From Zero to Hero: A Step-by-Step Approach to YouTube Backlinks

YouTube is the world’s 2nd most visited site. That means achieving a higher ranking can be beneficial for you. YouTube SEO can help you to boost traffic, get more views, and achieve higher rankings. In this article, we’ll explain what YouTube backlinks are and the safest way to get them.

In this article

01 [What Are YouTube Backlinks?](#Part 1)

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

02 [Are YouTube Backlinks Important?](#Part 2)

03 [How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?](#Part 3)

04 [A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO](#Part 4)

What Are YouTube Backlinks?

Links between other sites to your YouTube videos are referred to as YouTube backlinks. Backlinks are crucial to growing traffic, increasing discovery speed, and improving ranks. Backlinks are almost akin to a site’s reputation as they can act as a vote of confidence for the quality of your videos.

The content of a video with more backlinks is seen as more valuable by search engines than those with less, as each backlink adds confidence that the video is worth linking to.

The popularity of the sites linking to a YouTube video also plays a part as they naturally lead to increased traffic coming to sites through backlinks. Search engines often check popular videos for new backlinks leading to the quick discovery of new content.

The quality of backlinks significantly impacts the ranking and visibility of a given video. Search engines consider links from relevant sources as more valuable as people are more likely to click them.

Lastly, placement and formatting of links play a part as a link that stands out is more likely to generate traffic than one that doesn’t.

Are YouTube Backlinks Important?

Yes. Backlinks are one of the vital aspects of SEO. They are essential to ranking well in Google search results, and they also help you stay ahead of your competition.

Backlinks act as a powerful source to attract your target audience. While getting people to your might be challenging, sending them to your other work is a breeze. You only have to include YouTube backlinks for free to do so. With 65% of people being visual learners, YouTube is a resourceful place for using backlinks.

How Can I Get YouTube Backlinks for My Videos?

Getting high-quality backlinks can be challenging if you don’t know how to do it. The good news is that there are many different methods that you can use to get links that will benefit your YouTube videos; all it takes is a little creativity.

With that in mind, here are some of the safest ways of getting YouTube backlinks for free for your videos.

Guest Vlogging

If you have a large social media following or even just a few loyal subscribers on YouTube, consider using that to your advantage. Many bloggers and popular vloggers will allow guest appearances in their videos — as long as they also get something out of it. If you are a vlogger in a specific niche, you could guest vlog for someone well-known in your niche, or anyone with higher ranking videos than yours.

Share Your Videos on Social Media

Posting original content on social media sites is also a great way to get high-quality backlinks for free. People will click your links, and this can help you to get more views and subscribers too. Many bloggers and vloggers often post the videos they feature on their social media platforms.

Web 2.0 Sites

The use of Web 2.0 sites is a great way to get backlinks for your YouTube videos. Web 2.0 sites, such as Squarespace, Blogger, Blog, Weebly, and WordPress allow you to embed your videos. You can post original content on these sites, which will then link back to yours. So this makes them powerful links indeed.

Incorporate such websites into your marketing strategy and then target your keywords correctly to get more user engagement. In turn, both your site and embedded video will rank on the top page of search engines, meaning you will rank for that particular search query.

Pinterest Video Pins

Pinterest video pins are another great option. They are simply a link to your YouTube video placed on the Pinterest site. With over 320 million monthly active users and more than 200 billion pins saved, this is a great way to get YouTube backlinks for free. It also helps you grow your following.

Creating backlinks using Pinterest video pins can help you tell a story about your brand, idea, or project. Video pins attract and grab the attention of your audience using a cover image. What’s more? You can create video adverts to advertise on Pinterest.

Unlinked Mentions

The use of unlinked mentions means that whenever someone writes about a YouTube video without linking it back, you provide them with a link yourself; this is a great way to obtain YouTube backlinks for free.

● Questions: Is it safe to buy YouTube backlinks?

● No, it is not. You should not buy backlinks because it’s against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught, you will get a Google penalty for trying to cheat the system.

A Few More SEO Factors for YouTube SEO

Quality of Your Videos

YouTube and Google rank high-quality HD videos higher than those of low quality. Use Filmora to create and edit your videos before uploading them to YouTube.

The software allows you to change the resolution of your videos; it has a range of resolution settings you can choose from to enhance the quality of your videos. You can also adjust the contrast, brightness, tint, and saturation of your videos.

Moreover, you can cut a section in the middle of a video and remove the shake from videos. Additionally, the program allows you to trim, crop, rotate and join videos.

The best part is: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to know how to use this software. It is easy to use and has an aesthetically pleasing interface.

Versatile Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

An easy yet powerful editor

Numerous effects to choose from

Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel

Help you create high-quality YouTube video

Try It Free Try It Free

Video Title

The title of your video has a significant effect on your YouTube SEO. Including your target keyword in your title will help your video rank higher. A compelling title also drives a high CTR (click-through rate). However, you should avoid creating clickbait titles, as this can hurt your ranking.

Engagement

YouTube ranking also depends on how viewers engage with your video. If users watch, share, like, and comment on your videos, Google and YouTube will give them a priority. As such, the more engagement your videos receive, the higher they will rank.

YouTube Tags

Tags allow YouTube to know what your video is about. For this reason, your first tag should be the target keyword. You should also include variations of the target keyword when adding tags.

Conclusion

Using these methods can help you gain high-quality links to boost your YouTube SEO and increase views and subscribers to your channel. Keeping this in mind, the quality of your video is one of the ranking factors. Use Filmora to edit and create HD videos that will get on top of search results.

Enhance Videos at No Extra Cost: Best Editors Ranked (Top 9)

9 Best Free and Easy Editing Apps You Should Know

Richard Bennett

Dec 14, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Have you ever made a video 100% on your phone using a mobile video editing app?

If you’ve just started off on YouTube, there’s a good chance your main camera is the one in your phone. Actually, there’s a good chance of that even if you’ve been making YouTube videos for a while now.

Since you’re shooting videos on your phone, why shouldn’t you edit them there too? Here are 9 free video editing apps you can use for YouTube.

Note: This is not a ranked list. The apps will appear in alphabetical order.

1. Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS)
2. Cameo (iOS)
3. Clips (iOS)
4. Filmora (Android or iOS)
5. Funimate (Android or iOS)
6. iMovie (iOS)
7. Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS)
8. PowerDirector (Android)
9. Vlogit (Android or iOS)

Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS )

Key Points:

1. Automatic using clips. Times them to music
2. Guides you with pop-up tips
3. No text/title overlays
4. Exports directly to YouTube

Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade desktop editor, and Adobe Premiere Clip lives up to the quality standards set by its big-brother software. It is missing some features you might want for YouTube videos, like title effects, but it does have some bells and whistles. There’s a good selection of filters.

Making changes to your picture, like adjusting the exposure or the prevalence of highlights or shadows, is just a matter of sliding bars. The tools for splitting and duplicating clips are easy to find too. You just toggle between the two icons right above your video – the one that looks like a shutter and the one that looks like adjustment bars – to switch between the picture tools and the other tools.

You cannot add what you might normally think of as a title effect in Adobe Premiere Clip, so it’ll be hard to fully complete your video. You can add text cards to put in-between your video clips, but you can’t overlay the title on top of a clip.

You can share your video directly to YouTube when you export.

Cameo (iOS)

Key Points:

1. Easy-to-apply themes
2. Customizable titles
3. Limited features
4. Exports to 4K (if your clips are 4K)

Vimeo is a video sharing site with more of a ‘filmmaker’ focus than YouTube, so it isn’t a surprise that their mobile editing app Cameo can export high-quality 4K videos.

Like some of the other apps on this list, Cameo does not have a huge variety of functions. You can reorder your clips, trim them, add titles, and apply themes (essentially filter and title combos).

There are three icons on the main interface: Scissors, a Music Note, and Filters.

The Scissors will take you to the trimming screen, where you can make your clip shorter or longer.

You can also add a title in the trimming screen, but you will not be able to change the font style or color until you are in the Filter screen.

In the Filter screen (tap the overlapping filters icon on the main interface) you will be able to adjust the color of your text by tapping on the circle with the A in it. Tapping where it says ‘Font’ will change your font style.

You can also tap on Themes and choose a premade style.

Here’s what ‘Crush’ looks like applied:

My font was changed, and there’s also a filter now. In order to apply a filter, you must start with a theme.

Clips (iOS)

Key Points:

1. Great selection of stickers
2. Lacks some basic tools
3. Simple interface

Clips is an intuitive app with a lot of options for decorating your videos. It is lacking in some of the more basic editings features you might expect (i.e. you cannot split clips or do any color correction), but it has a lot of fun features like stickers and emojis that could make up for that depending on your needs.

There are also more traditional effects, like filters and titles. There are a wide range of title options in styles that are popular on YouTube, and a fairly standard filter selection.

While you cannot split clips in this app, but trimming and reordering them is easy. For trimming, you just select the clip and then Trim to open a screen where you can drag the start and end points of the clip.

To rearrange your clips, just tap the clip you want to move and hold down. You’ll be able to drag it to a new location.

It’d be hard to rely on Clips exclusively as your YouTube video editor, but it’s well suited for Instagram or for making quick ‘on-the-go’ videos.

Filmora (Android or iOS)

Key Points:

1. Export directly to YouTube
2. 16:9 or 1:1 for Instagram
3. Includes effects like transitions, filters, and overlays
4. End-roll logo

You can make a complete video easily just by tapping and dragging in Filmora, and there are even effects like filters, transitions, and overlays you can add to make your video more polished.

After importing your media into Filmora (you can import videos and photos saved on your phone, or media which has been uploaded to a social media account like Facebook or Instagram) you can change the order of your clips by tapping one, pressing down for a moment, and then dragging your clips where you want them.

Trimming a clip is as simple as tapping on it and then Duration. You’ll get this screen where you can adjust the length easily by dragging the markers to beginning or endpoints.

Cropping and zooming are simple too.

Filmora comes with pre-made themes you can apply which include titles, filters, and other effects. These might not be ideal if you already have branding you like to use for YouTube, but in some situations, they can make video creation a lot faster.

Filmora comes loaded with music, or you can even import your own music from your phone.

Once you’re done, tap ‘save’ in the top right corner of your screen to export your video. From the save screen, you’ll be able to export your video directly to YouTube.

One potential drawback is that Filmora will add its own logo to the end of your exported video. This logo will not distract from your video content since it is added at the end and never overlaps any of your clips, but it still might not be ideal for all creators.

Funimate (Android or iOS )

Key Points:

1. Easily add text and shapes
2. Rainbow doodling
3. Shake effects
4. Small ‘Funimate’ watermark in videos from the free version

Funimate is lives up to the ‘fun’ promise in its name. It’s designed mostly for music videos/Musical.ly and while it is missing a lot of more typical editing options, there are a few free tools in Funimate that other apps just don’t have.

For example, there are shake and distortion effects available through Funimate that you usually only find in desktop software.

You can also draw rainbow designs on your video with your finger – no other app on this list can do that.

The text tool in Funimate is easy to use, and there are cool looking glow effects you can apply in the color selection screen. Those options are also available when you’re adding shapes, likes stars and sparkles.

Funimate is not built for typical editing, which is both its strength and its weakness. Trimming your clips is its own stage which you must complete before you start adding effects, and you cannot split clips or add multiple clips.

The free version of Funimate does add a small watermark to your videos in the bottom-right corner, but it is subtle enough that I almost missed it completely while reviewing the app.

iMovie (iOS)

Key Points:

1. Trailer templates
2. Themes
3. Limited tools and resources

iMovie’s mobile app is designed for ease and includes things like ‘trailer templates’ and themes that allow you to make a video quickly and with minimal effort.

This streamlined app is limited in its features. Other apps on this list have left out color correction tools or clip splitting tools and instead loaded up on decorative features like stickers, emojis, and overlays. iMovie has left out these tools and does not have an abundance of decorative features either.

There are filters, themes, and titles, however.

The titles are simple but polished, and you’ll find all the standard types of filters.

The themes include a variety of graphics and are applied to your entire video, not individual clips. You can also apply one filter to your entire video.

iMovie also includes a decent selection of transitions, which you can apply easily by tapping the area between two clips.

Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS )

Key Points:

1. Good title tool
2. Stickers
3. Change clip duration
4. 16:9 or 1:1

Movie Maker Filmmaker (the app will be labeled ‘Alive’ in on your phone) has a lot of features that will help you put together a fun YouTube video. There’s a great selection of stickers, filters, and overlays and they’re all easy to apply. You just click on what you want and resize/reposition it in the player.

This app is missing a lot of basic editing features, however. You cannot adjust things like brightness or saturation. This won’t be a problem if you’re happy with your clips as-is, but it’s a bit odd to not have those options.

There is a text tool and while it is fairly basic, it is also flexible. There is a good selection of fonts to choose from, and you can also choose whether or not you want a colored background, and if your text should have a shadow.

Once you’ve decided on the look of your text you can drag it, resize it, and tilt it however you want in the preview screen.

A slightly odd feature of this app is that it doesn’t save your video to your phone or export it directly to YouTube. Instead, it saves it – and shares it – within the app and gives you the option of sharing it with YouTube after.

Power Director (Android)

Key Points:

1. A timeline like desktop software
2. All the basic editing features
3. Lots of transitions
4. Videos from the free version will be watermarked

The first thing you’ll notice when you open up Power Director is that the interface looks a lot like the interface of a lot of desktop editors with a very classic timeline. This familiarity could make it easy to jump into if you’re used to editing on your laptop.

However, Power Director is a bit less intuitive than most of the other apps on this list. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s difficult to use – it isn’t, it’s much easier than a lot of desktop software – but among mobile apps designed for streamlined efficiency it does stand out as being a bit harder to dive into.

That is partly because there’s a lot you can do with it. It has the tools you would expect in an editor. You can split and trim clips, and you have all the standard color tools including some that most mobile apps leave out.

A lot of apps have Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, but PowerDirector also has Color Temperature and Tint.

In addition to editing tools, PowerDirector has bells and whistles like filters –

- and a ton of great transitions.

One drawback of PowerDirector is that the free version will watermark your videos. This watermark is not intrusive, but it isn’t as subtle as the Funimate one either.

You can export videos from PowerDirector directly to YouTube.

Vlogit (Android or iOS )

Key Points:

1. Easy thumbnail maker
2. Export directly to YouTube
3. Animated stickers

Vlogit is also an app from the creators of the Filmora Video Editor. It isn’t quite as intuitive as Filmora, but the major benefit of Vlogit for YouTube creators is that it was designed with you in mind. It has features like animated stickers, emojis, and a thumbnail maker which were included specifically because YouTubers and vloggers need them.

All the usual adjustments you might want to make, like saturation or sharpness, are easy in Vlogit. So are adjustments to the length or crop of clips.

After you save your video you’ll have the option of creating a thumbnail using a screenshot from your video. You can add a colored border, text, emojis, and more!

Once you’re done, you can export directly to YouTube. Like Filmora, Vlogit does have a post-video logo roll.

Have you ever used a free mobile app to edit one of your YouTube videos? What did you use, and were you happy with the results?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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