Elevate Engagement: Crafting Effective YouTube Backlinks

YouTube is the world’s 2nd most visited site. That means achieving a higher ranking can be beneficial for you. YouTube SEO can help you to boost traffic, get more views, and achieve higher rankings. In this article, we’ll explain what YouTube backlinks are and the safest way to get them.

In this article

01 [What Are YouTube Backlinks?](#Part 1)

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

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Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

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How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

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A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

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What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

Effective YouTube Card Usage Guide

How to Use YouTube Cards and Annotations?

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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