How important would you say video is to a brand, to a business, these days?
Nowadays, I believe the statistic is like 80% of all media consumers is video. If you’re not able to create something visual these days, then you’re missing out a huge chunk of your own market. For different ways, really, a picture paints a thousand words and a video is nonstop pictures.
How Important Is Video To Business? [Brand Building]
When it comes to YouTube, it can be shared anywhere, it can index anywhere. You could make an hour long live stream that you can rip content out of the end of days.
If you need help is sharing your content and getting more views check out my deep dive article into best places to share youtube videos for growth.
Like, what are my biggest North stars? It is a guy called Gary Vaynerchuk in which he puts out so much content, but it’s not necessarily for the sake of content today. It’s for the sake of documenting his life, documenting his growth, looking back on trends. He wants to look back in five, ten years time and go, “Look, I called TikTok now.”
And he called like Facebook and LinkedIn.
When it comes to video, what you’ve got to think of is you may be creating a load of videos now that may not necessarily see a return on investment immediately.
Well, I have 450 videos right now on my channel this year, the world decided to sit in doors and netflix my content. The way it basically worked is because I had back catalog, I was able to grow up that attention.
So at the start of my channel, I was getting 20, 30, 50 views a day, and now I’m getting around about 7,000 or 8,000 views per day.
I’m growing at a rate of about 1,400 or 1,500 subscribers a month right now because the power of the compound interest of every single one of those videos helps you grow further and faster.
The advantage of each one of these videos and the compound interest that you can get with these videos is that now that I am growing at the rates of 1,400 or 1,500 subscribers per month, that also feeds into the affiliate marketing, that feeds into any client who places requests.
I’ve got 450 videos that are testimonials to the knowledge that I’ve learned through my hobby, and hopefully over time, you watch 5, 10 or 20 of my videos. You trust that I know what I’m talking about, and then you’ll reach out or your suggest me or you use one of the tools that I may suggest in one of the videos.
I’m not directly hard selling to you, but I have such a wide spider web that I continue to capture the flies in that, that then monetary helped me, my business or my brand.
Final words
Right now, if you want to see the full interview, click on this video here, remember to subscribe for regular tips and tutorials, and I’ll see you soon.
Now, this is one of those questions that many people ask. It’s just they have no idea. If you’re jumping onto the YouTube platform right now, then there are many legacy features that have been around for literally over a decade now that used to be much more specific for this platform that has slowly got less and less important over time.
What Are YouTube Categories? [Do They Matter?]
Categories specifically put you in buckets based on what content you create, how to, style, business, money, food, finance, people, education.
I’ll be honest, I’m not totally sure what the list is anymore, mainly because it doesn’t matter.
Back when the platform was in infancy, you highlighted specifically what your content was about. If yours was comedy, then there would be specific areas on the site. You could go to only comedy videos and there would be specifically only people videos.
The way the YouTube algorithm currently works, it doesn’t matter. What you need to focus on is the title, the descriptions, kinds of your tags, and then the audience that it pushes out to.
There is no relation to the category you are in to the views that you get. If I was to switch this video from educational to gaming, I’m not going to get more gamers watch these videos.
Now, there might be something way back in the legacy algorithm that specifically recommends you against specific things, but it’s highly unlikely nowadays.
This machine is very powerful and very clever. So you shouldn’t be homing over the fact that what I do, ‘how to videos’, am I an how-to in style or am I an educational channel?
What you need to focus on is the content you create on a regular basis. If you stick to one niche and you’re not doing cooking on Thursday, knitting on Friday, and then skydiving on Sunday, followed by car repair on Tuesday, as long as you’re niched, then YouTube knows that’s your niche.
Because over time you have a hundred videos and those hundred video tags, all points into that kind of direction that say a hundred of your videos are all about cars. All of those tags would all be automobile based, and old cars, spark plugs and repairs.
It is very highly unlikely that out of those 100 videos, you’ve tagged it like a knitting pattern tutorial.
That’s one of the reasons why focusing on a niche can be so important and powerful mainly because it establishes your niche in your viewers’ mind, rather than YouTube in itself.
It’s just one of those questions that nags at you, because it’s still there. It’s still in the system and it hasn’t been removed.
Final words
It’s just like people saying, “Do you get paid for likes?”
I’ve got a video here, and if you’ve got a question about anything, no matter how small or weird or stupid, leave it in the comment section and subscribe, so you get to see the answer.
So you’re looking to recording slow mo, 240 frames per second on an iPhone SE and anything that has a brand new iOS.
Why turn into 240 frames per seconds?
Very good question.
How To Record In Slow Mo on iPhone 240FPS
Your TV and any other thing that you normally watch, like films and things, are normally at 24 to 30 frames per second. That’s what our eyes comfortably see.
When you skip to 60 frames per second, that gives you the chance to slow things down a little bit, but 240 frames per second allows you to do mega slow mo on footage without it looking jittery.
Basically what this allows you to do is in theory, slow it down to 10 times slower than 24 frames per second, because it takes 10 times more frames, 240 frames per second.
So how do we do this?
Well, you open your phone, you click on settings and you scroll down to “Camera.”
In here you have all of your settings for your grid, your recording format, whether or not you’re being efficient or not, your resolution in which I’ve talked about, whether or not you want to recording 4k or 1080p, there’ll be a video severing the codes up here.
But what you’re looking for is the “Record Slow-mo” setting.
Mine is currently set to 720p and 240 frames per second, but you can have 1080p at 120, 720 at 240, and 1080p at 240.
So, how does it affect you?
Well, the smaller, the resolution and smaller the frame rate, the smaller, the file, the higher the resolution, the higher the frame rate, the larger the file, and will take longer to edit with or render out, or it takes up more memory on your phone.
Slow-mo footage can be fantastic. It gives you that little bit of flexibility, just like recording in 4K.
If you need help in understanding the difference between 1080p and 4K footage I have a large deep dive blog that will drill into the benefits and flaws of both formats.
Final Words
If you want to know how you can record in 4K at 60 frames per second on your iPhone and any latest device, there is a video right here where if it’s not quite uploaded yet, there’s a playlist here on how you can make better videos.
I highly advise against this and this isn’t the stereotypical thing. I’m going to twist it in a different angle, right? Because everybody knows that it’s annoying, right?
YouTube Sub 4 Sub [The Truth]
You may be growing your numbers. You may do fantastically well. Your name may be Tom or Tim or Ten, and if you know who that is recently and who can, he’s gone.
But sub for sub hurts you. It inflates your number. It makes you feel egotistically brilliant. Wait, but what it actually does is it means more time you publish that video, that sub or that person who’s not watching your videos doesn’t engage with your content.
And YouTube goes, “Oh, okay. He just got 20 new subscribers. None of them watched, maybe their content is not good enough. Maybe we weren’t right.”
You put out a video and it’s not engaged with. You don’t get that comment or that like, or any form of shares, so they are zombies, they are hopeless.
And if you choose to push out your content to a random percentage of your subscriber base, and you’ve inflated that subscriber base with a hundred really fantastic people at a million really crappy zombies, and 10% of that will go to mostly zombies that do nothing.
That’s a fantastic video, but nobody cares, so then YouTube’s going to go, “We don’t care either.”
It’s all in your heads, what you should focus on is the 10 or 20 that really focus and really care about you, than the 50 that aren’t real.
It’s a metric for vanity, only.
Final Words
Now, if you want to see the full interview, click on this video here, remember to subscribe for regular tips and tutorials, and I’ll see you soon.
I can help you get more views on your video in just 15 seconds. This one little tip can help skyrocket your engagement and keep people watching for longer.
YouTube is based on engagement, how you hook people, how you keep them engaged and how quickly you can deliver on what you’ve promised. That is why you need to have a perfect hook.
Get More Views on YouTube in 15 Seconds
See, with the first 15 seconds of this video, I’ve told you what this video happens to be about, upset that expectations, and I will be delivering that value.
It’s the first 15 seconds of all of your videos that needs to set that expectation, then people will stay around for longer, they will engage for longer throughout the entire videos because they know that they’re going to get what they want.
Then that video will get promoted more because it’s been engaged with, it’s delivered exactly what they’re expecting and therefore it will get those comments, and those likes that YouTube looks to feed the algorithm.
So that’s the short version, but how does this actually work out?
Well, one, you’ve made a promise with your thumbnail and your title. In this case, I’ve promised you that I can help you get more views in 15 seconds, and I can. Just, it’s your 15 seconds, not this 15 seconds.
In the first 15 seconds of your video, you need to echo the sentiment of your title, your thumbnail, and promise some form of delivery.
I’m here to teach you that 15 second hook. You’ll notice in the first 15 seconds of all of my videos, I tell you what the video happens to be about. I’m going to show you an end screen. I’m going to monetize your Facebook page. I’m going to show you how to use the video chapters.
I deliver that in the first 10, 15 seconds, then that way, you know, “Oh, OK. So I did come for that title and it did come for what he’s promising, and he is now showing me that that will be delivered.”
Why is that so important?
Well, in any era of click baits and people having been cheated on so many times in the past, you’ve clicked on the title and that’s like, “Wow, you can’t believe this exploding car,” and then you’re 15 minutes in before they actually show it to you.
People have got used to that lie and people have got used to clicking away because they know they have the power to go and have a look at another tutorial in my case.
So, if you echo the sentiment of the title, they then know that, “Okay, I came here for chocolate cake and they promise that they will make a chocolate cake. They’ve echoed that chocolate cake within the first 10, 15 seconds.”
So effectively you’ve already told them, “Hey, you’re in the right place. Just hold my hand, sit down, get a cup of tea and I’ll deliver.”
Two, this helps you set the expectations you’ve promised at the start of the video. That even if the whole video is 7, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes long, that they will get the thing that they’ve asked for and the longer the video, hopefully the better explained it is.
Three, deliver that value, whatever you’re promising within the first 10 to 15 seconds, do that thing as soon as possible without padding out the runtime.
Now this is me explaining the first 15 seconds, but I also at the start of this video very quickly summarized exactly what it is, sort of the hook out. If you hook them, they’ll watch for longer. If they watch for longer, YouTube loves you. Bingo.
This is me expanding on that idea. This is me explaining every fine detail of the theory and why it works and how it works for people that want to hear the nitty gritty and understand the systems behind it.
Final words
But if the video only needs to be two minutes long, don’t make it 15 because people know that when they’re being conned these days. If it’s too long and it’s not delivering, people will click away and you really need to focus on retention.
I had a coaching call with a lady called Samira Alexander, and she was worried about being on camera. It’s something that many of you suffer from. So, I thought I’d take this clip to educate you, to hopefully reassure you the same way I do with Samira.
Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]
It’s time for you to get on camera.
Here we go.
I’ve said this so many times and this is the thing that people need to pay attention to, and you specifically.
When you’re recording, there’s no one around to judge you. It’s just you in here and it’s in here, right?
If you’re editing the video, who sees the video?
Just you, nobody else.
The difference is that I’ve been able to talk for hours and hours on end for years. Right?
My mom couldn’t get me to shut up when I was a toddler, I just kept going.
And the difference is that there is an element of my persona. There is my humor, right? And then, there is my professional point, so that the professional videos, there’s the quirkiness and no weirdness.
I’m not the thing that you get in a video that you can’t get into a top down.
I bet you, the only way you’re going to get used to being on camera is to be on camera.
You may say, “I just don’t feel comfortable.”
I’ve got a few videos, like the one’s called, “One’s flat out.” It just says, there’s no excuses, right?
This is literally titled that, it’s in red, it’s in white, it’s obnoxious.
And there’s another one of me walking along my local canal. Exactly the same reason, you know, “The audio is bad…”
Fine, get a different audio.
“Oh, my camera’s shaking.”
Well, at least you’re on camera. Right?
People connect with the human face. You can get my quirkiness and my funniness and my sense of humor.
You can see the white of the eyes, it’s not perfect.
You’re an attractive lady, there’s nothing to worry about. So just have faith in yourself, remember that you can edit it anyway. If you fluff up, you fluff up. You just edit it.
Samira:
It’s just that I am going to be talking about something that’s going to be valuable, and things like that, but I think I just have to speak from my heart.
I know that I’m right. There are always things that I talked to my clients about. There are always things that we need to talk about, and even if these people have heard this before, then maybe they resonate with me better than when it comes from somebody else or vice versa.
But I have to put myself out there because we’ve been forced to, and I always wanted, my dream was always having an online business. Right?
I live in Dubai, but I wanted an all global online business because that’s where I want to be. I wanted to be free. I didn’t want to be beholden to any place, and it hurts me right now when I hear, but I’m happy for everyone who’s got an online business and presence and they’re doing really well. So I’m not, and it’s pissing me off.
Alan:
You can’t be the face of a brand if you’re not willing to show the face for your brands. If I’m promoting Alan Spicer...
You want to promote Samira?
I promote Alan Spicer.
If I didn’t have Alan the brand, if I didn’t have Alan the face, then I can’t do anything.
Samira:
I know.
Alan:
Gary Vaynerchuk about it. He’s got Gary Vaynerchuk, right? Still he promotes the person, the persona, the brands, the motivation.
I keep wanting to trust and rely on you make that connection with you, and the more you do it, the better you’ll get.
Samira:
Yeah, okay. Thank you. You’ve been really amazing and I really appreciate this. Sometimes I get nervous about, because sometimes we’ll reach out to people we don’t know, but I just thought, “I’m going to reach out to this guy. I think he’s going to help me.”
I just googled, “I need a YouTube coach.”
Because I need someone to help me.
Alan:
And then YouTube searching wins. It just goes to show that if you’re able to balance the two and do a blog and your video is brilliant.
In fact, you make your blogs, you write a fantastic blog of 1,500 to 2,000 words long, and you put a video that echoes that sentiment.
They both work with each other. Google suggests that video for YouTube, and people that want to read it, because some people read, some people don’t, some people listen, some people don’t, that’s why there’s a podcast, which is fantastic.
So yeah, take it to your full advantage.
Now, you know the brand: You.
You know that you need to be on camera. The only way you’re going to do that is by practice.
Right now, it’s a fantastic picture, the sound is great. That’s fine. It doesn’t matter. It’s better that you’re on camera than not at all.
There’s nothing wrong with that. The headphones are fine. If you have to, right?
This is a lapel mic that costs me 15 quids. The webcam, which before the world turned to crap was about 50 pounds. I’ve now, no word of a lie, 50 pounds on Amazon. Now, you have to pay $180 for that camera.
Samira:
Oh my God!
Alan:
It’s because they are like “Uhm… people need webcams.”
And it’s a Logitech C 920 Pro.
Samira:
Yeah. I know that one.
Alan:
It was 50 quids because my old one died. In fact, if you flip through some of my really, really old YouTube videos, the frame rate is like 15 frames per second, it’s because the old version of this started dying, so when I did my hands, it was a bit, and I’m very handsy.
Even then, even with the camera shaky, I was recording off a laptop that was on 17 books on a table and every time I stepped forward, it bounced, right?
I still delivered value. It should be first.
Now this, I’m sat in the corner of an office, which is a bedroom. The shelves are there, that I recorded. The light is the window. There’s no technical trickery.
And hopefully, I’m even gonna record a video after I’ve done this because I’m sat here anyway.
Any chunks you get, know that you’re creating content. Any chunks that you can create value, whether it’s on your phone and shaky, that’s fine.
Because if you have a look at my no excuses Vlogs where I’m walking on the canal because I felt like it, right?
Value first.
And it doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as I can see and hear okay without painfully hurting them, and you’ll be fine.
Samira:
Okay. All right. Thank you very much, Alan. I really appreciate it.
Final words
Now, if you are really helping to not being on camera, there’s 25 channel ideas right here that you can do without your face, or if you want to make your videos better, so you can be on camera, then there’s a playlist here: How to improve your audio, your shaky camera, just generally make better videos.
As a general rule, the better the quality of your video, the better it is for your channel. While channels can—and indeed have—succeed with lower quality video, there is hardly any reason at all not to opt for the highest possible quality you can manage when considering things from a viewers perspective.
However…
As with most things in life, the practical reality of uploading videos in 4K isn’t quite as straightforward. 4K is nowhere near ubiquitous, yet the cost of a good 4K camera over a regular HD camera is not insignificant. The result of this being that you could end up putting considerably more time and effort into making your videos 4K, only to find none of your audience is watching in that resolution. But we want to go a little deeper than that, of course.
So let’s get to it. Should I upload 4k to YouTube? Kind of. If it is something you can already do—if you have a 4K camera, your set is nice and dressed up, you’ve mastered your makeup game, and you have a beefy Internet connection and a beefier computer, there’s no reason to not upload in 4K. If some or all of these things are not true, however, you need to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding 4K is for you.
What is 4K?
Let’s start with the basics. Before you decide whether 4K is right for your channel, you should know what it is you’re deciding about. 4K is a somewhat gimmicky name given to the latest standard screen resolution to hit the market. The name could come either from the fact that the horizontal resolution of 4K is almost 4,000 pixels or from the fact that there is exactly 4x the number of pixels in a 1080p display.
4K represents several challenges from a creator’s standpoint, from recording to editing and, ultimately, streaming. Not only do you need a camera capable of 4K, but it also needs to be a good camera, as poor quality video will be considerably more apparent at that resolution. You also need a computer capable of editing such high-resolution footage. As anyone who has rendered a video before can tell you; video editing is not light work.
You also need to pay more attention to yourself, your set, and anything that might be in the shot when filming. The increased resolution of 4K will bring a lot more detail into the light.
Finally, there is the issue of streaming. Internet speeds may be increasing all the time, but many homes don’t have a fast enough connection to stream 4K content, and certainly not at higher frame rates.
For reference, here are the different standard resolutions broken down.
Resolution
Up to 30FPS
Up to 60FPS
2160p (4k) 3840×2160
35-45 Mbps
53-68 Mbps
1440p (2k) 2560×1440
16 Mbps
24 Mbps
1080p (Full HD) 1920×1080
8 Mbps
12 Mbps
720p (Std HD) 1280×720
5 Mbps
7.5 Mbps
480p (DVD) 720×480
4 Mbps
4 Mbps
Of course, the average Internet connection speed in most developed countries has risen in the 100s, but it is important to remember that averages can be easily skewed by a relatively small number of abnormally high connections. And there is also the possibility that all of a households internet connection will not be available, such as would be the case if someone were watching Netflix at the same time your viewer is attempting to stream your 4K content.
One final thing to factor in is your connection. As fast as Internet speeds are getting, upload speeds have always been notoriously slow in comparison. Having to wait 4x as long for your video to upload (plus additional processing time at YouTube’s end) might not be an issue for you, but it’s worth mentioning.
4K Represents a Tiny Slice of the Market
Finding concrete statistics on 4K as it pertains to YouTube is not easy. What we can safely say is that only a tiny share of computer users online have their resolutions set to 4K. As shown by screenresolutions.org (at the time of writing), only 0.12% of users online are using 4K resolution, with 2K just creeping inside the top ten, and regular 1080p (1K, if you like) topping the list by a wide margin.
“But what about TVs?” I hear you yell. Well, more and more people are indeed watching YouTube through their TV, thanks to the prevalence of things like Amazon’s Fire Stick, Smart TVs and gaming consoles with an app ecosystem. However, 4K TVs are still vastly outnumbered by 1080p, so even if every TV owner on the planet was watching YouTube on their television rather than their computer, 4K would still be in the minority.
To briefly touch on phones since, of course, mobile devices are the most popular kind of device for watching YouTube on. While it is true that many—probably most—modern phones can display 4K videos, it’s something of a moot point since our feeble human eyes can’t tell the difference on screens that small. It is estimated that a healthy human eye can discern detail up to 326ppi (pixels per inch). 1080p on an average mobile phone screen is already higher than that, so increasing the pixel density further won’t make a noticeable difference.
4K is Growing
Now that we’ve talked about how small a market 4K is for YouTube let’s look to the future. 4K TV sales are increasing exponentially, and the ever-hungry PC gaming market is driving the sales of 4K monitors. Furthermore, the cost of making a 4K device is dropping to the point that the Smart TV Effect is beginning to take hold.
If you’ve never heard of the Smart TV Effect before… that’s because we just made it up, but the premise is simple enough. The “smart” part of smart TVs is notoriously terrible. There are exceptions, of course, but most smart TV interfaces are clunky, slow, and generally unpleasant to use. So why, then are they in almost every television?
The answer is because it got so cheap to add to their product that it was worth it just to get that “Smart TV” sticker on the box, it doesn’t matter if nobody wants a smart TV, it became almost impossible to buy one without it.
4K is heading in the same direction. The cost of making 4K TVs is dropping, which means the cost of the TVs themselves is dropping, too. 4K is proving to be a powerful marketing tool, if not a particularly useful feature given the lack of 4K content.
So what does all this mean for YouTubers? Well, 4K is a significant minority now, but it almost certainly won’t be staying that way. So when you consider whether or not you want to record your videos in 4K, you need to think about how important having the best possible quality is to your channel. Right now, 1080p is good enough, but 4K is coming.
Should I Upload 4K to YouTube?
So, now we have laid out all the basic information, how do you decide? We can get one straight forward answer out of the way easily enough. If you already have the means to record in 4K, and the thing you are recording is ready (remember, every imperfection, be it on you or your set, will be 4x larger), your computer is up to the task of editing, and the additional upload times do not bother you, then there is no reason not to upload in 4K.
YouTube will automatically process lower-resolution versions of your video, which will then be delivered to those who are not viewing on a 4K screen, so nothing will change for them. But you will be future-proofing your videos. Not to mention; with the lack of 4K content available right now, you may even gain viewers just through virtue of having 4K video on your channel.
But what about everyone else? What if you don’t have a means of recording 4K, or your computer wouldn’t be able to handle the editing even if you did? Is it worth taking steps to get 4K video?
This will depend on your channel. If you are making software tutorial videos, you shouldn’t be in too much of a rush to switch. The important thing there is clarity. If your viewers can see what it is you’re doing on screen, that’s good enough. If you can relatively easily switch to 4K, by all means, do it. If it’s going to be too difficult or expensive, don’t worry about it.
The same can be said for most types of channel, actually. For the most part, the benefits of moving to 4K right now are not big enough to warrant the cost and effort involved. But are there any types of channel where switching to 4K should be considered a priority? As a matter of fact, yes. Any channel where the viewing experience is paramount should consider getting onto 4K as soon as possible. This is as much for future-proofing your videos as it is for capturing current viewers. Videos like this tend to be evergreen—that is, they remain relevant long after they are uploaded. An example of such a video might be nature videos or aerial drone footage.
In two years, if somebody wants to watch “3 hours of serene woodland ambience”, they are not going to care if your video is two years old, but they might care if it is only available in 1080p when everything else is in 4K.
Tips When Switching to 4K
So you’ve decided that 4K is a good move for your channel? Great! Here are some things to think about.
Prepare Yourself
We’ve touched on it a little in this post. For better or worse, 4K video offers considerably more detail, which means your viewers will be able to make things out that they wouldn’t before.
If you like to look good on your stream, you might need to up your prep game. You should also take special care to make sure there is nothing in the shot that you don’t want public. This can include address labels, serial numbers, and any other potentially sensitive information.
You should do this anyway, of course, but the chances of a viewer being able to read the address on a label a few metres behind you in 1080p are pretty slim. Not so much with 4K.
Scale Up Your Text
This applies mostly to videos where text is a significant part of the content, such as with software tutorials. It’s important to remember that, while the resolution may be 4x larger than 1080p, the screens that your video is being viewed on are not.
Or, to put it another way, the same text that is legible on a 24″ 1080p screen will be 4x smaller on a 24″ 4K screen.
When you make the switch to 4K, you will need to rethink your various designs, such as end screens and lower thirds. Any text that would have been considered small in 1080p will need increasing in size when you switch to 4K.
Let People Know
If you are going to make the switch to 4K, be sure to let people know. This can be as simple as adding an “in 4K” to the end of your video title, and certainly tagging it and mentioning it in the description.
You will now be offering a type of content that is rare, so you want to capture that niche audience while you can.
Conclusions
The price of 4K equipment—both recording and watching—will continue to drop as it becomes more prevalent. There will come a time when the switch to 4K will not be as difficult as it is now.
That being said, there is an element of “getting in on the ground floor” about being a 4K YouTuber in 2020, and it could be a great way to gain extra subscribers that might not otherwise have checked out your channel.
Still, it is not a cheap transition to make. If that leap is too big for you at this moment in time, don’t sweat it. Most of us are watching in 1080p anyway.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
With all the success that people from all walks of life have been able to find on YouTube, it’s no surprise that more and more of us want to find a way into this seemingly endless community.
Regardless of how obscure or specific your interests are, there will undoubtedly be a YouTuber making content you want. And if there isn’t, you can always become that YouTuber yourself!
The convenience of ubiquitous inter-connectivity and high speed Internet has brought us to a point where we no longer have to choose from a limited selection of entertainment, all geared towards the lowest common denominator in a bid to capture the most market share. And that door swings both ways, because any content you feel the urge to make, there is a strong chance you will find an audience for it.
That being said, getting started on YouTube can be a little daunting, especially if you have never done anything like this before. Even knowing what hardware you need, what software to use, can be confusing, never mind how you get to actually publishing a video.
Fortunately, we are here to help. Keep reading for a thorough grounding in how to record YouTube videos at home.
Planning
If you are planning just to make YouTube content for your own enjoyment, and genuinely do not care if other people watch it, you can probably skip this bit. If, on the other hand, you have any ambition to grow your YouTube channel, you need to put a little thought into how you might go about it.
Now, you don’t need to have a detailed plan covering every single aspect of your YouTube career from now into the distant future, but merely turning the camera on and hoping for the best is unlikely to breed success. At least, not as quickly as having a plan will.
The first thing to think about is what market your videos will be aimed at. Finding your niche is perhaps the most critical thing you can do to ensure success—after making good content, of course.
The more focused your niche, the better your chances of attracting an audience.
This is because smaller markets tend to have less competition and more engaged audiences. So, while the potential size of your audience is much lower than a broader niche, you will be able to attract a higher portion of that possible audience, and they will be more invested in your content.
For this reason, you should attempt to drill down into the topic you are interested in making videos about, and find the most specific version of that interest that you are comfortable with.
For example, if you are a keyboard enthusiast, and plan to make videos reviewing different keyboards, consider focusing on a specific subset of keyboards, such as mechanical, gaming, ergonomic, or any other attribute that narrows the focus of your videos.
Once you know the boundaries of your niche, you can gear any promotion, related social media accounts, and SEO towards it.
Getting Started: Content
I’m sure you’re expecting this, and we both know it has to be said, so let’s do this first.
Content. Is. King.
The content you produce is the foundation upon which your YouTube empire will be built. You can use cunning tactics to build that empire and sustain it, but if your foundations are weak—if that content is not attractive to your viewers—it will all come tumbling down eventually. It is only a matter of time.
Getting Started: Equipment
Let’s start by simply saying, if you have a relatively recent smartphone, you already have all the hardware you need.
Sure, you can buy something a little more professional (and we’ll get to that in a moment) but if you don’t want to put that kind of financial commitment into your channel just yet, any mid-to-high-end smartphone from the past few years will do a more than a passable job. But let’s talk about taking it to the next level.
To simplify this topic a little, we are going to break YouTube videos down into two main types: onscreen and offscreen. Onscreen videos, as the name suggests, will feature you in the video itself, on camera. This is probably the most common form of YouTube video. A popular example of this would be a vlog, where the YouTuber talks to the camera as though it were the audience.
The other type—offscreen—where you are not on camera, is common in software tutorials, and list videos that are made up of a series of clips from movies or other videos.
If you need ideas for channels or videos where you are not on screen I have a blog with 12 YouTube Channel Ideas Without Showing Your Face – The perfect way to make a channel if you don’t want to be to be the “face” of the brand.
The difference, of course, is that you do not need a camera to make videos where you are not onscreen. What you do need, regardless of whether you are on screen or not, however, is decent audio.
While high-quality video is definitely better than poor quality video, viewers tend to be forgiving if the quality of the video is not critical to the content, as it would be in a software tutorial. What they are less forgiving of is poor quality audio. Whether it’s excessive background noise, clicking and popping, interference, or any number of other things. This kind of thing can really grate on people in the same way that many people don’t like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, or cutlery scratching a plate.
With that in mind, the first piece of equipment you should focus on upgrading is your microphone.
Audio
For the most part, a decent USB microphone will do the job just fine. Blue, in particular, make some great USB microphones spanning the price spectrum.
If you want to take it a step further, you will almost certainly need to get hold of an audio interface as well. Audio interfaces can come in many shapes and sizes, from small and inexpensive to multi-channel beasts that cost the same as a small computer.
Audio interfaces provide crystal clear, low latency audio input for your professional-grade microphones (or other instruments), as well as provide the necessary power to run those microphones.
I personally use a Boya BY-MM1 microphone and works wonders with my phone and camera – I even did a deep dive blog on the Boya-BY MM1 it and it has a very cool sound improving feature.
Video
When you start getting into camera upgrades, things can get very expensive, very fast. There are not many budget options that will give you better quality than a typical iPhone or high-end Android phone.
Just be sure to do your research, do not put too much stock in the various numbers manufacturers like to put on the box. Things like resolution and framerate aren’t the be-all and end-all of camera quality. And, remember, if something looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
One thing to note is that you shouldn’t be afraid to use less conventional means if they work for you. One such example would be using an HDMI capture device to turn a standalone camera into a webcam of sorts.
The Rest
Regarding other equipment, we could talk about when getting your perfect YouTube set up together; there’s too much to cover in this post. Needless to say, things like acoustic treatment and lighting are essential to producing the best content possible.
Lighting, in particular, can do wonders for your video quality. A great camera can still produce poor video in a bad light; however, even a mediocre camera can do good work if accompanied by good lighting.
Finding a Location to Film In
Finding a somewhere in your home to film is a topic that could fill a post of its own, but we’ll do our best to cover the basics. Your priority should be finding somewhere you can set up permanently. That is, somewhere you wouldn’t have to remove your gear in between videos.
This will allow you to set up things like lighting and acoustic treatment—things you can’t easily put up and take down every time you want to record a video. A permanent location can be anywhere from a spare room or your bedroom, to a closet or the garage. Anywhere that won’t upset anyone you might be living with.
Need inspiration for places to record in around your house? I have been making videos for over 8 years so I have pulled together a list of some of my favorite places to film in my home – some are very imaginative!
If you can’t find such a spot, you will have to try and make your YouTube set up portable so that it can be moved in between recordings. Consider things like getting a microphone with a tighter pickup pattern, so that it picks up less background noise. Opt for a smaller, more portable lighting rig. And, obviously, a laptop over a desktop computer.
Your Set
Having an interesting backdrop to your videos is by no means essential, but it does help to give your videos a little extra flair, not to mention a touch of personality.
The key to an excellent backdrop is to make sure it does not overpower the focus of the video, whether that focus is you, some product you are showing off, or anything else that you want the viewers to be paying attention to.
Be sure to keep things relevant, as well. If you are running a straight cooking channel, it would be confusing if your backdrop had a guitar mounted on the wall. Lighting is an excellent tool for this purpose, but the lighting should not overpower your camera lighting. If you can afford a camera with near-focus, dialing the focus to give the background a slight blur can help to keep the attention on what’s important.
Once you have been making videos for a while, try to incorporate things into your backdrop that speak to the history of your channel. For example, if you were running a craft channel, where you show your viewers how to make things, have some of your more impressive builds in the backdrop.
Little touches like this not only show what your channel is about, they create a sense of connection with long time viewers, who know what these elements of your backdrop represent.
Recording Times
Choosing when to record a video can be a little tricky, especially if you live with others, or have neighbours with thin walls. Most new YouTubers will be making their videos around a job or school. This severely cuts down the time available to record in.
Factor a social life, spending time with your children, being a child, and you may quickly find the main reason many YouTubers end up quitting.
How much time you dedicate to your channel will depend entirely on how seriously you want to take it. If you have big plans for your YouTube career, we recommend setting aside time solely for working on your channel. That time could be spent writing a script, editing, researching and, of course, recording. You shouldn’t work yourself into the ground, of course.
Be reasonable with your scheduling. But the more you treat your channel like a job, the more likely it is that it could one day become one.
Do Not Be Afraid to Scrap Content
Once you have started filming your videos, the next step is to upload them… or is it? Not every video is gold; even experienced YouTubers occasionally make a video they are not happy.
One of the curses—and blessings—of YouTube is that content can have a shelf life far greater than the few days or weeks after you upload it. That is great because it means your videos have the potential to reach new viewers much farther down the line. But it can also be detrimental because first impressions are a big deal.
If you upload poor content, the chances of a new viewer stumbling across that content and becoming a subscriber are pretty slim. It won’t matter that the video was a one-off and most of them are top-notch. Or that it was a long time ago and you’ve improved since then. Most of the time, they will assume that this what your content looks like, and move on.
That is why you need to be honest with yourself about your content. Get friends or family to watch for second opinions if you have to, though you will know if you are honest with yourself.
We know a lot of work goes into a video, but if that video ends up being below par, you have to let it go.
Faster, easier to worth with and smaller files in Adobe Premiere Pro with these 4K Export Settings!
Today we are going to deep dive into what 4K video is, why it’s slowly replacing 1080p and what settings to use to make it painless to use!
Just because you’re shooting in 4K, that doesn’t mean you have to work in 4K. For many projects, 1080p is good enough.
The benefit of shooting in 4K is a quadrupled resolution, allowing you to zoom in cleanly since you have a much better source video to work with.
This is perfect for cutting to close-ups, effectively eliminating jump-cuts from your finished product entirely.
This effect can commonly be seen in single-camera interviews, where the perspective shifts between a wide full-body shot and a close-up shot of the interviewee talking. Pull it off well and it can be used for dramatic effect to add emphasis and connect better with the subject.
Even if your end product will be 1080p, shooting 4K will deliver a higher quality down-sampled image.
Capturing four times the amount of information you need won’t produce an image that’s four times better looking, but the end result will be noticeably sharper.
You’ll also reduce the chance of color banding, since most cameras record 4K at a higher bitrate. That means more color detail is captured, which will vastly improve gradual changes, like deep blue skies or other solid colors.
Sometimes the camera makes all the difference. Many modern mirrorless, digital SLR, and cinema cameras shoot 4K using larger sensors, effectively down-sampling a 6K or 8K image to 4K (like the relatively cheap Sony a6300, above). The Panasonic GH5 even does 6K video and 4K video at a bit-rate of 400 megabits-per-second.
Yes, there are many 1080p cameras that will shoot better HD footage than a cheap 4K camera.
What Is 4K? Do I need 4K Video?
We hear the word 4K every day in several places such as on youtube picture quality, gaming, in the specification of electronic devices like cameras, television, laptop, etc.
But what did this term mean? 4K means a digital resolution of approximately 4000 pixels; there are several different resolutions in 4K. 4K aka UHD (Ultra-high Definition), has a standard resolution as a 4K digital television of 3840*2160 with narrow borders, or 4096*2160 without borders – as popular in movies.
The picture quality of 4K content is very sharp, colorful, and professional; 4k quality enhances the user experience. It highlights every detail of the videos, let us have a quick eye on some of the advantages and disadvantages of 4K picture quality.
4K YouTube Videos vs 1080p YouTube Videos
4K is known as Ultra High Definition (UHD), whilst 1080P is simply labelled High Definition. As their names imply, 4K UHD has a considerably higher resolution than 1080P HD video. 4K resolution is exactly 3840 x 2160 pixels, whilst 1080P consists of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
The 4K designation refers to the close to 4000 horizontal pixels. Traditionally, resolution had been labelled according to vertical pixels and in the case of 1080P, 1080 vertical lines make up that high definition resolution. By comparison, 4K features 2160 pixels vertically; a considerable increase.
At an aspect ratio of 16:9, 4K contains almost four times the number of pixels on a screen compared with 1080P technology – more than eight million pixels for 4K and just two million pixels for 1080P.
This massive difference brings about some important advantages for 4K when one compares it to the quality of a 1080P video.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
How To Open A Facebook Fan Page is a question we are asked on a Regular basis. Creating a Facebook Page for your business or brand is a great step towards building a social media brand.
Facebook is the largest social media platform online and is easily the most recognisable brand that you can adopt to share your own business and brand with possible future clients.
Facebook Pages can be a very powerful tool to get your name out there and expand the reach of your companies brand.
You and advertise upcoming events, publish recent blogs, share achievements and sell products directly to a marketplace. The best thing about Facebook and its huge client reach potential? — IT’S FREE!!!
1080pMost people use 1080p of Full HD to upload to YouTube. Its easy to use, fast to render in and good for uploads. But did you know that you can make it faster to upload to YouTube and small files sizes with a few tweaks.
My YouTube export settings for Adobe Premier Pro CC to guarantee maximum quality, faster tendering times, quick uploads and smaller files.
Resolution and aspect ratio
The standard aspect ratio for YouTube on a computer is 16:9. When uploading other aspect ratios (vertical, square, etc.), the player automatically adapts itself to the size of the video, giving the best viewing experience based on the aspect ratio and device.
Content should be encoded and uploaded using the same frame rate that was used during recording.
Common frame rates include: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames per second (other frame rates are also acceptable).
Interlaced content should be deinterlaced before uploading. For example, 1080i60 content should be deinterlaced to 1080p30. 60 interlaced fields per second should be deinterlaced to 30 progressive frames per second.
The bitrates below are recommendations for uploads. Audio playback bitrate is not related to video resolution.
Recommended video bitrates for SDR uploads
To view new 4K uploads in 4K, use a browser or device that supports VP9.
YouTube video timestamps now come with skippable chapters that can help you rank better in search. Learn how to add chapters to youtube videos with time stamps and why they are so useful for YouTube and Google search results.
The new time stamp video chapters for YouTube videos give you the opportunity to add relevant sub titles to sections of your videos. This means people can skip to these parts quicker, helping them get the answer they want more directly. These snippets can work well for youtube promotion as they can also be found by Google and using in the search results as video snippets or result snippets for quick answers in results.
What Are YouTube Video Timestamps?
Timestamps on YouTube videos give you the chance to skim through the video quickly and find what you are looking for using the mini sub headings.
The timestamps are normally added to the video description by the video creator. You start with 0:00 to show YouTube where the video starts and you add time stamps to important parts of the video with index marks for example “2:53 – Step By Step Tutorial”.
YouTube video chapters can help you find the important part of the video faster.
If you are a creator and you upload videos, the chapters give you the opportunity to add additional, relevant keywords to the description of the video.
Why add keywords to the description?
YouTube search and google works on relevancy and meta data. If you post a video tutorial that has 5-6 different parts to it then you can section it out. Each questions could have a time stamp. Each of those time stamps could be a search term and each could have a chance of dominating search results with google snippets.
What Are Google Snippets?
Google Snippets (featured snippets) are short selections of text or clips of YouTube videos appearing at the top of Google’s search results that are designed to answer a searcher’s query.
The content that appears inside of a Featured Snippet is automatically pulled from web pages in Google’s index or snippets from YouTube Videos with timestamps. Common types of Featured Snippets include definitions, tables, steps and lists.
How featured snippets are chosen?
Featured snippets come from web search listings. Google’s automated systems determine whether a page would make a good featured snippet to highlight for a specific search request.
YouTube have recently updated to the new YouTube studio. There are many new features but some of us still prefer the “old” classic creator dashboard.
How To Access YouTube Studio Classic Mode?
To access the old YouTube Studio click on your avatar in the top left hand corner and goto your channel home page. Click on the big blue customise channel button. This is display the only channel design, now click on your subscriber number and it will load you into the old dashboard. Simply click all videos and enjoy the classic studio.
Old YouTube Creator Studio – YouTube Studio Beta is being rolled out and will be the default dashboard for all users in early 2020. But if you’re like me, you prefer the familiar basic look and feel of the classic mode. So this is how you can still access classic mode.
In February, YouTube devs started auto-defaulting users to new Studio, regardless of their previous choice. For the time being, Classic is going to stay, but old platform’s days are practically numbered. How can we still switch back to good old classic version and set it to be our default – at least, while it lasts and YouTube doesn’t permanently shut it down?
We still prefer Classic over new Studio version. Force of habit is probably a dominant cause in this case, let’s admit that right now. Classic still offers a lot of features which Studio doesn’t at the moment, despite the fact that it receives constant updates with ported features and analytics charts literally on a weekly basis, getting new existing and exclusive ones like impressions and click-through rates, performance comparison between videos/channels, and easing access to others, like subscribers per each video and so on.
Still, one feature that we really miss is the x-axis time control. We still cannot select x-axis reporting interval and set it to be weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly or pre-defined rolling range in order to more easily visualize and see cumulative growth (or regression) over time on a simplified chart. With so much data available, it is often easy to miss a forest for a single tree.
Need help ranking your videos and growing your YouTube channel – I have a whole page of tools that can help you get started!
Another, relatively recent change, that is going away with Classic design is the top-left MENU button, that allowed direct access to MAIN YouTube menu (History, My Channel, Subscriptions, Trending, Premium, YouTube TV …), which now doesn’t do that any more. Instead, it does simple Collapse Menu action. Same thing happened to main YouTube page, where it collapses the menu, instead providing access to useful shortcuts.
Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
It’s time learn how to go live on facebook! Facebook Live is great for livestreaming on facebook with Webcam lessons, remote learning, talking with family members or vlogging. Live stream to facebook from your pc, add polls, screen share and more in this how to use facebook live tutorial.
How To Livestream on Facebook Tutorial
0:15 – Start of How To Facebook live stream tutorial
0:24 – Facebook livestream dashboard
1:03 – How To Live Steam from a Facebook Page
1:27 – How To Crosspost Facebook Livestream
2:03 – How To Screen Share on Facebook Live
SECRET YouTube Debug Mode Feature for Frame rates, codecs, dropped frames, streaming quality all useful youtube stats for nerds that are hidden in plain view.
What is YouTube Stats for Nerds?
Stats for nerds is an inbuilt feature of YouTube app desktop and mobile including detailed statistics for video stats, audio and video formats, video ID, your current bandwidth, viewport, dropped frames, etc. It can help you find important info and troubleshoot your Internet (mobile data) issues.
On any YouTube video, if you right-click or control-click on the video, you will be presented with a contextual menu. In this menu, you will find a few options, such as the ability to set the video to loop, copy the URL of the video, copy a timestamped URL to share the specific location in the video, and few others.
Need some help in understanding what each of these options means then check out my YouTube Stats for Nerds EXPLAINED deep dive article where I look into these youtube stats for nerds, what they mean, how they impact your video and how you can use them to boost your luck in the youtube algorithm game.
Why Use YouTube Stats For Nerds?
This is a handy little tool if you love the fine details of YouTube and content creation.
These hidden gems can help you see what codec you are using, how well your video is performing from a technical standpoint and if you are a tech junkie its a little hidden extra look behind the scenes.
This could also be interesting for starting a YouTube gaming channel as you can see what video encoding service youtube is using for your videos. YouTube has different formats for footage depending on 4k, 1080p and even footage frame-rates which might effect your end product.
Why Does The YouTube Video File Format Matter?
Different types of video file formats exist for a reason: each one has slightly different methods of organizing the content within them, so it can affect playback, even if only slightly.
The YouTube stats for nerds can identify file formats for you. Different types of file formats and file containers may or may not be compatible with certain types of players.
Some file formats can take a single video and create a larger file size than others, which can impact the ability to upload it to certain platforms, too.
Since YouTube is all about video, it’s of course important to choose the video file format that will benefit you most. I have even done a video to show you the best 1080p HD Adobe Premier Pro Settings for YouTube or 4K videos below.
What Is The Difference Between File Containers and File Codecs?
One thing that we want to look at really quickly is the different between video file containers and video file codecs, because this will be relevant in a few minutes.
Video file containers will include how the video content is organized, and will include options that most people are familiar with, like .MP4 or .MOV which are used for Facebook video and Instagram file formats. Most file formats are ultimately named after their container.
Need help ranking your videos and growing your YouTube channel – I have a whole page of tools that can help you get started!
File codecs, on the other hand, is what’s used to compress and then decompress the file.
Certain, low-quality codecs can result in poor compression and decompression; though they can create smaller video files in many cases, the video quality is also much poorer.
As long as your video file is under YouTube’s maximum limit, always opt for the lossless codecs that yield the highest quality of video, even if it takes a little longer for it to upload.
Almost all video editors and creators will give you the option to choose what file format you’d like to save your content in, and the majority at least over .MOV, .MPEG4, and/or .MP4 file formats.
What’s the Best YouTube Video Format?
The best YouTube video format based on the platform’s recommendations is the .MP4 file type. Additionally, YouTube also recommends opting for the following in order to be able to create high quality 1080p HD content:
264 codec(which is one of the most efficient options out there, allowing for a small file size without sacrificing video quality)
15-20 mbps
A standard aspect ratio of 16:9(this is particularly important for mobile)
An audio codec of AAC-LC
That being said, if you absolutely can’t upload .MP4 files for whatever reason, .MOV files can work well, too. However, try to keep the H.264 codecs and aspect ratios consistent for ideal video quality on the platform.
YouTube accepts a number of different video formats, but they have recommendations for what can generate the best results and most high quality video on their platform.
States for Nerds – More Technical Requirements
When you’re creating your YouTube video and getting it ready for upload, there are a few more technical requirements and general best practices that you’ll want to be aware of in order to 1) be able to even upload your video on YouTube and 2) ensure that it looks great and is most likely to be well received by your audience.
Here are the other technical requirements that you should be keeping in mind to help your channel skyrocket to success:
The maximum file size that you can upload is either 128GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. Some older videos may be longer than 12 hours, but that cut off has been reduced. (Although really, that’s for the best; you’re going to lose people like crazy if you’re going more than 12 hours and it sounds like a nightmare to edit).
Stick to that 16:9 aspect ratio. You really want your videos to show up well when users are watching, whether they’re watching on desktop or mobile. It’s particularly important on mobile– especially with 70% of views coming from mobile— so that the video can scale properly to full screen, making it easier for users to see and engage with.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
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![What Are YouTube Categories? [Do They Matter?]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B003-001.jpg)
![What Are YouTube Categories? [Do They Matter?]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B003-002.jpg)
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![YouTube Sub 4 Sub [The Truth]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B010-001.jpg)
![YouTube Sub 4 Sub [The Truth]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B010-002.jpg)
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![Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B001-001.jpg)
![Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B001-002.jpg)
![Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B001-004.jpg)
![Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B001-005.jpg)
![Scared To Be On Camera? [WATCH THIS!]](https://alanspicer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B001-006.jpg)
