How to Captivate and Expand Your Online Following with Viral YouTube Shorts

How to Get More Views with YouTube Shorts

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

One of the biggest challenges that people face while using YouTube Shorts is how to get more views. Many new users wonder what and how should they prepare a video that is both 15-to-60 seconds long, and at the same time, it is engaging enough to make the audience view them with excitement.

With that said, the following sections discuss some best practices, and share a couple of tips to increase views on your YouTube Shorts videos.

Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section
Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views
Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

Part 1: Get More Views by Adding Shorts Video to the ‘Featured’ Section

Comparatively different from other videos, the ones that are added under the ‘Featured’ section are recommended to the audience throughout the YouTube platform on the basis of the algorithms that automatically determine which clips should be liked beach viewer individually.

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To elaborate, generally, YouTube suggests you a video as per your viewing history, browsing statistics, and other such information that the streaming media giant collects over time. On the other hand, the ‘Featured’ videos are suggested according to what YouTube ‘thinks’ might be of your interest, or could be somehow useful to you.

Therefore, when any clip is added as a ‘Featured’ video, YouTube suggests it to more viewers as compared to those that are published under the ‘Recommended’ category.

Note: Although there is a lot more to cover under the ‘Featured’ videos and channels section such as branding, advertisements, etc., such topics are beyond the scope of this piece.

Adding YouTube Shorts videos to the ‘Featured’ section is fairly simple, and the instructions given below explain how this can be done:

Note: It is assumed that you already have a couple of shorts video published on YouTube.

Step 1: Get to YouTube Studio Customization Section

Go to YouTube on your PC’s web browser, sign in to your Google account, click Your videos from the navigation bar in the left, and click Customization from the left bar when the Studio page opens up.

Step 2: Add YouTube Shorts

Click ADD SECTION from the Layout tab in the right window, and click Short videos from the list that appears next to add the YouTube Shorts category.

Step 3: Add Short videos to Featured sections and Save the Changes

Hold the Short videos bar from the moving handle at the left, and move it right below the Featured sections segment. Once the Short videos category is in the right place, click PUBLISH from the top-right corner of the page to save the changes. From this point onward, any YouTube Shorts video that you publish on your channel will be automatically added as ‘Featured’ after its approval.

Part 2: Create Attractive Thumbnail for YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The thumbnails are the face of the videos that you publish anywhere online. Therefore, it is imperative to take down the default one that is automatically added by YouTube, and add your own, custom image instead.

To have your own thumbnail, you can either pick any frame from within the video itself, or you can upload a separate photo from your PC, and replace the existing one with it.

Things to Consider for creating attractive thumbnail

While using your custom image as a thumbnail for your YouTube Shots videos, a few things that you should keep in mind include:

Relevance

Make sure that the new photo that you are planning to use as a thumbnail is relevant to the short video. Any image that is out of context might confuse the viewers, and you may lose your audience and the subscribers forever and for good.

Clarity

Always use an image with clear content and large text (if any). This lets the viewers easily determine whether the video is of their interest.

Correctness

You should avoid using misleading images as thumbnails. While such photos would attract more viewers initially, people will gradually lose trust in your channel if they do not find what they expect by the glimpse of the thumbnail.

Part 3: Optimize YouTube Shorts to Get More Views

The fact of the matter is, YouTube Shorts videos aren’t much different that any other video that you publish on the platform. Therefore, the process of optimizing both short and regular videos is identical.

A few things that are extremely important, and play a vital role in optimizing YouTube Shorts videos include:

Attractive Thumbnail

As mentioned above, the thumbnail of a video is its face, and the prettier and appealing the face is the more audience will it attract, and the more hits your video will get. Therefore, ensure to make the thumbnail of your short videos as attractive as you possibly can.

Compelling Title

The title says it all. Your short videos will have good chances of getting noticed and hits if they have an impulsive and compelling title that can give the viewers a summary of what they can expect from the clip.

Detailed Description

The description of your short videos should be complete, and must explain the theme, genre, and nature of the clip. With the detailed description, the viewers will be able to assess if the video would be helpful to them in some manner.

Tags

Make sure to add relevant tags to your short videos. For instance, adding ‘#Shorts’ in the title or description of the video tells YouTube that the clip is created for YouTube Shorts. Likewise, other tags that are related to the genre and/or theme of the short videos help YouTube suggest your media to the relevant audiences across the website.

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Part 4: How to Analyze YouTube Shorts Performance

YouTube Shorts are videos that are no more than 60 seconds long in length. When added under the ‘Featured’ category, you can see a significant amount of increment in the hits, and therefore the view count and the playback duration of your YouTube channel gets directly affected.

However, because these short videos cannot be monetized, at times you may notice that even though the total playback duration and view counts of your YouTube channel are high, your earnings may not be as much as what you would receive if those clips were published as regular videos.

FAQ: Will YouTube Shorts Performance Impact Other YouTube Stats?

Yes. As mentioned above, the view counts and playback durations of YouTube Shorts videos are added to your channel’s statistics. Therefore, with the number of views your short videos get, the overall performance of your YouTube stats is affected accordingly.

Richard Bennett

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

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Video production entails a lot more than just composing and sharing your videos. You need the correct format to accomplish some tasks, especially when sharing them online. People use different devices and versions that are not automatically compatible with all video file formats. YouTube Shorts is one such video production platform that lets creators compose compelling short videos for sharing with their audience. More so, Shorts lets you record music, edit your video and get it ready for sharing. But not all roses are smooth, some are thorny and you may find it necessary to convert YouTube Shorts to MP4 to enable access by your audience.

Why do we need to download and convert YouTube Shorts video?

Most YouTube Shorts are not easily accessible on mobile devices. Occasionally, users experience YouTube Shorts not showing issue , which prompts them to look for solutions for resolving the problem. You might be wondering whether converting your files is one such solution. Ideally yes! Find below, possible reasons for downloading and converting YouTube Shorts to MP4.

1) Content optimization for other devices

Mobile technology keeps changing and various devices’ versions are continually on the rise. Some devices aren’t compatible with various video formats and codecs . Converting the videos to MP4 opens avenues for access on any device and platform like emails. This is because MP4 files are supported by almost all modern devices and you can optimize videos for operating systems like Android, iOS, Windows, etc.

2) Compression

YouTube Shorts are designed to run for about 15 seconds. This is an indication that they are not fully compressed in terms of codec. Converting the files to MP4 format ensures that the file size is reduced, enabling playing on any platform without buffering. Luckily, there is no quality loss but it’s just the size is made smaller to fit any device.

3) To support animated GIFs

Animated GIFs add value to your videos. However, social media does not support GIFs among other formats. To keep the fun going, you will need to convert your video to accommodate formats like GIFs, among others.

4) Portability

Another reason to get YouTube shorts to MP4 is for portability issues. Since MP4 are highly accessible on numerous devices and platforms, you can easily import your files via USB flash drive and other external hard disks to other devices. With this, there is also no hindrance in sharing your files online and on other platforms.

5) Lossless quality

MP4 file format supports a high degree of lossless output quality as compared to other file formats. MP4 is highly preferred so that the recipient achieves the original output quality of the converted file. With MP4, you can also retain other parameters like title, sample rate, and channel among others.

How can we convert YouTube shorts to mp4?

The importance of converting videos to MP4 format is weighty. But how do you convert YouTube Shorts to MP4? Plenty of apps are available for easy conversion. Both free, paid, and online converter apps can serve the purpose. Let’s check how to convert your files for free with the Freemake app, via an online app, and using the reliable tool, Filmora.

1. Convert YouTube Shorts video to MP4 with Freemake

This is an easy-to-use converter that you use freely to trim your videos as well as convert them to various formats. The drawbacks are that it leaves a watermark on your videos and will bundle you with extra software for installation with its free version. You, however, can evade this if you upgrade to the Premium version.

Step 1. Download Freemake

First, use any browser to download the Freemake app on your computer. Then choose custom installation. You also have the chance to deselect popping optional applications that present themselves for installation.

Step 2. Launch the app

Then open the app and click on the “+” video button. Next, navigate to the video that you wish to convert from YouTube Shorts.

Step 3. Choose the MP4 file

From the list of files, choose to convert your files to MP4 file format. Also, choose a name and location to save your converted video.

Step 4. Convert your video

Finally, click on the “Convert” tab to start the conversion process of your video. You can also make other changes like customizing the output parameters such as codec and resolution to your preferences. Once done, hit the “OK” button to complete the process.

2. 2) Convert YouTube Shorts to MP4 online

Easily engage an online tool to convert YouTube shorts to MP4 popular format with CloudConvert MP4 converter. Besides MP4, this app supports over 200 file formats like WEBM, AVI, MOV, among other formats. More so, you can use the options to control your video resolution and quality. When you convert your video to MP4, you can now easily share your videos over the internet, and converting it online gives you an upper hand. CloudConvert is trusted for data security as it won’t keep any files on its database. It will also give you high-quality file conversions.

Step 1. Select file

First, choose the YouTube Short video that you wish to convert to MP4. You can add your file from your computer or online sources like YouTube into the converter.

Step 2. Customize settings

CloudConvert lets you customize the output settings like video codec, bitrate, resolution, and file format. Just click on the drop-down arrow on every section and choose your preferences. Then hit the “Okay” button at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Step 3. Convert file to MP4

Wait for the YouTube Shorts to be converted to MP4 format. You can then save your files to your computer and share them with friends via other social media apps like Instagram and Facebook. You can also directly post to Shorts as MP4 files.

3) Convert YouTube video to MP4 using Filmora

Using a free video converter like Freemake will leave a watermark on your videos and hinder the quality. You will not also get lossless quality as the original content on YouTube Shorts. In this case, you can engage the best video converter, Filmora, to losslessly convert your videos to quality output.

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How to convert YouTube Shorts to MP4 with Filmora

Filmora is easy to use and will accommodate both professional and beginner video editors. Follow these steps to convert YouTube Shorts to MP4.

Step 1. Import video clip to Filmora

You can use any device for the conversion process. Filmora supports an array of OS devices like iOS, Android, etc. First, launch the app on your device then click on the “Import Media Files” option.

Step 2. Organize footage

The next step is to drag and drop your video footage to the timeline. Filmora accommodates the merging of several video footages. You can make your videos into one big file. Just organize them according to how you want.

Step 3. Edit your video

Even though this is optional, you can edit your video to add more juice. These include splitting your video via the Splitter button. You can also delete unwanted areas and even add filters and other effects to your preferences.

Step 4. Convert and Export

When you are certain you have the perfect video, click on the “Export” tab to convert your files to MP4 format. Remember to set the final output to MP4 format among the available output options. Then freely play your video on any device and share it with friends on other platforms. There’ll be no hindrance anymore concerning compatibility issues.

Conclusion

You are not limited to using any video file format. Several reasons may also compel you to convert YouTube Shorts to MP4. And this is the best move if you want to reach as many audiences as possible. Remember that users employ different devices and platforms to access such videos. These range from mobile phones, media players, emails, among others. Converting your videos to MP4 enables easy sharing on any platform effortlessly. The best converter tool, Filmora, serves the purpose quite well. You won’t experience any data loss and be assured that your audience gets the same quality as the original file.

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