Annotations are like notes that YouTubers can add to their videos. Annotations come in a few different forms, such as speech bubbles and note boxes, and they are used in many different ways.
Using annotations is very helpful for gaining popularity on YouTube, and here are four ways that you can make the most of out of them!
1. Add an annotation to a specific time and place in your video.
First, how exactly do you add an annotation? After you have posted a video on YouTube, go to your video manager. Click on the down arrow next the “Edit” button (next to your video) and select “Annotations.” Then, select “Add Annotations,” and the specific options for adding the annotation will pop up. Here, you can select the exact time and place in the video in which you can add the annotation, the type of annotation, and the annotation text.
Watch this video for a more detailed and visual explanation of inserting annotations.
2. Insert links to websites that you reference in your video.
Another great way to use annotations is to insert links into your videos. These links can be in reference to anything you mention in your video. If you’re talking about someone, you can promote him or her by inserting the link to the appropriate YouTube channel. If you’re talking about an event, you can encourage your viewers to attend by inserting the link to the event page.
You can insert links for anything, and annotations make these links very visible and easy to access for your viewers. Take a look at Miranda Sings’ and Rebecca Black’s collaboration video, in which there are annotations for subscribing to both YouTubers.
3. Use annotations to be comedic.
This may be a little surprising, but annotations can actually add a lot of humor to your videos! You can use annotations to include funny side thoughts, jokes, and random commentary in your videos. If you’re doing a video with someone else, you joke with him or her (or even yourself) by adding ridiculous speech bubbles. You can even include links to funny websites in your annotations. For comedic annotations, the possibilities are endless.
Check out this hilarious video that relies on annotations!
4. Remind viewers to like, comment, and subscribe.
Perhaps the most common and important way to use annotations is for a call to action. All successful YouTubers know the importance of asking their viewers to like, comment, and subscribe at the end of their videos. When YouTubers insert annotations for these options, they make it very easy for viewers to actually do these things!
Annotations are also great for asking viewers to like, comment, and subscribe because you can insert the icons for these buttons into the annotations and make them visually appealing. You can also include links to their other videos. Finally, if you don’t want to verbally include a call to action in your video (for example, if you’re making a serious video), then you can just include the annotations and make the call to action more subtle.
Here’s a tutorial on how to create a “subscribe” annotation.
Using annotations is a great idea for any YouTuber. Annotations make your video more interesting and layered, and they make it easier for viewers to access links that you want to share! If you frequently use and take advantage of annotations in your videos, your YouTube popularity will certainly grow.
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David Yaghutiel is a Bay Area native who enjoys traveling, theatre, playing the ukulele, and learning as much about the world as he possibly can. He also occasionally daylights as a senior at UCLA.
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