You have a collection of videos you really, really love, and you wanna put into a YouTube playlist. Maybe it’s music, maybe it’s videos for you to watch later. That’s what we’ll talk about today, how to make a YouTube playlist.
How do you make a playlist on YouTube? – There are 3 main ways to make a playlist on YouTube. Channel Dashboard Menu, Mass Adding from Content Page or adding videos from the Video Watch Page.
Channel Dashboard
To make a new playlist from the YouTube Studio Dashboard – Go to your channel dashboard and on the right hand menu click playlist.
Click New Playlist, give it a title and pick if it is public, unlisted or private.
Fill in the description, and then start adding videos from the watch page or your video library.
Mass Add Videos
This is the fastest method for adding your own videos into a new playlist.
Go your creator dashboard, videos page, tick the boxes of the videos you want to add to a playlist.
You will now see a black bar at the top of the videos page with the option to add to playlist. You can select existing playlists or click “New Playlist”.
When clicking “New Playlist” you will have the option to add a title and set the viability – public, unlisted or private – and the videos selected will be automatically added to that new playlist.
Video Watch Page
If you are looking to start a playlist from a video you have just watched this is the fastest way to make a new playlist.
Go to the video you want to watch and click the “Save +” option from under the video.
It will then give you the option to add to existing playlists, the Watch Later queue, or to “Create Playlist”.
You will now have the option to name the new playlist and set its privacy setting – public, unlisted or private.
What is a YouTube playlist?
A YouTube playlist groups videos together. These videos could be created by you or someone else on YouTube. You don’t have to be a creator to make playlists – it’s a way to organize videos with similar characteristics, or as a reminder for later.
Maybe you want to make a playlist of your favourite music videos, or a audio track list to study to. Everyone is used to the idea of a music playlist, so a video playlist is a curation in the similar vein but with more visual elements.
For example – Maybe you really love films and you want to keep an eye out for the up coming movies you want to catch in the cinema by collecting movie trailers in a playlist.
Alternatively, you admire a specific business leader and you want to curate a playlist of motivational quotes, speeches and interviews they have on YouTube.
And importantly – If you are a YouTube creator a YouTube playlist is a good way to group similar content together to help your subscribers discover related videos. That way they are more likely to binge on the playlist, video after video, in a more organic passive manner rather than manually clicking and searching for the next clip.
In a nutshell, playlists make it easy for viewers to find the videos they want to watch – with a few simple clicks, videos are saved and sorted.
Why Make YouTube Playlists?
YouTube as a platform is growing at an alarming rate.
Did you know YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine on the internet?
In fact it is the 2nd largest search engine on the internet and is owned by the LARGEST search engine on the internet – Google!
That means you are constantly swimming into an ever increasing river of new content, videos, articles, songs, channels, influences, tv shows, game trailers and opinions.
The best way to use this huge library of content is to either curate what you love for yourself, or as a creator help curate your content for others.
Here are 4 reasons to make playlists on YouTube…
1. Boost Your Chances Of Being Found
Did you know that Playlist rank in YouTube search results? That’s right its not just videos that you can find in search but well titled and optimized playlists too!
In fact YouTube now have an automated system that has started to group videos into “mix” playlists. These are based on genres, creators, topics and your viewing habits.
And you know if YouTube is automating something – that’s a hint that they find it useful to boost watch time and to grow a brand. So why not give YouTube a hand and start grouping them together yourself!
Creating playlists with a strong focus on keywords gives your channel (and your videos!) more opportunities for exposure to YouTube users.
If no one can find your video, it doesn’t matter how fabulous your content is – you’ll still be missing out on the opportunities a YouTube channel provides.
2. Binge-able Content For Your Subscribers
Playlists can be pinned to your channel home page to make it look active and full of videos.
Think of this like a super market shelf. When you go shopping you look at the shelves and they give you options to choose from. This means you can select what product makes you happy and suits your needs.
In this case I have a few playlists on my home page that group my content together in a theme.
This give my audience a choice of what they want to learn from me and what content they wish to consume – Business, YouTube Hacks, YouTube Feature Tutorials, Personal Vlogs etc
When you first start creating your YouTube channel, this home page is empty and only displays your latest videos and a collection of playlists.
This can look ugly and doesn’t maximise the potential your content has to draw in new viewers or even to start a binge watch session.
You can customise this channel homepage by activating the YouTube Custom Channel Layout.
3. Make It Easy For People To Find Your Videos
I have made 3 videos a week, every week for nearly 3 years. This means I have a large back catalog of videos that people will love but might find it hard to sift through and find.
That is where a playlist can help!
YouTube Video Playlists can be a great way to curate the viewing experience and help them locate your topics faster.
On my channel I teach YouTube tricks and tips, making money from YouTube, how to get more views – and many other related topics.
However, someone who is looking to learn how to add end screens to YouTube videos might not want to watch a 17 minute deep dive into How to improve YouTube video CPM.
Playlists can help funnel your audience into a better viewing experience.
I split my 480+ videos into playlists that are 8-15 videos long at most. That way people can get a collection of related videos that all answer a similar question and make them binge-able for the viewer.
For example – Maybe you found my video about “How to use YouTube to Grow A Business” and would like to learn about youtube affiliate income, how to get brand deals and how to boost video cpm. I can put all of these videos into a playlist and it encourages the viewer to sit down with a cup of tea, a notepad and watch for 3-4 videos longer than just a single video on its own.
4. Playlists Are Content!
Anybody who has started a YouTube has heard the the old mantra that “the more you post the more views you will get” – “you can only grow if you publish regularly”.
There is something in this but its not a hard and fast rule!
ALSO… there is a sneaky trick that could help you pad out how many pieces of “content” you make on YouTube.
Did you know that the only why YouTube can see you have made new content is by a new content id? What that means is that jumble of letters and numbers.
But when you make a Playlist that also makes a new content id – so you do not have to crank out video are to video to make content for YouTube to eat. Playlists will also give signals to YouTube that you are still active and something else for them to rank.
Make YouTube Playlists on Mobile
You can also make playlists while on the go. This can be a good way to save ideas, make a travel playlist or build out something to binge watch while you are out the house… or on the toilet (hiding from your 4 year old who won’t give you 5 minutes to yourself).
If you need help with making playlists on your mobile device then check out the video below.