Have you asked yourself, Are YouTube shorts worth it? After seeing how popular short, vertical videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels were, the big online video company Youtube decided not to fall behind. But are Youtube Shorts any good? Do they have value? Here, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about it before you use it in your video marketing strategy.
What Are YouTube Shorts?
As we already knew, YouTube Shorts are just short online videos that are shown in a vertical format (up to 60 seconds).
Note that you can only make and upload these videos with a mobile device. But anyone can watch them, regardless of what device they use.
The traditional horizontal and long-form videos have been joined by these videos that live on the YouTube platform. YouTube says that shorts are “easy to consume” and have a “broad appeal” because you can share a wide range of sounds, trends, and information with your audience through a video.
Technical Considerations
If you want to know how long YouTube Shorts can be or what their aspect ratio is, you can find that information here. You can share it with your graphic designer or use it to make YouTube Shorts yourself. But if you want to record a video from scratch (directly on YouTube), you won’t have to guess these things because the video will automatically record with these settings.
- Length: up to one minute
- Use the 9:16 ratio for videos that are going up and down
- You can also upload a video with a 1:1 ratio, but it will look like a square with black borders
- Resolution: 1080 x 1920 px
- Max File Size: 2 MB
- File Format: .MP4 and .MOV
How to Make YouTube Shorts?
For YouTube Shorts, you can either upload a video that is already made or make one from scratch.
Features
Text, sounds and songs, photograms, and filters can be added to both options.
If you want to make a video from scratch, you can use the front and back cameras, add a timer, and change the speed from 0.3X to 3X with the YouTube Shorts editor. Plus the things we talked about above.
How to Upload Shorts on YouTube?
Start the YouTube app on your phone.
Click on “Shorts” in the bar at the bottom.
Then you’ll see the section for Shorts videos. Then, to make your first Short, click the camera button in the upper right corner.
There will be the YouTube Shorts editor. You can either make a new video or upload one that you have already made.
Where Do You Find YouTube Shorts?
As we’ve already said, shorts are a tool and extra that you can find on YouTube. Here are the different places you can find them:
On the landing page. Here is a row of different Shorts, so you can swipe right until you find one that looks interesting.
By using the search box. You’ll be able to find Shorts that match what you’re looking for by using hashtags and keywords. The videos will be shown at the top of the search results or right away.
By clicking on a channel right away. You will be able to watch the newest Shorts video right away. But at the bottom of the channel, there is a mosaic with a six-shorts gallery.
Let the alarm bell go off! This will depend on YouTube’s algorithm, but the alert won’t always show up when a Short is up.
Feed for subscriptions. In this part, they are first seen by the subs. Here, you can watch them one at a time or up to 15 of them in a row. If none of them grab your attention, you can click “View all.”
Section of shorts. Of course, it had to be on this list, since it’s so obvious. Here, kick back and get ready to watch as much as you want for as long as you want.
Let’s Talk About Money
So, let’s get this straight. Creators of YouTube Shorts can’t make money from ads like they can with traditional videos. So, the red company made a decision to start a Fund.
The official Google support site says that the Fund was made to help creators. Its value goes up to $100 million to “reward creators for working hard to make creative, original Shorts that make the YouTube community happy.” So, the creators who were chosen get a bonus of between $100 and $10,000.
You can’t sign up or send an application. Instead, the YouTube team contacts the creators directly based on the requirements and the content of their videos.
Why Do We Like YouTube Shorts?
First of all, Shorts can be found everywhere. So anyone can make their own content!
They are perfect for getting news out quickly without making a long video.
The only thing viewers have to do to keep watching and find more Shorts is to scroll down.
They put you in touch with more people and help you get your videos seen and gain followers quickly.
Advertisers benefit from the fact that ads are now shown in the “Shorts” tab.
On this platform, the “Subscribe” button is clearly bigger than on others. It’s also a bright red color, which makes it easier to click on.
Shorts are great for channels that already have a strong following because their subscribers are the first to see their videos.
Lastly, it’s a platform that kids and adults of all ages use.
Why Do We Give Them Thumbs Down?
Compared to other vertical video platforms, there aren’t as many videos, and some of them tend to be the same.
YouTube Shorts can’t be used to make money.
Metrics and statistics are not very advanced.
The Shorts video editor is pretty simple and doesn’t have any AI features.
There is no way to save videos (by an Internet user).
Even if you have made great content, you can’t get paid for it if YouTube Shorts doesn’t invite you to the creator’s Fund. This is true no matter how much work you put into it.
New Shorts accounts that start from scratch aren’t likely to do well because they don’t get many views or comments. One video can, however, go viral, but this doesn’t happen very often.
How Often Should You Post YouTube Shorts?
This will depend on your channel and what you want to accomplish, but you don’t have to follow every trend. So, YouTube stresses that you should make content as long as you think it’s appropriate. Authenticity is important, and your videos will show that. Also, keep in mind that the quality of your videos is more important than how many you post. So, make sure it works before you post it.
Final Thoughts: Are YouTube shorts worth it?
Now that we’ve told you everything there is to know about YouTube Shorts, it’s time for our honest opinion. So, if we had to pick one of the three platforms for vertical short videos, YouTube would be the last one.
There are no doubt some good things about it. But it’s not the best choice on the market to focus your goals and energy on because this huge platform’s main goal isn’t the Shorts but the long classic videos. This doesn’t mean they’re useless, though. On the contrary, they’re a great way to add to your YouTube strategy, especially for channels that already have a loyal following.
In this way, they give their community more content that is fun and easy to understand. Also, because fans interact, the content tends to reach people who like it.
On the other hand, people who don’t have a lot of subscribers can still be successful. But the chances aren’t as good because it doesn’t happen often and this wasn’t made for it. But in this case, what can be done is to think about what YouTube recommends and use titles and images that get people’s attention right away. The goal is to get people interested in the video so they will keep watching and talking about it until it goes viral.
