How to create YouTube Shorts correctly: rules and trends

6 min read
13 July 2023

What are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are vertical short videos with YouTube aspect ratio, created in response to the popularity of Instagram Reels and TikTok videos.

YouTube creators can upload shorts on top of their main channel content. It helps promote the videos they publish and attract more subscribers through various content types.

You can view the videos from this section in the application, in the desktop version, or on Smart TV: users scroll the feed, just like in the TikTok application. And you can view YouTube Shorts on full screen, and the maximum duration of a video is one minute.

How to create and upload YouTube shorts

You can only create shorts in the official YouTube app. Download it from the iOS App Store or Google Play, and then log in using your Google credentials or a separate YouTube login.

Step 1: Create a YouTube Short

  1. ЧTo create a short, click the (+) icon on the app main page and then — ‎Create a Short button. To record a 15-second video, hold down the red button. By clicking the number 15 above the record button, you can change the duration of the video to 60 seconds.
  


  1. You can add special effects and elements to your video from the toolbar on the right side of the screen.
  


  • Rotating arrows switch the camera view.
  • Speed ​​up or slow down the video with the click of a button 1x.
  • The clock icon is a countdown timer for creating hands-free videos.
  • Video filters is an icon with three circles.
  • Video retouching is a magic wand icon.
  • Gallery is the ability to change the background and add a green screen or a photo from the smartphone library.
  • Add Sound is an icon at the top of the screen. You can add an audio track before recording or while editing your content.

Step 2: Editing

  


After the recording is complete, click the checkmark to save the video. Then you can refine it by adding an audio track, text, and filters. When finished editing, click the Next button in the upper right corner.

Step 3: Uploading YouTube Shorts

Add information about the video and choose whether the video should be public, non-public, or private.

Specify if the video is kid-friendly or age-restricted and click Upload to post the shorts.

How to format YouTube Shorts

The Voice Project


It is a YouTube channel of a musical TV show. A perfect Short contains a bright title, a concise description, links to all social networks and project platforms, hashtags, and a link to the channel.

YouTube Short The Voice is also actively used to promote new seasons of the show. For example, they take short interviews with the jury that intrigue fans before the start. At the end of this short video, there is a CTA telling you where and when to watch the episodes.

Face fitness trainer Abigail James


Abigail James’s YouTube channel content mainly includes training, beauty routine, tips, Q&A format, recommendations, and live broadcasts on various topics.

ouTube Shorts with subtitles and keywords in the title generate more views: for example, a quick facial massage has over 41,000 views and 2,200 comments.

Architectural Digest Magazine


AD is an international authority on design and architecture. AD is an opportunity to walk around the most beautiful houses in the world and learn more about the people who live there.

Creators will get inspired by the variety in YouTube Shorts for sure. Shorts also have information about architecture, art, antiques, and besides interviews with homeowners focused on interior design.

Cajun Koi Academy


The channel author enlightens the methods of learning and speaks about the topics of self-sovereignty and thinking. The main content of the channel is videos with a length of up to 10 minutes.

Emojis in YouTube Shorts titles, visualization inside the video, excellent editing, and illustrations make your video unique and highlight it in user feeds.

Satori Graphics


It is a design studio whose creator develops an educational YouTube channel. He grows a personal brand, promotes online courses, and works with completely different companies and projects.

Satori Graphics is an example of a brand that uses animation and graphics to tell the audience about design visually and without complicated terms.

Popular YouTube Shorts formats

  • Before and After. Personal progress in something or an illustration of the effectiveness of the product.
  • Life hacks. Tips that help simplify your daily routine: psychological, culinary, household.
  • Vlogs. Vlogs are most often associated with long videos. But in Shorts, cuts from pleasant or bright moments of the day work great.
  • Trailer for the video. With a CTA at the end of a short video, the motivation to watch the video on the main YouTube channel.
  • News. A micro-report about industry trends, and weekly or monthly events.
  • ‎Facts about. Interesting facts about the company, about how the business developed.

The benefits of posting YouTube Shorts

YouTube is a big platform with new brands and influencers popping up every day. YouTube Shorts videos are a great way to draw attention to your brand and stand out from hundreds of thousands of other videos.

What are the other advantages of YouTube Shorts?

Main channel video promotion. Thanks to the regular publication of shorts, your engagement will increase — which is one of the core indices. It’s a crucial ranking factor determining how content is prioritized on YouTube.

Increasing audience loyalty. YouTube Shorts Behind the Scenes. As opposed to carefully scheduled edited video, you can post backstage from filming to company events. Everything that differs from a glossy picture and builds trust in the brand helps establish strong relationships with potential customers, subscribers, and viewers.

Main channel content promo. A 30-second video about the upcoming release and a CTA (call to action) motivates viewers to view a long video on YouTube or go to the landing page of a product or service if it is a brand channel.

Posting user-generated content (UGC). Anyone can create Shorts anywhere with access to a smartphone. So, for example, a brand can send a new product to brand ambassadors and ask them to film YouTube Shorts with product unboxing and first impressions.

Creating YouTube Shorts is a cost-effective video marketing strategy. Anyone can make this format with a smartphone without hiring a creative agency.

YouTube Shorts are a crucial part of your content strategy. Shorts provide an opportunity to pick up on a trend, such as a dance move or challenge to gain traction on social media. It increases the chances of a video going viral.

This platform allows you to work with a large user base, diversify content for the existing YouTube audience, and attract new subscribers.