I started posting YouTube Shorts on my channel 6 months ago and the results pleasantly surprised me.
I posted 16 Shorts and they got me over 2,000,000 views.
The best part is that my old YT Shorts are still getting around 2000 views per day each and bringing in new subscribers to my channel.
I didn’t think that the Shorts I posted would get so many views.
After all, creating them is so much easier than long-form videos.
I took some time to analyze my YouTube Shorts and what made them successful.
And here’s my ultimate guide on how to get more views by posting YouTube Shorts:
How to Get More Views on YouTube Shorts?
I found that you can do a few key things to optimize YouTube short’s performance.
Here’s what I do to maximize views on YT Shorts:
1. Shorts should not complement your long-form videos
Most people think of YouTube Shorts as a way to promote their other videos.
That’s the wrong approach.
You should think of Shorts as separate videos that stand on their own.
Their primary purpose is not to direct viewers to your other videos but to provide as much value as possible, whether through entertainment or education.
Sure, Shorts can be little snippets from your long-form videos if they are interesting to the viewers on their own.
Shorts that get the most views on my channel are the ones that I plan, script, shoot, and edit as separate videos.
Give Shorts the time and attention that they deserve.
2. Brainstorm ideas & come up with an engaging title
“For most people they could spend a 100 days making 1 video a day that averages 10 000 views a video, or they could just sit down, come up with a good video and just get 1 000 000 views in a week.” – Mr.Beast
A great idea is what makes or breaks a video.
Ideas are what make unknown channels go viral on YouTube.
The best hack I found for Shorts ideas is to use ideas for long-form videos that you couldn’t make into a full-length 10-minute video.
Also, it’s a good idea to keep a list of running ideas.
You can use Apple Notes, Notion, or Google Docs to quickly jot down ideas when you come up with them.
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” – David Allen
When I come up with ideas for my YouTube Shorts I think of little pieces of information or short stories that I can tell in 60 seconds or less.
In my YouTube Shorts, I try to share what I learned or overcome but in an interesting and subtle way.
If you’re stuck and can’t come up with ideas use the VidIQ video idea generator.
Packaging your YouTube short with an engaging title is also very important.
Here’s a guide on how to write YouTube video titles that viewers can’t resist.
I made it for long-form videos but the same concepts can be applied to YouTube Shorts.
3. Use music to your advantage
Listen to how I used the music and sound effects in this YouTube Short.
Pay attention to when the music stops and when it begins:
Match music with the action.
- If there’s anticipation, cut out the music to make the scene seem suspenseful.
- If it’s a happy moment or the culmination, make the music louder.
I try not to cover the whole video with music but rather add it where I feel it’s appropriate.
I use different tracks to emphasize different emotions.
4. Focus on average view duration
This is how the audience retention graph looks like on one of my most popular Shorts:
Since most Shorts get the majority of their views through the Shorts feed it means that the viewer doesn’t choose which Short to watch.
Shorts are being served by the platform.
Average view duration, like-to-dislike ratio, and the number of comments are the only factors that determine your Short’s success.
Because those are the only metrics YouTube can track from the viewer
When making my YouTube Shorts I like to focus all the effort on maximizing the average view duration:
- Make Shorts loopable.
- Reveal the most important piece of information at the very end.
- Cut out everything that isn’t necessary or doesn’t add to the story.
- Keep the pacing the same, don’t start off fast and then slow down in your presentation.
- Get to the point quickly, no rambling.
- If you show an image, use the Ken Burns effect (slowly zoom into that picture) to add movement to the video.
- Make sure the viewer has something to look at at all times (frequent scene changes help).
5. Make Shorts feel "amateur"
In this video Peter McKinnon talks to Chris Ramsay about how he is able to make viral YouTube Shorts:
One of the best pieces of advice about creating YouTube Shorts comes from Chris Ramsay who has multiple Shorts that have over 40,000,000 views!
Even though Chris Ramsay is an amazing filmmaker and content creator he chooses to use a less polished strategy for his YouTube Shorts – he makes them look amateur.
“When it comes to Shorts it’s such a different way of consuming content, you’re just flipping through things” – Chris Ramsay
Here’s one of Chris’s Shorts.
Notice how it has this handheld, friendly, amateur feel:
6. Audio quality is more important than video quality
Even if you make the visuals of your Shorts look “amateur” on purpose, don’t do the same with audio quality.
Your audio doesn’t have to come from an expensive studio microphone but the viewers have to easily understand what you want to say.
If you recorded bad audio quality and there’s no going back, you can use captions to help make your video appealing to more viewers.
I made a free Skillshare course that you can take with their 30-day free trial about how to make your voice-over audio sound professional without expensive gear:
7. Cut out unnecessary silences
The attention spans of today’s audiences are shrinking fast.
Most people that consume short-form content are usually of the younger generation.
That’s why editing your Short for retention is a good way to keep your average view duration high.
One way to achieve this is to cut out any silent parts, unnecessary words, and breaths in the recording.
Here’s my full guide on how to edit YouTube videos fast.
8. Make the Short as Short as possible
A YouTube Short can have a maximum length of 60 seconds however, that’s not to say that you should make them that long.
A Short, or any YouTube video should be as long as it needs to be, meaning that any extra “fluff” should be thrown out.
Cut away all shots that don’t contribute to the story, sentences that if removed don’t change the narrative, graphics, intros, and outros.
Leave only the barebones of the video.
Viewers will be more likely to loop Shorts when they’re shorter resulting in a better average view duration.
9. Frequently change scenes
Frequent scene changes contribute to higher audience retention.
A killer thumbnail (which doesn’t matter for Shorts) and good audience retention are the most important factors for growing a successful YouTube channel.
Some viral YouTube Shorts have two stories playing out at the same time.
They have a video of gameplay in the background but tell a completely unrelated thing with the voiceover.
Or even crazier, they have 2 videos playing at the same time, the main video – with audio and the other video – without audio.
If the viewer gets bored for even the slightest second, they can look at the “background” video instead of swiping up for a new YouTube Short.
Here’s an example of this in action. What the creator is talking about is completely unrelated to what’s being shown in the video:
10. Capitalise on trends
There’s nothing more engaging than the latest news or trends.
Creators on other social media platforms, like TikTok, go viral over trends every single day.
Use this for growing your YouTube channel – talk about recent events, news in your niche, or anything that’s hot right now.
Share your opinion, create a meme, something that’s sharable, relatable, or trending.
Go Viral With My Free YouTube Shorts Course:
🚀 Learn to grow your channel with Shorts in under 2 hours per week
⚙️ Discover effective editing techniques for maximum viewer retention
🧑⚖️ Learn to make your first viral video and get your channel off the ground
📱 Find out how to record Shorts with your phone to make them “feel amateur”
📈 Learn to come up with simple YouTube Shorts ideas that blow up
How Much Money Do YouTube Shorts Make?
YouTube Shorts will not earn you a lot of money if any at all.
You can use my Shorts revenue calculator to see exactly how much you would earn based on different amounts of views.
They’re great for growing your subscriber base and getting new eyeballs to your content.
I found that it’s a lot easier to get views on YouTube Shorts than on long-form videos because YouTube is trying to push this feature to as many people as possible.
Of course, you can monetize them through other means.
Shorts are best for getting discovered, and increasing your subscribers but not for making money.
As YouTube continues to improve its algorithm it tries to the bridge gap between short and long-form videos.
That means that viewers that watch your Shorts have a chance to get recommended one of your long-form videos.
This is why, as the algorithm improves, making Shorts will become an even better way to grow your core audience in the future.
Should You Make YouTube Shorts?
You shouldn’t make YouTube Shorts if you expect to make a lot of Adsense revenue.
You should make YouTube Shorts if you want to grow your audience.
Shorts are a great way to get your long-form videos in front of new eyeballs.
Short-form video is trending and every platform tries to push it to compete with other social media platforms.
In my experience getting views on YouTube Shorts is a lot easier than getting them on long-from videos.
Content creators win when platforms are competing with each other.
This might be the best time to start creating YouTube Shorts because as more time passes there will be more competition.
When YouTube rolls out Shorts revenue sharing there will be a lot more people making them and trying to earn money from YouTube.