it?

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

It’s important to have a good name for your YouTube channel – something that people will remember. The following is a list of the 3 best YouTube name generators, an easy step-by-step for brainstorming, and instructions for updating your YouTube name.

Whether you’re a YouTuber beginner or want to improve your YouTube videos to the next level, a good YouTube video editing software will be a good helper. Wondershare Filmora is a video editor for all YouTube creators with plentiful effects and templates, and you can download it directly and have a try before purchasing.

---

1. YouTube Name Generators
2. How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name
3. How to Change Your YouTube Name
4. Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Part 1: 3 Awesome YouTube Name Generators

Need some help brainstorming your channel name? Here are 3 tools for getting started. Even if you don’t use one of the names you generate you’ll get some great inspiration.

1. SpinXO

Key points:

- Lots of options

- Checks availability

This is a great generator. If you were brainstorming yourself, you’d probably write out a bunch of words related to yourself and the kinds of videos you want to make and see what goes together. SpinXO does that for you, and mixes in other words that sound good in usernames.

Here’s what happened when I tried to name a hypothetical baking channel:

Not all of the results are great, but there are some cool sounding options in there.

One of the most useful features of SpinXO is that you can check the availability of the usernames. I liked the sound of CupcakesCupola, and when I clicked on it I was able to see that nobody else was using it on other sites.

2. Name Generator

Key points:

- Can be hilarious

- Names tend to be a bit long

This is a fairly limited generator. You plunk in a prefix and a suffix, and it generates a random word or term to stuff between them. Here’s what I got for my fictional cupcake channel:

So, on one hand - that’s hilarious and I’m considering legally changing my name. On the other hand, all of the results look exactly like this (which means they’re all a bit too long). It shows you a longer list if you scroll down:

You can pick your favorite names and it’ll list them out so you can easily copy them into a word document. That’ll be useful if you’re collecting options from several sites.

3. Username Generator

Key points:

- Can generate a huge number of names at once

- You only input one word

For this name generator, you type in one important word and choose how many results you want to see. You can see up to 300 at once.

The generator will take your keyword and add endings (and occasional beginnings) to it. Some endings are words, and some are just suffixes. Here’s what I got:

Part 2: How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name – 3 Easy Steps

The name of your YouTube channel needs to accomplish two things:

1. Tell viewers what your channel is about
2. Stick in viewer’s heads by being catchy and unique

Here’s how you can brainstorm the perfect name for your channel!

Step 1: Gather up relevant words

Open up a journal (or a word document) and start writing down words that relate to you and your channel.

You may want to make one list of ‘you’ words (personality traits, nicknames, titles, etc.) and another of words related to your channel’s category (i.e. gaming, makeup, or baking).

Step 2: Combinations

Start combining your ‘you’ words with your category words to see what sounds good. You may want to use one of the name generators above (anchor) for this part.

Try to keep your name fairly short (3 words or less) so it’s easier for people to remember. Don’t include numbers if you can avoid it.

Step 3: Say it out loud

Once you have a shortlist of potential names, read them aloud to yourself to make sure they sound good. Ideally, you want to get that ‘oh, that has a nice ring to it!’ feeling.

Part 3: How to Change Your YouTube Name

In the early days of YouTube, you couldn’t change your name, but now you can!

1. Click on your account icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose settings.
2. Click Edit on Google.
3. Update your name and click OK.

Part 4: Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Here are several types of YouTube channel URL , wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of a string of numbers and letters, your channel URL included your name? YouTube can do that for you!

You need…

1. 100 Subscribers
2. to have been on YouTube for 30 days
3. use a photo as your channel icon/profile picture
4. have uploaded channel art

Here’s how to get your custom URL:

1. Click on your icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose Advanced under Settings / the gear icon.
2. If you meet the qualifications above, you’ll see ‘You’re eligible for a custom URL’ under Channel Settings.
3. YouTube will show you the custom URL you’re approved for in the Get a custom URL box. You can’t change what’s there, but you can add to the end of it.
4. Click Change URL after reading the terms of use.

You can delete your custom URL and claim a new one, but doing this might be confusing for your followers.

If you already have a YouTube channel name – are you happy with it? How did you choose it?

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

It’s important to have a good name for your YouTube channel – something that people will remember. The following is a list of the 3 best YouTube name generators, an easy step-by-step for brainstorming, and instructions for updating your YouTube name.

Whether you’re a YouTuber beginner or want to improve your YouTube videos to the next level, a good YouTube video editing software will be a good helper. Wondershare Filmora is a video editor for all YouTube creators with plentiful effects and templates, and you can download it directly and have a try before purchasing.

---

1. YouTube Name Generators
2. How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name
3. How to Change Your YouTube Name
4. Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Part 1: 3 Awesome YouTube Name Generators

Need some help brainstorming your channel name? Here are 3 tools for getting started. Even if you don’t use one of the names you generate you’ll get some great inspiration.

1. SpinXO

Key points:

- Lots of options

- Checks availability

This is a great generator. If you were brainstorming yourself, you’d probably write out a bunch of words related to yourself and the kinds of videos you want to make and see what goes together. SpinXO does that for you, and mixes in other words that sound good in usernames.

Here’s what happened when I tried to name a hypothetical baking channel:

Not all of the results are great, but there are some cool sounding options in there.

One of the most useful features of SpinXO is that you can check the availability of the usernames. I liked the sound of CupcakesCupola, and when I clicked on it I was able to see that nobody else was using it on other sites.

2. Name Generator

Key points:

- Can be hilarious

- Names tend to be a bit long

This is a fairly limited generator. You plunk in a prefix and a suffix, and it generates a random word or term to stuff between them. Here’s what I got for my fictional cupcake channel:

So, on one hand - that’s hilarious and I’m considering legally changing my name. On the other hand, all of the results look exactly like this (which means they’re all a bit too long). It shows you a longer list if you scroll down:

You can pick your favorite names and it’ll list them out so you can easily copy them into a word document. That’ll be useful if you’re collecting options from several sites.

3. Username Generator

Key points:

- Can generate a huge number of names at once

- You only input one word

For this name generator, you type in one important word and choose how many results you want to see. You can see up to 300 at once.

The generator will take your keyword and add endings (and occasional beginnings) to it. Some endings are words, and some are just suffixes. Here’s what I got:

Part 2: How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name – 3 Easy Steps

The name of your YouTube channel needs to accomplish two things:

1. Tell viewers what your channel is about
2. Stick in viewer’s heads by being catchy and unique

Here’s how you can brainstorm the perfect name for your channel!

Step 1: Gather up relevant words

Open up a journal (or a word document) and start writing down words that relate to you and your channel.

You may want to make one list of ‘you’ words (personality traits, nicknames, titles, etc.) and another of words related to your channel’s category (i.e. gaming, makeup, or baking).

Step 2: Combinations

Start combining your ‘you’ words with your category words to see what sounds good. You may want to use one of the name generators above (anchor) for this part.

Try to keep your name fairly short (3 words or less) so it’s easier for people to remember. Don’t include numbers if you can avoid it.

Step 3: Say it out loud

Once you have a shortlist of potential names, read them aloud to yourself to make sure they sound good. Ideally, you want to get that ‘oh, that has a nice ring to it!’ feeling.

Part 3: How to Change Your YouTube Name

In the early days of YouTube, you couldn’t change your name, but now you can!

1. Click on your account icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose settings.
2. Click Edit on Google.
3. Update your name and click OK.

Part 4: Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Here are several types of YouTube channel URL , wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of a string of numbers and letters, your channel URL included your name? YouTube can do that for you!

You need…

1. 100 Subscribers
2. to have been on YouTube for 30 days
3. use a photo as your channel icon/profile picture
4. have uploaded channel art

Here’s how to get your custom URL:

1. Click on your icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose Advanced under Settings / the gear icon.
2. If you meet the qualifications above, you’ll see ‘You’re eligible for a custom URL’ under Channel Settings.
3. YouTube will show you the custom URL you’re approved for in the Get a custom URL box. You can’t change what’s there, but you can add to the end of it.
4. Click Change URL after reading the terms of use.

You can delete your custom URL and claim a new one, but doing this might be confusing for your followers.

If you already have a YouTube channel name – are you happy with it? How did you choose it?

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

It’s important to have a good name for your YouTube channel – something that people will remember. The following is a list of the 3 best YouTube name generators, an easy step-by-step for brainstorming, and instructions for updating your YouTube name.

Whether you’re a YouTuber beginner or want to improve your YouTube videos to the next level, a good YouTube video editing software will be a good helper. Wondershare Filmora is a video editor for all YouTube creators with plentiful effects and templates, and you can download it directly and have a try before purchasing.

---

1. YouTube Name Generators
2. How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name
3. How to Change Your YouTube Name
4. Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Part 1: 3 Awesome YouTube Name Generators

Need some help brainstorming your channel name? Here are 3 tools for getting started. Even if you don’t use one of the names you generate you’ll get some great inspiration.

1. SpinXO

Key points:

- Lots of options

- Checks availability

This is a great generator. If you were brainstorming yourself, you’d probably write out a bunch of words related to yourself and the kinds of videos you want to make and see what goes together. SpinXO does that for you, and mixes in other words that sound good in usernames.

Here’s what happened when I tried to name a hypothetical baking channel:

Not all of the results are great, but there are some cool sounding options in there.

One of the most useful features of SpinXO is that you can check the availability of the usernames. I liked the sound of CupcakesCupola, and when I clicked on it I was able to see that nobody else was using it on other sites.

2. Name Generator

Key points:

- Can be hilarious

- Names tend to be a bit long

This is a fairly limited generator. You plunk in a prefix and a suffix, and it generates a random word or term to stuff between them. Here’s what I got for my fictional cupcake channel:

So, on one hand - that’s hilarious and I’m considering legally changing my name. On the other hand, all of the results look exactly like this (which means they’re all a bit too long). It shows you a longer list if you scroll down:

You can pick your favorite names and it’ll list them out so you can easily copy them into a word document. That’ll be useful if you’re collecting options from several sites.

3. Username Generator

Key points:

- Can generate a huge number of names at once

- You only input one word

For this name generator, you type in one important word and choose how many results you want to see. You can see up to 300 at once.

The generator will take your keyword and add endings (and occasional beginnings) to it. Some endings are words, and some are just suffixes. Here’s what I got:

Part 2: How to Come Up With a Good YouTube Name – 3 Easy Steps

The name of your YouTube channel needs to accomplish two things:

1. Tell viewers what your channel is about
2. Stick in viewer’s heads by being catchy and unique

Here’s how you can brainstorm the perfect name for your channel!

Step 1: Gather up relevant words

Open up a journal (or a word document) and start writing down words that relate to you and your channel.

You may want to make one list of ‘you’ words (personality traits, nicknames, titles, etc.) and another of words related to your channel’s category (i.e. gaming, makeup, or baking).

Step 2: Combinations

Start combining your ‘you’ words with your category words to see what sounds good. You may want to use one of the name generators above (anchor) for this part.

Try to keep your name fairly short (3 words or less) so it’s easier for people to remember. Don’t include numbers if you can avoid it.

Step 3: Say it out loud

Once you have a shortlist of potential names, read them aloud to yourself to make sure they sound good. Ideally, you want to get that ‘oh, that has a nice ring to it!’ feeling.

Part 3: How to Change Your YouTube Name

In the early days of YouTube, you couldn’t change your name, but now you can!

1. Click on your account icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose settings.
2. Click Edit on Google.
3. Update your name and click OK.

Part 4: Requesting a Custom URL for YouTube

Here are several types of YouTube channel URL , wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of a string of numbers and letters, your channel URL included your name? YouTube can do that for you!

You need…

1. 100 Subscribers
2. to have been on YouTube for 30 days
3. use a photo as your channel icon/profile picture
4. have uploaded channel art

Here’s how to get your custom URL:

1. Click on your icon in the top right corner of YouTube and choose Advanced under Settings / the gear icon.
2. If you meet the qualifications above, you’ll see ‘You’re eligible for a custom URL’ under Channel Settings.
3. YouTube will show you the custom URL you’re approved for in the Get a custom URL box. You can’t change what’s there, but you can add to the end of it.
4. Click Change URL after reading the terms of use.

You can delete your custom URL and claim a new one, but doing this might be confusing for your followers.

If you already have a YouTube channel name – are you happy with it? How did you choose it?

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Optimizing Engagement: Using Cards and Annotations

How to Use YouTube Cards and Annotations?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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