How to Make Your YouTube Comments Section a Safe Space for Viewers?

YouTube, like any other social media, has its own evils and vices. YouTube creators have often been accused of promoting unrealistic standards, misinformation, hate, and so on. While that concerns individual creators, a more common phenomenon is hate speech and bullying in the comment sections. It can be targeted to the creator or among viewers. If there is a difference of opinion, YouTube hate comments can go to great extents. People can get harassed, bullied, even blackmailed in YouTube comments. To prevent these comments, YouTube introduced a feature where commenters were asked to cross-think what they were about to post. It succeeded in reducing YouTube hate comments to an extent, but it did not magically vanish.

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Why are hate comments a concern for creators?

There are two ways to look at YouTube comments. If you wish to take an apathetic approach, it would not matter to you what people are writing in the comments. There are hundreds to thousands of comments under many videos, and you might want to not be a part of sub-conversations within those conversations. While that approach guarantees mental peace, it is not sustainable for YouTube content creators. Let us tell you why.

As a content creator on YouTube, comments play a big role in understanding how good or bad you are doing. Sure, there is a lot of unnecessary hate in the comment section, but you also get to know a general opinion. That, in turn, can help you improve many aspects of your videos and channel.

If you are someone who pays attention to the comment section, a lot of negative comments will surely bother you. It would be especially concerning if the language and tone of the comments come off as abusive. Harsh comments or even dislikes can leave a deep impact on your psyche, leading you to stop believing in your capability. That is one side of the story.

On the other side of the story, your comment section might become a general place for hate speech and discussions. People could be attacking a certain community or sect in the comment sections, as is evident in the comment section of many YouTubers. When these types of things go on in your comments, it deters new YouTube subscribers and followers. Your existing subscribers wreak such havoc in the comment section that new people feel afraid to comment.

In turn, your comment section ends up becoming an echo chamber where hate speech is responded to by hate speech. It will create a toxic image of your personal brand, and you will face difficulties in growing outside those limitations. Your chances of getting brand deals will go down exponentially, and fellow YouTubers will think twice before collaborating with you.

If you are suffering from this problem or fear that you will, you need to take immediate action. If you do nothing about it, your comment section will pull your YouTube growth down before you even know it.

How to deal with negative comments

Before you decide to take action to make your comment section a better place, you must be clear about your intentions. If you want people to continue their misdemeanor in the comments, you might be going down the wrong path. However, if that is the approach you decide on, your intentions behind cleaning up the comment section might just be an attempt to get more deals and collaborations. Unfortunately, that approach is both shallow and unsustainable. Your bubble will burst ultimately, and it will leave a deep impact on the overall success of your YouTube channel.

However, if you are looking for a sustainable solution, the benefits will show up in their due course. The first thing you need to do is ensure none of your content incites hate. Unless you do that, there is no way for you to get positive, free YouTube comments. If your content promotes hate or discrimination in any manner, it will attract people who have a similar mindset. You will keep getting comments that are negative, hateful, and demeaning. Once you are clear on your end, you can move forward with the next steps.

Talk to your audience about negative comments and hate speech

The first thing you should do is have a heart-to-heart conversation with your YouTube subscribers and viewers. You can do it in the form of a written note or a video. In both cases, make it as poignant as possible. Talk about how you don’t believe in the power of hate and instead believe in love. Talk about how you want your YouTube subscribers’ community to be one of the most positive communities on the internet. In the end, talk about how it affects you at an emotional and personal level.

When you have an open conversation with your viewers about these issues, the effects of it reflects in the comment section. You will find people dissuading others from commenting negative things and bonding over positive messages. Your ultimate goal should be to empower the community about their well-being. Once the general culture of the community changes, you do not have to do anything to keep your comment section clean and positive.

Be vocal about social responsibilities

Much of what we call hate speech comes from a perspective of discrimination and exploitation. That’s why YouTube has a strong policy on racial slurs and discrimination. Often the most negative comment sections are of those people who do not exhibit their social stance. Do not make the same mistake. Be vocal about the fact that you believe in equality and tolerance. Make it evident that your channel is open to people from all races, sexes, and genders.

When you start being vocal about your social stance, you start attracting followers who have a similar vision. They are much less likely to spew hate in the comment section. You can avoid haters on YouTube by not making them feel welcome in the first place.

Do not be a keyboard warrior

There is no point in being a keyboard warrior, especially when you are a creator on YouTube. You might feel accomplished at having taught a lesson to one troll; hundreds would line up behind them. As a creator, it is not possible for you to go through every negative comment and reply to them all.

A better approach is to let your actions speak for themselves. The more attention you give to haters and trolls, the more motivated they become to continue their shenanigans. As a content creator, let your content represent what you think and believe in.

Make the best use of YouTube settings

YouTube has built-in tools and settings that let you control what comments show up in the videos. There are three things you can do – block a person from commenting, restrict comments, and allow all comments. By default, you would be allowing all comments. You should aim not to use the other two options, but do not shy away from doing so if the need arises.
Ideally, you should block only spam accounts that post random promotional messages in the comment section. For hate speech and bullying, the restricted option works better since you get to know what was about to be posted. If you feel that it does not violate any boundaries, you can allow it to be visible.

There is another option, that of disabling comments altogether. However, that is typically not a good approach. You do not get any of the benefits that come from understanding what comments tell you about your videos and presentation. On top of that, you do not give your subscribers the opportunity to form a community among themselves. Many people will be turned off simply at the sight of a disabled comment section. If you have to use this feature, make sure it is only for inevitable reasons.

Spread awareness

As a content creator, you are in a position where what you say can impact hundreds to thousands of people. Use this platform to share a positive message to the world. Many people resort to rude comments only because they are not aware of the other person’s problems. If you can foster this awareness of empathy, you will be doing a service to society and yourself. Over time, this reputation will carry over and help you get more subscribers and fans.

Conclusion

Negative comments are a big problem for the creator community. Every creator has had to deal with it at some point or the other. Instead of being passive about it, you should do whatever you can in your individual capacity. If everyone starts adopting this stance, YouTube will become a safe space for everyone.

Negative comments are just one of the many problems that you have to deal with in your YouTube journey. From getting constant views to winning more subscribers, doing everything without any professional help can be daunting, if not impossible. With SubPals, you can be assured of constant growth in your YouTube journey with the help of experts who know exactly what to do. Free YouTube subscribers and free YouTube likes can take your channel to the next level.

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The Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own YouTube Challenge for Engagement

YouTube offers different opportunities for marketing, content creation, customer engagement, and a lot more. At the same time, it is very difficult to start and maintain a successful YouTube channel since the competition is too high. 720,000 hours of video content is published on YouTube every day. It can be quite difficult to make a mark in this sea of competition.

However, it is important to understand that you are not competing against thousands of other YouTubers. You are only competing against those in your niche and those who know your target audience on YouTube. Once you crack the code to get viewers hooked, your YouTube journey will become very smooth.

One of the most effective ways to get new and existing viewers hooked is through challenges. Most of us have seen challenges taking place in different social media platforms, be it YouTube or Facebook or Instagram. Today we will talk about everything you need to know about YouTube challenges and how they can help you with audience engagement.

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What are YouTube challenges?

There is no single definition of a YouTube challenge. Anything and everything can be a YouTube challenge if you can add a competitive element to it. In a nutshell, a YouTube challenge involves viewers competing (often against each other) to solve a problem or get an answer in order to receive a prize. Therefore, challenges can involve uploading dance videos to solve puzzles. There is no limit to what you can classify as a YouTube challenge.

The most important thing to remember in the context of YouTube challenges is that every challenge should have some substantial stake. People will not spend their time and energy on what they are getting is not worth it. No matter which challenge model you follow, the rewards must be worthwhile.

The difference between good and bad YouTube challenges

If you know how to bring out the competitive side in humans, you will have an easy time coming up with challenges. But if you don’t, we are here to help you.

A good YouTube challenge will have the right balance of difficulty and reward. You cannot make a challenge overtly difficult – like shooting and editing a full-length video – if your rewards do not match. Alternatively, you can make challenges as difficult as you want if your reward backs them up. Finding this balance is the key to successful YouTube challenges. If you are wondering how to start a YouTube challenge, begin by taking into account these considerations.

A good YouTube challenge has the following features:

1. Competitive
2. Able to hook viewers
3. Able to bring many people together
4. Enjoyable

If you tick all four boxes, you will have an easy time coming up with YouTube challenges. A bad YouTube challenge will naturally not engage with many viewers. If there is a mismatch between the reward and the effort, your subscribers won’t be interested in participating. Even if the reward is decent, challenges without any hook usually fail. For these reasons, your YouTube challenges must always take into account the four factors mentioned above.

Types of YouTube challenges

There are mainly two types of YouTube challenges. In the first type, you involve the audience. In the second type, the challenge is completed by YouTube along with friends or fellow YouTubers. Both approaches have their pros and cons when it comes to engaging with the audience.

When it comes to audience challenges, we are mainly looking at giveaways and special merchandise as rewards. However, it is also a great idea to have a monetary reward in place. The higher the stake, the more people you attract. The more people you attract, the better it is for YouTube engagement.

In the case of YouTuber challenges, you also get the unique opportunity of engaging with your fellow YouTubers and their viewership. It is a great way to boost the growth of your channel. The more people you add to your viewership, the higher the chances of getting more engagement.

There are some common pointers in both types of challenges. In both cases, the challenge should have a considerable degree of difficulty. It should also have a fun element that makes it easy for viewers to get hooked. If your challenges have an element of virality, they will get shared more. Hitting it off with even a single challenge can boost your engagement to a great extent.

Below we will discuss some ideas and inspirations for both types of challenges. However, remember that these are just guidelines and not concrete suggestions. You should always add a personal touch to your YouTube challenges.

Ideas and inspirations for YouTube challenges

If you are organizing a challenge with other YouTubers, the scope for making it viral increases drastically. For example, eating challenges are very popular in the YouTube community. It exhibits the perfect amalgamation of the necessary features of a challenge. Eating challenges are difficult and have an element of virality. In some cases, they are downright bizarre or gross. Even then, you get to hook the viewer because of their curiosity.

Another example of engaging challenges is games. There are many games that you can play in collaboration with other YouTubers or with friends. These games are not like traditional sports or video games. They are usually fun games that we relate more with parties and gatherings, like being able to stay in one circle for the longest time. It is also a great way to make the most of your viewership and get hooked to a fun competition.

Coming back to challenges with your viewers, the scope is much restricted here. Since you cannot get all your viewers on board for a challenge, you have to host it over the internet. For challenges involving the audience, the stake is usually something personalized and valuable. It can be merchandise, the opportunity for a guest appearance in your channel, a gift voucher, and so on.

Challenges involving the audience usually follow the model of a puzzle or a riddle. The first people to solve them are declared winners. Coming up with puzzle ideas need not be challenging. There are tons of ideas on the internet. However, make sure all your challenges have a personal touch.

Why are challenges so effective for engagement?

Challenges have become a common way for YouTube channels to boost audience engagement. The reasons behind this phenomenon are self-explanatory.

Challenges are competitive by definition, and people love competition. Even if it is all fun and games, challenges force out the best in us. When we get recognition for our efforts (in the form of rewards), we get even more motivated to participate in more challenges.

Another useful feature of YouTube challenges is their collaborative nature. Whether you are challenging the audience or your friends, both involve collaboration. The audience loves to see videos where there is a certain extent of collaboration. It makes the videos more appealing and engaging. Everyone you bring over for a challenge adds their own personality to it. In turn, it becomes a great way to improve engagement with the audience. People are now watching your videos for the fun that collaborations bring. It is one of the main reasons all popular YouTubers frequently collaborate with others.

Common YouTube challenge mistakes

While organizing and setting up YouTube challenges is not very difficult, people still make mistakes. Most of these mistakes are not major flaws and only minor mistakes. For example, one of the biggest mistakes is not promoting your challenge. If you are not marketing and promoting your challenge across different social media platforms, you are losing out on possible engagement. If people don’t know about your challenge, they cannot engage with it.
Another mistake that many people make pertains to the nature of the challenge. You do not want your YouTube challenges to be long-drawn and boring. If you are not adding something new to the mix constantly, it is only a matter of time before you start losing the audience. Challenges need to be fun and must have the ability to keep the viewers hooked. They should be able to get you free YouTube views, and the viewers should further promote it.

The future of YouTube challenges

YouTube VR, or virtual reality, is the future of YouTube challenges. VR will elevate the way to engage with and participate in a challenge. In the future, it can become the dominant mode of YouTube challenges owing to advanced engagement avenues and enhanced experience for the viewers.

Apart from that, the sheer volume of challenges on YouTube is set to show considerable growth. Everyone is realizing their importance and jumping to the bandwagon. If you are serious about growing your YouTube subscribers, you should make challenges a priority.

Conclusion

The road to success in YouTube is long and complex. Having professional assistance makes it all easier. Subpals gives you exactly that. Whether you are struggling with getting YouTube likes or YouTube comments, Subpals has tools and services to take care of that. Check out SubPals today to find out what it can do for you and your channel’s growth.

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Tips for Getting More YouTube Subscribers From Your Blog Audience

Over the last decade, there have been many content creators who have evolved from bloggers to YouTubers. Take Mark Wiens, for example. The Thailand-based food and travel vlogger was predominantly a blogger before he switched from blogging to video after realizing the potential of the video streaming platform. Wiens’ struggle to establish himself on YouTube was long and hard. However, ultimately, he was successful. Today, he boasts of multiple channels on YouTube, and his main channel has more than a whopping 8 million subscribers.

If you have a blog with a considerable audience and are inspired by Mark Wiens’ story, you should definitely consider putting more effort into your YouTube endeavors. However, the question is, how do you get your blog audience to subscribe to your YouTube channel? To find out the answer to this question, read on. In this article, we’ll enlighten you with the best tips for turning your blog audience into loyal YouTube subscribers. So, without any further delay, let’s get started!

1. Bridge the gap between your blog and YouTube channel

One of the biggest differences between a blog and a YouTube channel is that while a blog offers reading material, YouTube provides viewing material. Simply put, the loyal readers of your blog may not be too keen to subscribe to your YouTube channel, especially if they value reading more than watching videos. However, there is a great way to bridge that gap – embedding video links. When you publish a video on YouTube, you can embed it on your blog within a relevant post.

For example, let’s say you have a blog post on your favorite Chinese dishes. If you’ve also created a video on the same subject, you can embed the video code within the blog post. While this doesn’t guarantee that all your blog’s readers will watch the video, it will definitely make them aware of the fact that you have a YouTube channel as well. Some readers will definitely be inclined to check out your video content, and if they like your YouTube video, there’s a chance that they’ll leave likes and subscribe to your channel as well.

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2. Include call-to-action (CTA) messages frequently

Most YouTubers’ videos contain call-to-action (CTA) messages such as ‘subscribe to my channel if you like my content’ and ‘leave a comment.’ These messages aren’t chores. The fact is that on the internet, people will be more likely to do certain things if you ask them to do those things. You can use these messages not just in your YouTube videos but also in your blog posts.

So, if you want your blog audience to check out your YouTube channel and subscribe to it, let them know it loud and clear. You should also do the same on your YouTube videos, i.e., ask your YouTube subscribers and followers to check out your blog. Eventually, this will create a connection between your YouTube channel and your blog, which is necessary for them to progress as a collective unit and not as individual entities.

3. Provide quality on all fronts

Maintaining a blog and a YouTube channel simultaneously isn’t a piece of cake, especially if you want to put out the best content you possibly can across both fronts. Be ready to put in the work needed to craft compelling content, be it through words or video content. Ultimately, if you can’t provide quality to your audiences, you’re going to be rejected. The hard truth is that competition on YouTube is the fiercest that it has ever been – and it’ll only get fiercer in the times to come.

While your abilities as a wordsmith may allow you to churn out quality content across every blog post on YouTube, things are going to be slightly more difficult. If you’re doing it all by yourself, you’ll need to devote a lot of time and effort to learning and mastering your video production skills for your YouTube content. You’ll also need quality gear if you want your YouTube videos to have crystal clear video and audio. Thankfully, there are a lot of online resources that will help you to learn all the skills you need to hone to become better at what you do. Also, keep an eye out on your competitors, i.e., other content creators operating in your niche. By observing their content, you can learn numerous handy tricks that you can incorporate into your own videos.

4. Focus on marketing your efforts

Promoting your blog on your YouTube channel and your YouTube channel on your blog is a very basic activity. However, if you want to go a notch higher, you should invest in marketing both your blog and videos. Both blog marketing and video marketing will go a long way towards expanding your reach on the internet. An effective marketing strategy for your blog, if implemented well, will increase traffic to your blog. In such a scenario, all the new visitors will automatically become aware of your YouTube channel if you’ve embedded video links across all your blog posts. Similarly, a well-implemented marketing strategy for your YouTube channel can make more people aware of your blogging efforts.

The major challenge you’ll encounter on the marketing front is that marketing is a time-consuming process. If you do it yourself, your content creation efforts across your blog and YouTube channel may get sidetracked, which may directly affect the quality of your content. So, we recommend taking on all the marketing challenges by yourself. Instead, find a reputed digital marketing firm and let it handle the marketing for you. A high-quality digital marketing firm can also handle social media marketing responsibilities, allowing your blog and YouTube channel to grow further.

5. Maintain a posting consistency

When you’re only blogging, the posting consistency is completely down to you. Simply put, there’s no pressure in terms of the number of blog posts you should create. Of course, consistency is needed to some extent, but it isn’t as important as it is for YouTube. On YouTube, consistency is key, and if you’re inconsistent in terms of publishing your content, your subscribers won’t be too impressed. These days, some of the best YouTubers are publishing multiple videos every week to ensure that their channels are supported by YouTube’s algorithm.

So, if you’re serious about your YouTubing efforts, you’ve simply got to create a posting schedule. This will allow you to work within self-set deadlines, and there will be a sense of urgency. Of course, you shouldn’t ever rush the process as it can affect quality. Also, don’t try to mimic what other YouTubers in your niche are doing. You should remember that you’re also maintaining a blog, whereas some of your YouTube competitors may be solely focused on creating video content. Ideally, when starting out on YouTube, you should be flexible. Create a posting schedule. Try sticking to it for a few weeks, at least. If it doesn’t suit you, make changes to it and go again.

6. Do thorough keyword research for your blog and YouTube content

Using the right keywords in your content can make a huge difference in terms of your content getting found in the vast world of the internet. However, before you get down to incorporating those ‘right’ keywords across your blog and YouTube content, you need to figure out what they are. Thankfully, there are numerous keyword research tools that you can turn to for making the process easy. There are also numerous tutorials on the internet that will help you understand how to make the most of the keyword research tools.

While you may think that keywords are more important for your blog than they are for your YouTube channel, the fact is that even your YouTube channel will benefit from the use of appropriate target keywords. Sure, there’s no way of incorporating keywords within videos. However, you can use keywords across your video’s title and its description. Remember, YouTube videos also show up on Google’s result pages, and with the right keywords, your videos have a higher chance of securing high Google rankings.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the success of your YouTube channel will boil down to several factors such as video CTR or click-through rate and how well your video content resonates with audiences. However, with the tips that we’ve shared with you here, there’s a high chance for your blog’s loyal followers to be turned into YouTube subscribers as well. So, you should leave no stone unturned to put the tips we’ve shared with you into practice.

To help your YouTube channel grow even further, you should also consider a service such as SubPals for getting free YouTube likes, comments, and views. User engagement has become more important than ever before in recent times, as YouTube’s algorithm is more rewarding towards channels with high user engagement rates. SubPals is also a great tool for getting free YouTube subscribers, which will help you increase your YouTube subscriber count and allow you to earn money from your YouTube content.

You can also choose to buy YouTube subscribers with SubPals without any risk of being punished by YouTube, as SubPals provides organic subscribers. So, choose SubPals and give wings to your YouTube channel.

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Your Guide to Annotating YouTube Videos Like a Champ

If you’ve consumed content on YouTube, you’ve probably seen little text boxes popping up randomly within videos. These little text boxes are sometimes distracting, but they often lead you to find other exciting content from a particular content creator. Known as annotations, the clickable text boxes offer content creators exciting ways to promote their content within their videos. While the placement of these annotations may seem random, the fact is that the best YouTubers always have plans to make the most out of them.
So, if you want to add annotations to all your YouTube videos like a seasoned veteran, read on. In this article, we’ll take you through the best tips to annotate your YouTube videos like a champ. But first, let’s take a look at the various YouTube annotation types that content creators can add to their videos on YouTube.

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YouTube annotations: The types

YouTube offers a variety of annotations that content creators can add to their videos depending on what they prefer. You could either stick to one annotation type or mix and match the different types to see what works for you. So, here are the different annotation types you can experiment with on YouTube:

Note annotations

Note annotations are among the most basic types of annotations on YouTube. Their appearance is in white or black text on top of a colored background. Content creators can include links to their YouTube pages and videos through this annotation type. These annotations feature several customizable elements like color, placement, size, duration, and of course, the message itself.

Speech bubble annotations

These annotations can also be linked to other content on YouTube, and they have a cartoon-like appearance. Speech bubble annotations can be included at each YouTube video’s top, and they are incredibly effective for a YouTuber in expressing unspoken thoughts or information.

Spotlight annotations

These annotations involve displaying custom messages to viewers when they hover their cursors over a particular area of a video. Typically, content creators on YouTube use spotlight annotations to create interactive end cards, which contain links to other websites and videos.

Title annotations

Unlike all the other annotations we’ve covered so far in this post, title annotations can’t be linked. However, these annotations work as practical branding tools despite this apparent shortcoming. They’re best used to describe the content within a particular video. However, the options are pretty limited in terms of creating these annotations. Most YouTubers who have been in the game for a long time typically prefer to use graphic design software for creating custom title cards instead of opting for title annotations.

Pause annotations

Pause annotations don’t exist anymore. They were generally considered playback features that allow content creators to temporarily stop their videos for as long as they want to. Through these annotations, viewers used to get some more time to read speech bubbles or note annotations. It also allowed viewers to digest a specific frame within the video. While YouTube doesn’t allow content creators the option of adding pause annotations, they remain intact on past videos in which they were used.

Label annotations

Label annotations are pretty similar to spotlight annotations. However, while spotlight annotations appear over a defined frame, label annotations appear under it. Content creators will also get different configuration options for label annotations compared to those on offer for spotlight annotations.

Annotations and cards: Are they the same?

One of the most frequently asked questions about annotations on YouTube is whether they’re the same as cards. Well, in essence, both annotations and cards work the same way. However, one big difference between the two is that cards work on both desktop and mobile devices, while annotations work only on desktop devices. So, cards are much more effective for targeting mobile audiences, which make up around half of YouTube’s total viewership.

Additionally, annotations occupy bigger spaces within YouTube videos, whereas cards exclusively appear on videos’ top right corners. The cards expand when viewers hover their cursors over them. All in all, cards are more accessible and non-intrusive. However, that doesn’t mean you should use cards and not annotations. Unlike cards, annotations are flexible and resizable, which allows them to be used as creative elements by content creators.

Ideally, it would help to incorporate both into your videos to make the most of their unique advantages. Cards can be used to redirect viewers to other websites. So, if you have an e-commerce store or a blog that you’d like people to visit, you can’t do it without using cards. Simply put, if YouTube conversions are what you’re aiming for, cards are what you should prioritize. However, if your content creation is solely YouTube-based, you’d stand to benefit more from annotations, which are known for boosting subscriber count along with user engagement.

How to go ahead with annotations

If you’ve never added annotations to a YouTube video before, this is the section you should read thoroughly. Read on to know how to annotate videos to make the most of YouTube’s annotations feature.

• Step 1: To access the YouTube annotations page, you must first log into your YouTube profile. Click ‘My Channel’ on the left-hand side of the page.
• Step 2: Next, head over to the ‘Video Manager’ tab.
• Step 3: Once the ‘Video Manager’ page is open, click on ‘Edit’ under the screenshot of the video you want to annotate.
• Step 4: At this point, you’ll find a drop-down menu with two options – ‘Annotations’ and ‘Cards.’ Since we’re focusing exclusively on annotations in this post, click on the ‘Annotations’ option.
• Step 5: Next, click on ‘Add Annotation,’ which will open up the list of available annotations you can choose for your video. Choose the preferred annotation type.
• Step 6: Now, add your text and tweak options such as transparency, background color, size, and font.
• Step 7: You will also see a ‘Link’ option with a checkbox beside it. Tick this checkbox to add an external link.
• Step 8: Drag the annotation to the desired position within the video. You can also drag its corners to resize it.
• Step 9: Next, it’s time to decide when you want the annotation to appear and for how long. You can drag the mouse to change the annotation’s starting and ending points.
• Step 10: Once you’re satisfied with the annotation’s position and timing, click on ‘Publish’ to save the changes to your video.

And that’s it – the 10-step guide to annotating your YouTube videos like a champ. However, we’re not done yet with this article. In the next section, we’ll share with you some of the best practices when it comes to annotating YouTube videos.

The best YouTube video annotation practices

Spare some thought for the advertising overlays

While YouTube Premium users don’t have to watch ads, you have to understand that most YouTube users haven’t signed up for the Premium version. As a result, these results have to watch video ads and see advertising overlays, which typically appear at the bottom of the screen. That’s why, when you place the annotation within the videos, it’s best not to put it in the bottom portion of the video. If it ends up getting blocked by an advertising overlay, the purpose of annotating the video will be defeated.

Don’t hamper the viewing experience

Annotations are used to add value. However, it won’t add value if placed at an inappropriate time and unacceptable position. Instead, it might end up hampering the viewing experience for the user. So, it’s best to avoid annotating sections in the video that consist of the most crucial parts of the content, i.e., the highlights of the video. Aim for annotating the sections that contain filler content. You can also sync the timing of the annotation with a particular section in the video where you’re encouraging viewers to take a specific action.

Be careful with annotations that redirect users away from YouTube

On YouTube, how long viewers are watching your videos, i.e., the watch time, really matters. Ideally, you should ensure that nothing in the video makes viewers leave it early. So, when adding annotations that contain links to another website, remember to not time them too early in the videos. You might risk viewers clicking on the annotation and leaving the video if you do. Sure, this might increase traffic to your blog or website, but it will negatively affect the YouTube watch time.

Keep annotations limited to 1 or 2 per video

Adding more than 1 – 2 annotations in a single video can prove to be too much information for the viewers to process. The last thing you want to do is appear as a YouTuber who ‘spams’ the viewers with way more information than necessary. So, keep the annotations within the 1 – 2 limit for each video.

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Your Guide to Converting Your Long Blogpost into a Short Compelling YouTube Video

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How to Successfully Make the Move from Instagram to YouTube to Avoid Scammers

If you’re an Instagram-based content creator, you might want to consider switching from Instagram to YouTube. While Instagram has emerged as a major marketing tool for content creators and influencers in recent years, the fact is that the platform is full of scammers. On the other hand, YouTube is a relatively safer place for content creators to do their thing. In this article, we’ll tell you how you can make the switch to YouTube from Instagram. However, first, let’s try and understand what kind of scams happen on Instagram.

The Instagram scams you should be aware of

Instagram scammers are notorious for a variety of scams. All in all, there are six types of Instagram scams you need to be worried about.

• Companies offering free likes and followers: You’ll come across many companies on Instagram that claims to offer free likes and followers. While their offers may seem tempting on the surface, the reality of these companies is quite dark. Sure, some companies may be genuine, and their offers are primarily based on the hope that you’ll eventually purchase likes and followers from them. However, many others aren’t genuine and are, in fact, fake automated accounts or bots. If you accept their offers, your numbers will skyrocket overnight, and this will increase the chances of your Instagram account being red-flagged not just by the moderators at Instagram but also by collaborators.
• Fake brand accounts: Selling counterfeit products has become a big business on Instagram. Typically, fake brand accounts are created by scammers to sell counterfeit goods. These accounts mimic the pages of original manufacturers, and they also rely on bot-driven likes and followers to become big. If you’re not careful, you can quite easily mistake these accounts for the original pages and end up paying money to them. The best way to avoid these accounts is to be cautious and check their posts for misspellings and offers that are simply too good to be true. These accounts will also ask for payments through strange methods or terms.
• Fake investment schemes: Scammers typically approach Instagram users via the direct message route to make fake investment schemes work. Here’s what usually happens – a scammer promises a huge payout as the return for a minimal investment. The scammer may also send pictures of other individuals who have apparently benefited from the schemes. Once you part with your money, the scammer will, in all likelihood, vanish. Through the 2018 – 2019 period, more than $3 million was stolen by scammers from unsuspecting Instagram users. To avoid this scam, don’t pay money to anyone that you don’t know well.
• Phishing attempts in the guise of messages from Instagram: These scams are quite tricky to identify. However, they typically work like this – urgent direct messages or emails are sent by the scammers, apparently from Instagram. These messages or emails may tell you that your account has received approval for a verification badge or that your account is compromised. They often contain links, which take users to pages that ask them to submit their Instagram login credentials. Once you enter your credentials, the scammers have all the information necessary to block access to your account. The best way to steer clear of these phishing attempts is to enable multi-factor authentication, which involves entering a secondary password or code to gain access to an Instagram account.
• Scam courses: Aspiring influencers and content creators are often lured into signing up for scam courses. The scammers approach unsuspecting users and claim that the courses will teach them everything necessary to make it big as an Instagram influencer. However, once a user shells out the money, the courses turn out to be disappointments. Of course, there are many legit courses out there that are offered by the pros, but due to the ever-increasing number of scam courses, you’ll need to be extra careful before signing up for one.
• Giveaway scams: Giveaways have emerged as one of the most popular ways for Instagram accounts to get more likes and followers. However, genuine giveaways have prizes to offer, while giveaway scams only make tall claims and don’t provide any prizes. Giveaway scams work because it’s incredibly easy to participate in giveaways. Typically, all that a user needs to do to participate in a giveaway contest is to share a post, like it, or comment on it. The only way to prevent yourself from falling prey to these scams is to look for the authenticity of the accounts promoting them.

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Shifting from Instagram to YouTube: The top tips

So, now that you’re aware of the different types of Instagram scams, let’s finally get to what this article is all about – making a move from Instagram to YouTube. Sure, in the first few days, YouTube may seem a bit daunting as its interface, and the overall platform is radically different from Instagram. However, if you dedicate yourself to the cause, there’s no reason why you can’t make it big as a successful YouTube content creator. In this section, we’ll take you through the top tips to help you make the switch as seamlessly as possible. So, let’s get into it!

• Invest in the right gear: Even though Instagram has a variety of content-creating features in today’s times, the fact is that it’s still a photo-sharing app at its core. So, before you start posting videos on YouTube, you need to own the right video and audio recording equipment. Of course, you don’t need to break the bank and buy the most expensive camera and audio gear. However, you should invest in something that ensures a high level of video and audio quality.
• Get better at video editing: Video editing is an important skill that all successful YouTube content creators have mastered. While mastering video editing takes a lot of time and effort, it’s never too late to get started. You can find countless courses on the internet that will help you to get better at it rapidly. There are a lot of informative videos on improving your editing skills on YouTube as well. Well-edited videos can leave a lasting impression on your viewers and motivate them to like your videos and subscribe to your YouTube channel.
• Create and stick to a content schedule: Consistency and regularity of uploads on YouTube can’t come automatically. To make sure that you consistently post videos on YouTube, you’ve simply got to put in some thought into creating a YouTube content schedule. This will also allow your subscribers on the platform to know what they can expect from you.
• Find a balance between quality and quantity: In recent times, YouTube’s algorithm has been mostly in favor of channels that post content frequently. So, the number of videos you churn out matters. However, it’s not just the numbers that matter. Watch time is another important metric that YouTube’s algorithm assesses, and to make sure that your videos are watched all the way through, you have to focus on quality as well. It can be a bit tricky at first to get the balance between quality and quantity right, but the more you work at it, the better you’re going to get.
• Make the most of analytics: YouTube Studio is the official portal for YouTube-based content creators where you can manage your content. It also offers a whole host of analytics features that allows content creators to track the performances of all their videos. Don’t ignore the information provided by YouTube Studio, as it can help you finetune your YouTubing skills. For instance, the analytics will offer you deep insights into the best times to upload your videos for maximizing the views.
• Collaborate: Collaborations are important on Instagram, and they’re just as important on YouTube. When you collaborate with other content creators who are relevant to your niche, your channel will gain exposure in front of new audiences. Sure, not every new viewer may appreciate what you have to offer. However, over time, your collaborative efforts are bound to pay dividends in the form of new subscribers, allowing your channel to grow.
• Focus on user engagement: YouTube’s algorithm also puts a great deal of emphasis on user engagement, i.e., how users are engaging with your videos. Most YouTubers include calls-to-action (CTAs) for motivating viewers to engage with their videos, and you should do the same. You should also try your best to engage with your viewers in the form of replies to comments.

Conclusion

Once you’ve set up your YouTube channel and started posting videos, it’s important that you encourage your Instagram followers to subscribe to your channel. Remember, this isn’t about you leaving Instagram altogether. This is only about making a move to a more secure platform that isn’t as prone to scams as Instagram. So, be active on Instagram as well and try to combine your efforts across the two social media platforms.

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Your Guide to Convincing YouTube Subscribers to Join Your Paid Membership Tier

Time and again, YouTube has come out with various features to empower the creators on the platform. One of the latest additions to this is the YouTube Channel Membership feature. In early 2018, the video-sharing service announced the YouTube Channel Membership feature, which allowed the content creators to connect with their fans better. Through the channel memberships, fans would have access to exclusive content from the creators. Before YouTube memberships, the platform had offered a “Sponsorship” feature to the creators, through which fans were given the ability to sponsor a channel for a monthly price of $4.99. Initially, this feature was open to only a few creators, but with the launch of YouTube Membership, all the creators could derive the benefits.

If you are interested in learning all there is to know about YouTube Memberships, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will explore this feature and how you can encourage your subscribers to take the membership.

What are YouTube channel memberships?

A channel membership is essentially a paid subscription to a YouTube channel. You allow your most loyal followers access to exclusive content and extra benefits through channel membership. For this, all they have to do is pay a monthly fee to support you as a content creator. YouTube Membership essentially provides the YouTubers with financial assistance to make video content full-time. The members also derive many benefits through live chats, exclusive emojis, and members-only posts.

YouTube channel membership is different from subscribing to a channel. A channel subscription adds the new videos from the content creator to the user’s feed. It is like following a page on Instagram and Twitter. When a channel offers a ‘Join’ button, this refers to the channel membership option.

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Perks to offer with YouTube channel membership

When your followers take your channel membership, you can provide them with many benefits or rewards in return. It depends on what kind of benefits you want to deliver. However, the few common membership rewards are –

• 1. Exclusive posts: You can offer your fans unique posts in the Community tab of your feed. These posts can provide insight into your life or have unique content open exclusively for paid members.
• 2. Loyalty Badge: You can provide your followers with a badge that will appear when they write a comment or participate in a live chat. These badges let your loyal fans stand out in the crowd. The loyalty badges can also be a great way to promote the channel.
• 3. Emojis: You can provide the members with exclusive emojis that can be used on YouTube. These usually come with unique artwork, and they can consist of specific phrases or topics that are only known to your followers.
• 4. Live Chat: The paid members can also be given exclusive access to live chat. This can be a great way to build community on the platform.
• 5. Live Streams: You can open live streams exclusively for paid members. This will also encourage other subscribers to take your membership.
• 6. Bonus content: The most significant perk you can offer the members is bonus content. The element of exclusivity through the benefit will help promote the channel membership.

Which YouTube channels qualify for the membership option?

The YouTube Channel Membership feature is only available for those creators who meet a specific requirement. YouTube needs to be a part of the YouTube Partner Program and have at least 1,000 subscribers to be eligible for this. It is also important that your channel has zero policy strikes. Policy strikes are given to those channels that post any inappropriate content, break the copyright law, or are involved in harassment and online bullying. If your video has been demonetized recently, you will not be able to avail of the membership option. YouTube membership is presently available in some regions. It is an optional feature, which means that the creators who want to open up the membership option have to enable it manually.

How does this feature work?

Through the YouTube channel memberships, subscribers are given a choice to join different membership tiers. The higher tiers exist at a higher price point, and they are also designed to offer better benefits. YouTube allows you to set the prices for the tiers between $1 to $49.99. While this feature can be used free of cost, the platform does take 30 percent of the profits you make through the channel membership payments. This can be understood with the help of an example. If your channel has reached 100 members and your membership cost is $4.00, you will earn a revenue of $500. From this amount, you would be able to get around $350 while the rest of the $150 will go to the platform.

How to maximize the appeal of YouTube channel memberships

The YouTube membership feature is a great way to generate revenue and diversify your income from the platform. It has been found that YouTube channel memberships have allowed creators to earn four times the revenue they were making previously. Now that you have a basic understanding of this feature, it is essential to explore ways to encourage your followers to take the YouTube channel memberships. 

If you are ready to launch the channel membership option, some tips will help you get more people to sign up for the paid channel membership.

• 1. Plan before rolling out the channel membership: It is important to prepare everything before offering the membership option to your subscribers. You need to have a clear strategy, including the intro video, emojis, and other perks. When you have a clear plan, you will be able to execute it more effectively, which will ultimately help you in getting more members.
• 2. Add the membership option to your description, end screens: You can add the membership URL to your video descriptions, end screens, and cards as well. This can work as a great reminder to your followers to take the paid YouTube membership of your channel.
• 3. Determine a good pricing strategy: Your price points should be comfortable enough for the people. While a lower pricing strategy helps attract more members, higher price points in the upper levels will help deliver a 5-star experience to the superfans. The pricing should be realistic enough to encourage people to take your channel membership.
• 4. Create a good announcement video: The announcement video for the channel membership should effectively share the news with your subscribers. You can include the headline of the perks you will offer in the video. It would help to remind them through the announcement video that it will not take anything away from your regular content.
• 5. Give a name to your members: To promote your channel membership, you can give a shoutout to your members on your regular videos. For this, you can provide them with a name related to your channel somehow.

Important things to consider

1. Having the right mindset is important

Before you plan to roll out the channel membership option, you need to view the process. The membership is not something you are selling to your audience. It would be better to consider it an opportunity that allows you and your followers to engage with each other on a more personal level. It also allows your followers to show their support for you. Having the right mindset will help you develop a better strategy to promote your Membership Tiers to the subscribers.

2. Do not alienate the non-members

While rolling out the exclusive content, you should not hide the content you would offer to your subscribers in normal circumstances. Rather than excluding the subscribers from your content, think of ways to provide your members with extra ‘nice-to-have’ content.

3. Provide valuable perks

It is essential to provide your members with valuable perks, especially those in the higher tiers. The valuable bonus wouldn’t necessarily cost you money. Think of it as providing them content that is worthy of the cost.

4. Make the perks scalable and recurring

When you start getting more sign-ups, it is essential to consider if the perks you are providing to your members are more scalable. For this, you can do a trial run of some extras to test out if they are scalable or not. The perks should be such that they provide continuous value to the members.

Conclusion

The YouTube channel membership is a great feature. However, it requires quality and consistency on the part of the creator. With the tips provided in this helpful guide, you will promote the channel membership option to your subscribers more effectively. The key is to provide valuable content to your followers. This YouTube feature will not only add to your revenue but will also help in increasing your reach on the platform. If you are looking for other ways to expand your subscriber base on the platform, you consider the premium YouTube services provided by SubPals.

SubPals offers a wide range of services like free YouTube subscribers and free YouTube views, which can help improve your channel’s metrics. This ultimately helps promote the organic growth of your channel as the YouTube algorithm considers your engagement metrics for ranking your content. In our free YouTube subscribers service, we use our network to exchange subscribers between your channel and that of other YouTubers. This will help you in gaining new subscribers. If you want to know more about our services, contact us today!

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