Why It's Important to Make Short-Form Content on YouTube

Nowadays, there are dozens of platforms for uploading short-form videos. That said, it's always a good idea to start creating shorts on YouTube.

You don't need to be a popular YouTuber to take advantage of this. You can start repurposing existing content with a YouTube Shorts maker like LiveLink. The possibilities are endless!

So here are some of the reasons why you'd want to get into the shorts game on the YouTube app:

Promote Your Original YouTube Channel

This is why many YouTubers start creating YouTube shorts. With YouTube shorts, you can bring more subscribers to your channel.

YouTube also encourages this aspect. They make it easy for you to link to your original video when people visit your shorts.

On top of that, YouTube's creation tools (or YouTube Studio) have a "clip" option. This allows you to instantly clip your long-form videos and share them as YouTube shorts.

So if you're a serious YouTuber, it's never a bad idea to start creating shorts from your YouTube channel. Nowadays, you can create shorts from any type of content. Whether that's a podcast, how-to, or reaction video, you can always convert them into shorts.

By the way, if making shorts is too time-consuming, you can use LiveLink’s YouTube shorts maker. It analyses your videos and generates shorts in just a few seconds.

Target a Broader Audience

Most people, especially the younger demographics, love watching short-form content. They prefer watching short, fast and snappy content every time they swipe up.

So it's no surprise that ever since 2020, YouTube shorts get more than 3.5 billion views every day. On top of that, almost 70% of YouTube viewers use the app on their mobile phones and other handheld devices.

You can leverage this by repurposing existing YouTube videos into shorts with the help of an AI clip maker tool.

So by creating YouTube shorts, you can showcase your content to a broader audience. You can get more views and subscribers from each YouTube short clip.

On top of that, you can share your YouTube shorts on TikTok, Instagram and similar platforms. You just have to ensure the clips follow the short-form vertical video format.

Build Value For Your Content

Thanks to its easy-going nature, you can use YouTube shorts to build authenticity. You can do this by sharing small things such as behind-the-scenes and bloopers.

This helps your viewers relate to your content and separate you from the rest of the competition. You can show your true self with YouTube shorts or give a unique perspective.

Engage With Your Community

YouTube shorts also offer you a chance to create engagement. You can share memes, participate in challenges and engage with popular trends.

You can also use shorts to reply to comments, interact or collaborate.

Benefits of Uploading YouTube Shorts Over Long-Form Content

YouTube shorts are extremely versatile. You can use them for marketing, to mirror your content or to bring a brand-new perspective.

Nowadays, most popular content creators use AI-generated shorts to stay ahead of the game. They can push out content much faster since the AI can make YouTube shorts based on the original long-form content.

There's a lot of potential with YouTube shorts and also a lot of competition. But in any case, you can't deny these advantages:

Easy to Make

YouTube shorts, and other short-form content in general, are surprisingly easy to make. You can start with a simple mobile phone and the YouTube shorts camera app. Just tap it to start recording and do your thing.

But other times, you don't even need to record anything. For example, if you're running a clips channel, you can clip existing videos, and tap on "Upload short."

Besides, you don't even have to watch videos to clip them. Nowadays, you can use LiveLink to do 90% of the work. Just feed the video to LiveLink's AI, and sit back as it gives you dozens of upload-ready short clips.

Has a Wider Reach

Short-form video content tends to have a larger audience than other social media.

On top of that, these social media feeds have a lot of content that passes through them every minute. There’s a lot of variety and the option for people to search or swipe up to find something new.

So despite the competitive nature, you have a better shot at boosting your content.

So creating YouTube shorts is never a bad move. It’s good for marketing and caters to any type of video content. Not to mention it brings your content to a broader audience.

Works With Other Social Media Platforms

YouTube shorts generally stick to a 9:16 aspect ratio with a clip length that’s less than 60 seconds. Because of this format, YouTube shorts are perfect for mobile viewing.

TikTok, Instagram Reels and other social media platforms also share the same format. Just with slight variations to the clip length.

That means you can use these YouTube shorts as TikToks or Instagram reels. You can share them directly or after trimming the timeline to fit the right clip length.

Best Ways to Jumpstart Your Shorts Creation Process

As you can tell, there's no doubt about not creating short-form content. It's something you need to consider when scaling up your social media presence.

But apart from the whys, there's also the how. Fortunately, you have a lot of options.

So to start your journey of creating YouTube shorts, you can either:

• Record shorts directly from your smartphone
• Clip videos manually and edit them into YouTube shorts
• Use LiveLink to generate shorts from existing YouTube videos

Extra Tips on Improving Your Short Video Clips

Focus On Key Moments

It's important to focus on key moments to make the most impact and keep your viewers from swiping up. So try to keep your clips short, snappy, and stimulating.

The best way to do this is to take out all the fluff. Remove any instances with long pauses, B-roll and filler content. Try to stick the message directly so your viewers don't have to stick around for a part 2.

Also, be sure to reframe the video to focus on the subject of interest. If there's a group of people, focus on the active speaker only. Similarly, if you're talking about a product, try to zoom in on the product instead of the person talking about it.

Keep your video centred on the action and make sure to cut out any parts you don't need.

Stick to the 9:16 Aspect Ratio

Almost 70% of traffic in YouTube shorts comes from mobile devices. So if you need to boost engagement, you must always stick to the 9:16 vertical aspect ratio.

Why 9:16? Well, this format makes your content look good on mobile and other handheld devices. It fills the screen on mobile devices and takes out any distractions or black bars.

On top of that, other social media platforms also prefer this format. It allows people to share your content on other platforms and expand your reach.

Don't Forget The Audio

The audio can also improve user experience and make your shorts more engaging. Therefore, never skip adding audio to your YouTube shorts.

Depending on the type of content, you can add background music or even a few sound effects. But if you have dialogue or narration, make sure to tone down the music so the vocals are clear and audible.

Always Include Captions

Captions are another component you should always try to include in your short clips. Captions improve accessibility and help target your shorts to a broader audience.

Not everybody watches YouTube shorts with audio. Some of them might be hard of hearing or others might be watching in a noisy environment. In any case, the captions help people follow along with the content of your clips, with or without any audio.

So always try to include captions in your YouTube shorts. Also, make sure they are big, easy to read and sync up perfectly with the audio.

Add Relevant Hashtags

Using the right hashtags will make it easier for YouTube to categorize your content. In turn, the algorithm will send your video to the right people and get you more views and subscribers.

So whenever you're uploading a short, be sure to do some research on the hashtags. Try to use a few relevant hashtags to score the algorithm and make your content look authentic.

Also, avoid stuffing too many hashtags into your shorts. YouTube might consider your post as spam and avoid promoting it.

Make It Loop

Another cool thing you can do to improve views is to create a seamless loop with your YouTube shorts. This helps increase your watch time as YouTube doesn't automatically swipe to a new clip.

So if people notice your shorts run on a loop, they will rewatch and also share it with others.

‍