Guide to Supercharged Video Engagement with YouTube Notes

How to Add YouTube Annotations and Cards?

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Update: YouTube has replaced annotation with end screen. You can find the latest informaiton about YouTube screen and YouTube cards here.

YouTube Cards and Annotations are very useful if you want to encourage your viewrs to take an action, like Subscribe, go to another video or associated website, etc. Today, we’re going to show you the differences between cards and annotations, and how to add them in YouTube videos.

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The main difference between annotation and cards is their outlook. Cards are more graphical whereas annotations are text based. The cards slide in once you click the small “i” button on the video where as the annotation is there based on the timings set by the user. Moreover the main differences between the two are:

1. YouTube Cards are small and unobtrusive, unless a viewer chooses to click on them, which is why they are the better option when you are trying to get views on other videos. Irritating a few people with a big annotation might be worth it if you also draw other people’s attention to your cause or website, but it is not a good way to endear yourself to people you are trying to get views and subscriptions from. When a card is clicked a thumbnail will appear with a link to your additional content. YouTube Cards are often better than annotations for adding links to your videos because they look much tidier. Also, unlike annotations, cards will be visible to people watching your videos on their mobile devices.

2. You cannot use Cards just to insert notes into your videos, though, and you cannot adjust their size like you can with annotations. So, if you do need a link to be large and extremely noticeable, annotations might still be your best option. Cards and annotations can even be used in combination sometimes.

• Part 1: How to Add YouTube Cards
• Part 2: How to Add YouTube Annotations

How to add YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are similar to annotations but more interactive. They allow the owner of the video to add images and other links. A small box appears, clicking on which will activate the cards.

• Click on the “Video Manager” tab

• Click “Edit” tab under the video screen shot you want to add the card on
• Click on the “Cards” tab

• On the right panel click on “Add Card” drop down menu and select the type of card you want to add
• Click on the create button which will open the corresponding video
• Once you finish the subsequent information required click create card
• Select the timeline for the playhead to appear which leads to the card slide

• Apply changes and exit

How to add YouTube annotations

YouTube Annotation is addition of a text layer, link or hotspots over your video. They add interactive boxes which link to other websites or videos (any link you want).

• Click on the video manager tab
• Click edit tab under the video screen shot you want to add the annotation on
• Click on the “End screen & Annotation” tab

• On the right panel click on “+ Add Element” and select the kind of annotation you want to add
• Adjust the position of Annotation, you can drag the rectangle to locate it at any position of the video, move the slide to set the start and end time of the annotation

• Apply changes

The types of YouTube annotations:

1. Speech Bubbles

Speech Bubbles: look like the dialogue box in a comic strip. There is a tail which you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation. Speech bubbles are great for adding in funny comments.

2. Notes

Notes: come in a limited selection of colors and can be adjusted to take up a maximum of 30% of your player screen. Sometimes you need a huge annotation to get an important point across, but using huge note annotations too often – especially near the beginnings of your videos – will annoy viewers. If you need a large note annotation make sure to place it later in your video, when a viewer will already be invested in what they are watching and less likely to click away.

3. Titles

Titles: are large pieces of text that go either at the beginning of your video or in-between different topics within your video. YouTube’s titles are not very nice to look at, but they are a decent option if you do not have access to video editing software.

4. Spotlights

Spotlights: have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a user hovers over the spotlight. Spotlights are great for turning elements within your video into links.

5. Labels

Labels: are completely transparent, like spotlights, but the user does not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

6. Pauses

Pauses: are no longer available to add to your videos, although Pause Annotations added before they were removed still work. Pause Annotations used to stop your video for a set period of time when your annotation appeared.

If somebody watches your video and gets to the end then that means they enjoyed it and will probably be open to checking out more of your content. Rather than hoping that your other videos show up in the ‘Suggested Videos’ YouTube will show after yours has finished playing you should always include an outro, or ending card, after your video to recommend your own work. Annotations are used in a lot of successful YouTuber’s ending cards.

One form this takes is small Note annotations in the bottom corners of the screen, one linking to your previous video and one to the next. Sometimes your viewers might not necessarily get the most enjoyment out of your videos by watching them in order, though. Sometimes you want to link viewers to the videos that are most related to the one they just watched.

The best outros also include a subscribe button, which can be created using annotations. These annotations work best when combined with a verbal call to action. Make sure your outro lasts long enough for people to make the decision to subscribe or click another video.

No matter what kind of annotations you are using, you should never use more than two of them at a time anywhere except for your outro. You should also never place annotations at the very top of your screen, or in the middle at the bottom. If your video is embedding on a separate website then the player will cover annotations at the top of the screen, and ads might cover annotations placed in the bottom-middle of the screen. Keep in mind when using annotations that they will not be visible to users watching your videos on mobile devices. If mobile traffic is very important to you then consider using YouTube Cards.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Digital Broadcasting Battle: Comparing Facebook LIVE, YouTube Live, & Twitter Spaces

Facebook Live Vs YouTube Live Vs Twitter Periscope

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Live videos are gaining huge popularity these days. People find them best method to share adventurous moments with friends over social media. You can have wide range of choices for selection of platform like Periscope, YouTube Live and Facebook Live etc. But most of you might be thinking hard about which one of these is best to get more audience support. Many of you will just respond with the quick answer that I will switch to a platform where my most of friends are connected. Actually, there are so many features to discuss about a live streaming platform as performance depends upon so many parameters.

Facebook Live

Who is not familiar with this name? Even aliens must be aware about awesomeness of Facebook and now its live streaming capability added more wonders to the life. On top portion of this application, you will find three icons telling you to make easy choices for Check in, Photo and Live. When you are ready to live stream then simply hit this Live button and you will be ready to step inside world of entertainment. Same as YouTube, it sends messages to all followers about your broadcast via notification Bar so that they can soon join the fun online.

Facebook Live has gained wide popularity within very less time and now users are enjoying long hour streaming engagement over here. It has been designed with so many interesting features, how can we forget to list 360 option in this talk. That is truly awesome and is receiving great response from viewers. Users on Facebook Live can easily update their privacy settings for each uploads and It also allows editing with filters and masks, same as that of Snapchat.

Pros

There is no doubt to say that Facebook Live is quite simple to operate. Even when you enter inside this world for the very first time, it will make everything user friendly to you.

Cons

• It generate too much notifications, they make subscribers annoyed.
• News feeds gets affected with Live feature.

YouTube Live

Go to YouTube Live, hit the camera option from top menu and it will show you two options immediately on screen: Record for camera roll and Go Live for added online adventure. You can make easy selection about whether you want to share content with public or want to make it an unlisted video. You will definitely love its ability to auto generate a thumbnail of captured videos that becomes available to all subscribers over channel and provided better description about your next post. You can set broadcasting to horizontal as well as vertical mode and as soon as you start browsing over internet, YouTube will provide you effective editing controls with its Instagram like unique filters such as Sepia, Dawn, Dream and many more.

This platform is currently entertaining millions of users from different corner of world on desktop based platform whereas if you have 10000 plus subscribers on your channel then you can also enjoy mobile live streaming feature.

Pros

• It offers quite simple operations.
• Users can easily find their favourite content in well organized YouTube Live library.
• YouTube Live also provides earning options to streamers.

Cons

• You can easily miss important comments as they fly too fast.

Periscope

Twitter’s recently updated Periscope is one of the best live mobile streaming applications. It can process all videos at faster rate with high quality results. When you are ready to broadcast then simply Go Live and all your followers will immediately receive a message about your streaming. It helps world to know immediately about where broadcasts are going to update. Periscope can easily make your streams more attractive with its appealing live stream engagements.

As, millions of users are already connected to Twitter and enjoying interactive talks with world over there so most of these prefer to chose Periscope as one of the most trustworthy platform for Live streaming.

Pros

• It offers wide range of settings and functions.
• Twitter has recently added 360 video ability to Periscope.
• Well designed with user friendly interface.
• More number of subscribers can be easily connected.

Cons

• Infrequent updates are issue for professional streamers.

Facebook Live Vs. YouTube Live Vs. Periscope: What’s the Difference?

1. Audience:

We all know that Facebook is currently having highest user base so naturally Facebook Live is assumed to have more viewers and streamers. Google considers most of the YouTube content valuable but note that it is YouTube not the recently updated YouTube Live platform. On the other side, if we talk about Periscope then it can be best described as a standalone network. In case if it gets linked to main app YouTube then it may avail some popularity in the market, same as that of Facebook. If you are a beginner then probably, Facebook is the best choice for you as it can provide more audience over the nights. Periscope users can also enjoy healthy content over Mobile phones with great stream quality. One more interesting thing to know about Periscope is that it can be used to develop healthy relationships with so many viewers and followers.

2. User Interface:

Here is one more interesting factor to discuss about all these amazing Live streaming platforms. This feature makes a system or software standout among other competitors. If we compare user interface of Facebook Live, Periscope and YouTube Live then you will find them all almost similar. But most of the beginners rate Facebook as most simple and user friendly tool for live broadcasts. Second rating is received by Periscope whereas YouTube Live stands on third level. User interface of Periscope and Facebook live possesses so many similar features such as ability to subscribe, comment or updating likes etc.

3. Saving Broadcasts and Embedding Replays:

Let us discuss about saving broadcasts as well as get some idea about their ability to arrange embedding replays. The video archiving ability of YouTube and Facebook is having almost similar kind of features. Users are able to update their live streams and they can also be saved for longer run, even permanently as per need. If you want to delete them then simple controls allow easy removal of updated broadcasts from channel. On the other side, Periscope allows live streamers to stay on channel only for 24 hours. After that, all the updated videos get automatically deleted. On Facebook, users cannot come to know about who is watching their live streams until and unless they receive comments from viewers. Although, Facebook keep on updating notifications about all live streams but more often they create a bug. In case of Periscope, whenever a person starts viewing your uploaded content, his name will directly appear at your end. It can help you to know the real strength of your updates so that you can improve quality of content as per interest of viewers. It is also possible to make private or public settings for broadcasts on Periscope whereas Facebook is gaining more popularity for its Split Screen and 360 videos.

4. Interaction:

Communicate with Broadcasters:

If you want to interact with broadcaster on Facebook then you can simply update your comment or show them your reaction with emojies. They can be updated at the time of live broadcasts as well as at the time of replay. Most of the Facebook users are unhappy with its lag time as broadcasters comment gets published after a delay of 30 seconds. In case of Periscope, viewers are able to just comment on live broadcasts and they can also update a heart for their favourite content. If we compare the lag time of Facebook and Periscope then it is lower for Periscope and people often enjoy instantaneous conversations over this network. The best part is that Viewers can update numbers of hearts even for single broadcast and all of them will get recorded. This feature is not available with Facebook emojies. You will be glad to know that once you have prepared account over YouTube then same details can be used to access Periscope platform.

Interaction with Viewers:

Facebook allows broadcasters and viewers to enjoy healthy communication as here talks can be initiated by updating name of the person before writing comment. If you want to communicate with all viewers in more professional manner then Facebook’s name based comment updates are best choices. Note that, facebook allows users to enjoy communicate even when stream has already ended. In case of Periscope, again viewers and broadcasters can enjoy direct name to name comment based conversations. Periscope broadcasts can also be enjoyed on Twitter platform directly but here you cannot update hearts directly. Also, comments remains dedicated to Twitter and Periscope environment. YouTube Live allows users to share their viewing experiences with comments and it helps broadcasters to get feedbacks for improvement. Content from YouTube Live can also be shared on other platforms.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox