Enhancing Narrative Flow: Integrating Chapters Into Your YouTube Content

How to Add Chapters to YouTube Videos

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have seen chapter markers on YouTube of our official channel, you might be wondering how someone can create chapters on YouTube? What is the way to mark different parts of the videos, and how can you add markers to all the existing videos on YouTube? Don’t worry; this article will discuss everything about YouTube chapters that you need to know. Keep reading to find all the details and learn the step-by-step instructions to add chapters to your YouTube videos for better engagement.

Part 1: What Are YouTube Chapters?
Part 2: How to Add Chapter to YouTube Video Progress Bar?
Part 3: Why Add Chapters to Videos?
Part 4: When Add Chapters on YouTube?
Part 5: Will Chapter Decrease Watching Time?
Part 6: Video Chapter Adding Tips
Part 7: Why YouTube Chapter is Not Working?

Part 1: What Are YouTube Chapters?

YouTube video chapters are an excellent way to optimize your YouTube content. When you have chapters for your YouTube video, each chapter will have an individual preview. Chapters will break your YouTube video into multiple parts allowing your audience to have better context and information.

As per YouTube, chapters let the audience navigate better through videos. Chapters will let your audience watch different video parts, which will eventually lead to better engagement. If you want to organize your YouTube content, chapters are one of the best ways to go about it. By using labeled timestamps, your video will be divided into multiple sections. Your audience will be able to see the preview of the content and easily skip to the part they want to see within the video’s progress bar.

Part 2: How to Add Chapter to YouTube Video Progress Bar?

If you are a YouTube creator and want to know how you can add chapters to your YouTube content, here’s what you need to do. Follow these instructions carefully:

Step 1: First things first, please sign in to your YouTube account.

Step 2: Select the video that you want to edit and add chapters.

Step 3: Click on the edit video option. This option will be there under the video.

Step 4: On the add details page, you will see the description box. Here, you need to add the list of titles and timestamps.

Please keep in mind that you must add the first timestamp with “00:00”. You will have to add a minimum of three timestamps with a minimum of 10 seconds for each chapter. Here is how it looks like in the description after published.

Part 3: Why YouTubers Should Add Chapters to videos?

There are two primary advantages of adding chapters to your YouTube videos. Apart from making your YouTube video look organized and neat, chapters will let you provide a better user experience to everyone watching your video because they will find all the information about your video faster and easier within a video. And the second benefit is that your YouTube video will show up in search results. This is a way to optimize your content for more users to find your content.

YouTube chapters are beneficial for both creators and viewers. On the progress bar, these clickable chapters can be added. This will allow a viewer to skip and scrub through a video quickly and skip to parts they actually want to watch.

This feature is quite helpful for videos that are pretty long. Chapters will let you segment the videos into important chapters so that the viewer can rewatch already watched chapters or skip to other chapters in the video. YouTube chapters have been recently added to this platform for better navigation and engagement.

Better User Experience for Users

Just like Google wants browsers to find what they are looking for when they add a keyword, YouTube also wants to help viewers find what they are looking for. Chapters can be immensely beneficial for extended content. For example, if you are uploading a video of your convert video, let the users jump straight to their favorite songs.

Even in tutorial video content, viewers will now have a chance to get straight to the main part of the video. With chapters being added, viewers will have an opportunity to decide whether they want to watch the whole video or not. They won’t have to keep skipping one part to another blindly. Chapters will allow them to find what they are looking for in an instant.

For Creators: Increased Visibility

If you know about the Google algorithm, you must be aware that it regularly changes its algorithm to let people find the information they are looking for easily. Adding chapters to your video will encourage Google to display them more often when someone searches for them, and this will include adding your videos to its featured snippets.

While adding chapters, you need to make sure that it is labeled with correct keywords, and it is clear and descriptive. YouTube videos are often showed as Google snippet when someone tries to find something on the search engine. Adding a chapter will let Google understand the content better, thereby letting your videos gain more search traffic.

Part 4: When should I add or not chapters on YouTube?

If you are wondering whether all videos on YouTube should have chapters, the answer to this is no. A two minutes long video won’t require chapters because it won’t make sense. Think about whether you would want your audience to have reduced watch time. Another thing to pay attention to is audience retention.

We mentioned earlier that adding chapters to long videos will be a good idea, but before you jump in and start adding chapters, you need to understand whether it will help you and should be done in your particular case?

If you are uploading a video on education, science and technology, how-to, news and politics, Q and A, and other similar videos, adding chapters will definitely help. In these kinds of videos, you will let your audience rewatch a section they liked the most over and over again.

However, if you are uploading music, entertainment, comedy, and film and animation videos, we will recommend not to add chapters because this will reduce the watch time.

Part 5: Do YouTube Video Chapters Decrease Channel Watch Time?

One of the most commonly asked questions regarding adding chapters to YouTube videos is whether it will reduce the watch time of a video. Video chapters are a pretty good feature and can enable your videos to engage with the viewers.

Since chapters allow your audience to skip through video content, they are not really watching the whole video, which can’t be suitable for audience retention! Here’s what we have to say to this: don’t put your 100% focus on watch time right now. Your focus should be creating informative and engaging content, which will keep your audience hooked to their screens. Even if you add chapters, if your audience doesn’t find it engaging, they will choose not to go on with the content.

Video chapters are a tiny part of the overall content. Chapters provide value to your audience, and you should try them. If you are uploading a concise video, animation video, funny video, and more, don’t add chapters.

Even some of the most watched videos on YouTube have chapters. Learn from them. These video makers could have thought about numbers rather than giving value to their audience, but they did just the opposite, and here they are with over a million views!

Part 6: Tips for adding chapters to YouTube video

Each video on YouTube is different, and that’s why there is no one-size-fits-all answer. There are some cases where you should not think about adding chapters at all. Whereas in other cases, you will have to experiment a bit before adding chapters.

Here are some tips that will help you.

Do Some Testing

Before adding chapters to a new video that you are thinking to upload, try adding chapters to an old video. See what happens to that video. Have the views increased? How about average view duration? Track these metrics first, and then try adding chapters to your upcoming videos to benefit from videos. Along with these metrics, you will also have to evaluate if adding chapters decreases or increases the watch time and number of views.

Label Your Chapters Using Keywords

Another thing to do that will help you have better traction is using a good keyword strategy. Look at what people are using while searching for content, which is similar to yours? Using names based on keywords that have better search volume will help your videos to rank higher.

Part 7: Why Video Chapter is Not working? [Problem solved]

There are a few mandatory things that you need to do before adding chapters to your YouTube video. Here are some of the common reasons why the video chapter is not working. See if any one of them is true in your case, and rectify it right away.

Your video doesn’t have the 00:00 timestamp.
Your video has less than three chapters.
You have added a chapter that is less than 10 seconds long.
You have not added the timestamps in chronological order.
Rather than using “:” you have entered “.” for timecodes.
If your channel has active copyright strikes, video chapters won’t work.
Your channel doesn’t have more than 1k subscribers.
Your video chapters are not suitable for some viewers.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

The Prime Listening Guide to YouTube Standards

YouTube has become more than an entertainment now. Most content creators are using the platform to earn and bring their skills to some use. Good knowledge of YouTube Community Guidelines would work in the long run.

The article introduces the YouTube Community and covers how to make community posts on YouTube. Additionally, stay tuned to find out how to get the community tab on YouTube. So let us begin!

Part 1: What is YouTube Community?

Before getting into YouTube community posts, it is crucial to understand what YouTube Community is and how it affects the content creators. The YouTube community is an extensive range of viewers or followers that one needs to grow their channel. Creating a connection with the viewers helps because you have loyal followers; you have got it all.

It is because the trusted followers would go above and beyond to share your content to their social media accounts and give you instant feedback. YouTube community tab works like a charm for creators to engage with the audience. They can use YouTube community posts such as polls, ask questions, use GIFs, and interact with the community.

Part 2: How to Make A Community Post on YouTube?

The first question to arise in one’s mind revolves around how to make a community post on YouTube. The community post YouTube helps in interaction with the general public and community. To make community posts YouTube via computer and mobile device, follow the guidelines below in detail.

Community Post YouTube Via Computer

The steps below shall help the reader to make a YouTube community post through the system.

Step 1: Launch YouTube from your browser and log in to your account. Now, click on the “Upload” button located at the top right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap on “Create Post” and type the message in the textbox. You can insert an image, GIF, or video as required. Now, pick the type of post.

Step 3: Hit “Post” afterward. The “Community” posts can be accessed from the “Community” tab in your account channel.

Click here

![confirm create post for community](https://images.wondershare.com/filmora/article-images/2021/youtube-community-guidelines-in-2021-3.jpg)

Community Post YouTube Via Mobile Phone

To know How to make community posts on YouTube mobile, follow the guidelines below:

Step 1: Launch the YouTube application from your iPhone or Android. Hit the “Create” icon that looks like a video camera located in the top right corner.

Step 2: Click on “Create Post,” add the post to the textbox and upload any required media. Choose the type of post and tap “Post.”

Part 3: How to Get Community Tab on YouTube?

The vital concern to be addressed in this section spins around how to enable a community tab on YouTube. On October 12, 2021, YouTube updated the policy that stated that a channel must have a minimal 500+ subscribers to get community tab YouTube.

Before October, the threshold for subscribers used to be 1000+. Now it has been reduced so that most channels can communicate and engage with the audience. The content creators can access the community tab on YouTube faster by following some pointers and tips.

For once, they can interact with the audience more and find ways to keep them in a loop. It creates a strong community of followers and subscribers. To do so, the account owners can reply to every comment, ask different questions, and pin the best comments. Additionally, you can ask for feedback and opinions in the comment tab to enable the community tab on YouTube.

Ask people their take on a certain stereotype, have a tip from viewers that can be shared with the community, and how they want to see the future. It also makes the community ponder upon the cruel realities of the world and express themselves out loud. You can also make more quality content videos to be a part of the community for good.

Part 4: How to Make Good Use of Community Tab on YouTube?

The users know how to get the community tab on your YouTube channel and how to post community posts on YouTube. It is time to know how to make good use of the community tab on YouTube. Having this knowledge shall help the new and old content creators to use their skills and bring good to the world.

So, without wasting any time, let us begin the process.

Showcase Behind the Scenes and Bloopers

Most viewers crave authenticity more than ever. The regular videos and updates on a channel and scripted and well-crafted, so there is no window for error. However, upload your life updates and BTS scenes from video production to engage the audience and use the community tab to its full potential.

Cross Channel Promotion Process

The community tab helps promote your various vlog or podcasts. It means that you can support new creators in the market and establish a cross-channel promotion network. Engaging with other creators helps the audience know about your community tab YouTube.

Use Teasers and Promos

Using different teasers and promos plays a significant role in developing the well-deserved hype for the show or video. It compels the audience to stay tuned to whatever the channel is bringing to the table. Moreover, the time between working on the video and uploading it can be filled by teasers that promote the upcoming project big time.

Exceptional and Planned Giveaways

Giveaways appear to be a devious plan to lure in the audience. However, if your content is worthy enough to stick around, you don’t need to worry much. Therefore, plan a giveaway and set some rules for it. The circle of interest is widely enhanced using this tactic from the platform of community tab on YouTube.

Hosting Q/A Sessions

Another effective way to use the YouTube community tab to its full potential revolves around hosting a Questions and Answer Session. The general public likes to relate to the bloggers and influencers and know about them. A Q/A session sparks the connection between the two where the viewers ask different personal and professional questions.

It is a huge possibility that you gain new followers, and they stick to the way you communicate and give importance to your subscribers.

Ask for Inspiration and Video

The most common practice of renowned content creators is to engage the audience and ask them for inspiration in the following video. You can ask your subscribers what they want to see you act on and what topic should be covered. Do not hesitate to use polls and gauge interest in general and stereotypical subjects.

Conclusion

YouTube has become a one-stop shop for watching impeccable content and earning through the creation of media. It is vital to know YouTube community guidelines to work better and efficiently.

To create good intros and outros for your YouTube channels, incorporate the usage of Wondershare Filmora . It offers some moving effects and transitions to create a spell-bound impact on the viewers.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Try It Free Try It Free

02 How to Make A Community Post on YouTube?

03 How to Get Community Tab on YouTube?

04 How to Make Good Use of Community Tab on YouTube?

Part 1: What is YouTube Community?