Defeating Dissidence: A Guide for Content Makers

How To Deal with YouTube Trolls and Negative Comments

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

YouTube Outros that Grow Your Channel Faster

YouTube Outros that Grow Your Channel Faster

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Your YouTube outro, or end screen , is your last chance to keep a viewer on your channel. There are a lot of videos in the ‘Related’ sidebar that might catch their attention, or they could decide to go back to their search results.

A good outro will prompt viewers to keep watching related content from you instead of from someone else, and it could even convince them to subscribe.

1. YouTube Outro Basics
2. YouTube Outro Templates
3. How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature
4. How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

Part 1: YouTube Outro Basics

From the video above we can see that it features video recommendations and a prominent subscribe button.

A YouTube end screen might have the following features:

Videos: you can embed links/thumbnails for videos you’ve made on similar topics in order to keep viewers watching your content.

Playlists: instead of (or in addition to) linking to individual videos, you can embed playlists and link viewers to all of your content on a particular topic.

Subscribe Button: prompt viewers to subscribe to your channel.

Background: you may choose to use all of the elements described above in combination with an end card consisting of a moving background or still image. You can even find templates that will have slots for all your thumbnails and buttons.

You may also want to include social icons and handles for your accounts on sites like Instagram or Twitter. These won’t be clickable (you’ll need to add them yourself outside of YouTube’s end screen tool), but they’ll still let viewers know where else they can find and follow you.

Part 2: YouTube Outro Templates Download

Here are 4 sites where you can download templates for YouTube Outros:

Tube Arsenal: this site has a good selection of customizable outros with moving backgrounds. On the Tube Arsenal site, before you download, you can adjust the colors and text included in your outro and even load in your own logo.

You can preview your customized outro by clicking Preview Still or Preview Movie.

Outros on Tube Arsenal cost $9 for 720P or $13 for 1080p.

Outro Maker: you can get animated end screens/outros from Outro Maker for $2.99 a month (or, if you just need one outro, you can probably finish it during your 7-day free trial).

Outro Maker uses the content already uploaded onto your channel to create your outro, so you will need to link the service with your channel.

Biteable: the templates you can customize on Biteable are not specifically designed to be YouTube Outros and will not have slots for your end screen elements. The videos start out a lot longer than you’ll want for an end screen (an end screen can’t last longer than 20 seconds), but you can shorten them by deleting all the ‘scenes’ you don’t need and keeping just the one or two you want.

The clips you can get from Biteable look great, and their process for changing the text and colors is simple and intuitive.

You can create 5 free projects every month with Biteable, but you’ll need to upgrade to their paid service to download them. It’s $30 for one month.

Velosofy: this site has a decent selection of templates you can download for free. However, the downloads are all project files for programs like Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. You’ll need to have the program that goes with your download in order to customize your outro.

You can also find free outro templates by searching for them on YouTube! Lots of people have created free outros to share with the YouTube community.

Besides downloading outro templates from the website, you can also create it with some outro makers or with the video editing software that you are using. Wondershare Filmora video editor is the video editor that I used often, it is featured some cool templates and preset for making an outro. I recommend you try it as well.

Part 3: How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature

Make sure to create a space at the end of your video for the elements of your end screen to sit on top of. Your end screen will not add to the length of your video, it will overlay onto the last 5-20 seconds.

Here’s how you add an End Screen:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio, then switch to Videos on the left menu;
2. Click Details next to the video you want to add an end screen to.
3. Click the End screen in the menu under the lower right window.
4. Click Element to start adding videos, playlists, and subscribe buttons to your outro. You could also choose to use the same layout as a previous end screen with Import From Video, or you could apply multiple elements at once with a YouTube Template.
5. Drag the elements to where you want them and adjust the timing using the timeline.
6. Click Save when you’re done.

Part 4: How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

One of the most important statistics for measuring the growth of Your YouTube channel is Watch Time. You need 4,000 hours of watch time (over the past 12 months) in order to qualify for monetization/the YouTube Partner Program, and watch time also plays an important role in how your videos are ranked in YouTube’s search results.

Watch time is more important than views. If you’re getting views, but people are only watching short sections of your video, YouTube’s algorithm thinks the people who are clicking on your videos don’t like them and ranks them lower.

Outros are one of the best ways of increasing the watch time for your channel, because the whole point of an outro is to convince viewers to stick around and watch more videos. Here are some best practices:

Link to related videos and playlists: if someone has watched one video on a topic to the end, they’ll likely be interested in another highly related video from you. For example, someone who’s watched a Let’s Play for God of War is more likely to be interested in another God of War video than your review of your new gaming headset.

Link to your newest video: YouTube’s algorithm places the most weight on the data it collects about your video within the first 24 hours of it being listed as Public. To give your newest video it’s the best chance at success, you should do everything you can to boost its watch time when it’s first posted and linking to it in the end screens of all your other videos is one way to do that.

You don’t have to change every screen individually, YouTube lets you link to your most recent video automatically.

Link to Playlists: if you can get a viewer watching a playlist of related videos then that’s great for your watch time. If they’re already in a playlist they’re far more likely to watch multiple videos than if they have to go to your channel page and hunt down the content they’re interested in.

Include a ‘CTA’ with your subscribe button: besides just including a button people can use to subscribe, you should ask them to click on it with a ‘Call to Action’ or CTA. This can mean writing something like ‘Subscribe for more videos!’ on your end card, or asking them in an outro voiceover. People are more likely to subscribe if you ask than if you don’t.

Are you using a YouTube outro? What elements do you include, and how do you think it’s helped the growth of your channel?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Your YouTube outro, or end screen , is your last chance to keep a viewer on your channel. There are a lot of videos in the ‘Related’ sidebar that might catch their attention, or they could decide to go back to their search results.

A good outro will prompt viewers to keep watching related content from you instead of from someone else, and it could even convince them to subscribe.

1. YouTube Outro Basics
2. YouTube Outro Templates
3. How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature
4. How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

Part 1: YouTube Outro Basics

From the video above we can see that it features video recommendations and a prominent subscribe button.

A YouTube end screen might have the following features:

Videos: you can embed links/thumbnails for videos you’ve made on similar topics in order to keep viewers watching your content.

Playlists: instead of (or in addition to) linking to individual videos, you can embed playlists and link viewers to all of your content on a particular topic.

Subscribe Button: prompt viewers to subscribe to your channel.

Background: you may choose to use all of the elements described above in combination with an end card consisting of a moving background or still image. You can even find templates that will have slots for all your thumbnails and buttons.

You may also want to include social icons and handles for your accounts on sites like Instagram or Twitter. These won’t be clickable (you’ll need to add them yourself outside of YouTube’s end screen tool), but they’ll still let viewers know where else they can find and follow you.

Part 2: YouTube Outro Templates Download

Here are 4 sites where you can download templates for YouTube Outros:

Tube Arsenal: this site has a good selection of customizable outros with moving backgrounds. On the Tube Arsenal site, before you download, you can adjust the colors and text included in your outro and even load in your own logo.

You can preview your customized outro by clicking Preview Still or Preview Movie.

Outros on Tube Arsenal cost $9 for 720P or $13 for 1080p.

Outro Maker: you can get animated end screens/outros from Outro Maker for $2.99 a month (or, if you just need one outro, you can probably finish it during your 7-day free trial).

Outro Maker uses the content already uploaded onto your channel to create your outro, so you will need to link the service with your channel.

Biteable: the templates you can customize on Biteable are not specifically designed to be YouTube Outros and will not have slots for your end screen elements. The videos start out a lot longer than you’ll want for an end screen (an end screen can’t last longer than 20 seconds), but you can shorten them by deleting all the ‘scenes’ you don’t need and keeping just the one or two you want.

The clips you can get from Biteable look great, and their process for changing the text and colors is simple and intuitive.

You can create 5 free projects every month with Biteable, but you’ll need to upgrade to their paid service to download them. It’s $30 for one month.

Velosofy: this site has a decent selection of templates you can download for free. However, the downloads are all project files for programs like Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. You’ll need to have the program that goes with your download in order to customize your outro.

You can also find free outro templates by searching for them on YouTube! Lots of people have created free outros to share with the YouTube community.

Besides downloading outro templates from the website, you can also create it with some outro makers or with the video editing software that you are using. Wondershare Filmora video editor is the video editor that I used often, it is featured some cool templates and preset for making an outro. I recommend you try it as well.

Part 3: How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature

Make sure to create a space at the end of your video for the elements of your end screen to sit on top of. Your end screen will not add to the length of your video, it will overlay onto the last 5-20 seconds.

Here’s how you add an End Screen:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio, then switch to Videos on the left menu;
2. Click Details next to the video you want to add an end screen to.
3. Click the End screen in the menu under the lower right window.
4. Click Element to start adding videos, playlists, and subscribe buttons to your outro. You could also choose to use the same layout as a previous end screen with Import From Video, or you could apply multiple elements at once with a YouTube Template.
5. Drag the elements to where you want them and adjust the timing using the timeline.
6. Click Save when you’re done.

Part 4: How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

One of the most important statistics for measuring the growth of Your YouTube channel is Watch Time. You need 4,000 hours of watch time (over the past 12 months) in order to qualify for monetization/the YouTube Partner Program, and watch time also plays an important role in how your videos are ranked in YouTube’s search results.

Watch time is more important than views. If you’re getting views, but people are only watching short sections of your video, YouTube’s algorithm thinks the people who are clicking on your videos don’t like them and ranks them lower.

Outros are one of the best ways of increasing the watch time for your channel, because the whole point of an outro is to convince viewers to stick around and watch more videos. Here are some best practices:

Link to related videos and playlists: if someone has watched one video on a topic to the end, they’ll likely be interested in another highly related video from you. For example, someone who’s watched a Let’s Play for God of War is more likely to be interested in another God of War video than your review of your new gaming headset.

Link to your newest video: YouTube’s algorithm places the most weight on the data it collects about your video within the first 24 hours of it being listed as Public. To give your newest video it’s the best chance at success, you should do everything you can to boost its watch time when it’s first posted and linking to it in the end screens of all your other videos is one way to do that.

You don’t have to change every screen individually, YouTube lets you link to your most recent video automatically.

Link to Playlists: if you can get a viewer watching a playlist of related videos then that’s great for your watch time. If they’re already in a playlist they’re far more likely to watch multiple videos than if they have to go to your channel page and hunt down the content they’re interested in.

Include a ‘CTA’ with your subscribe button: besides just including a button people can use to subscribe, you should ask them to click on it with a ‘Call to Action’ or CTA. This can mean writing something like ‘Subscribe for more videos!’ on your end card, or asking them in an outro voiceover. People are more likely to subscribe if you ask than if you don’t.

Are you using a YouTube outro? What elements do you include, and how do you think it’s helped the growth of your channel?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Your YouTube outro, or end screen , is your last chance to keep a viewer on your channel. There are a lot of videos in the ‘Related’ sidebar that might catch their attention, or they could decide to go back to their search results.

A good outro will prompt viewers to keep watching related content from you instead of from someone else, and it could even convince them to subscribe.

1. YouTube Outro Basics
2. YouTube Outro Templates
3. How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature
4. How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

Part 1: YouTube Outro Basics

From the video above we can see that it features video recommendations and a prominent subscribe button.

A YouTube end screen might have the following features:

Videos: you can embed links/thumbnails for videos you’ve made on similar topics in order to keep viewers watching your content.

Playlists: instead of (or in addition to) linking to individual videos, you can embed playlists and link viewers to all of your content on a particular topic.

Subscribe Button: prompt viewers to subscribe to your channel.

Background: you may choose to use all of the elements described above in combination with an end card consisting of a moving background or still image. You can even find templates that will have slots for all your thumbnails and buttons.

You may also want to include social icons and handles for your accounts on sites like Instagram or Twitter. These won’t be clickable (you’ll need to add them yourself outside of YouTube’s end screen tool), but they’ll still let viewers know where else they can find and follow you.

Part 2: YouTube Outro Templates Download

Here are 4 sites where you can download templates for YouTube Outros:

Tube Arsenal: this site has a good selection of customizable outros with moving backgrounds. On the Tube Arsenal site, before you download, you can adjust the colors and text included in your outro and even load in your own logo.

You can preview your customized outro by clicking Preview Still or Preview Movie.

Outros on Tube Arsenal cost $9 for 720P or $13 for 1080p.

Outro Maker: you can get animated end screens/outros from Outro Maker for $2.99 a month (or, if you just need one outro, you can probably finish it during your 7-day free trial).

Outro Maker uses the content already uploaded onto your channel to create your outro, so you will need to link the service with your channel.

Biteable: the templates you can customize on Biteable are not specifically designed to be YouTube Outros and will not have slots for your end screen elements. The videos start out a lot longer than you’ll want for an end screen (an end screen can’t last longer than 20 seconds), but you can shorten them by deleting all the ‘scenes’ you don’t need and keeping just the one or two you want.

The clips you can get from Biteable look great, and their process for changing the text and colors is simple and intuitive.

You can create 5 free projects every month with Biteable, but you’ll need to upgrade to their paid service to download them. It’s $30 for one month.

Velosofy: this site has a decent selection of templates you can download for free. However, the downloads are all project files for programs like Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. You’ll need to have the program that goes with your download in order to customize your outro.

You can also find free outro templates by searching for them on YouTube! Lots of people have created free outros to share with the YouTube community.

Besides downloading outro templates from the website, you can also create it with some outro makers or with the video editing software that you are using. Wondershare Filmora video editor is the video editor that I used often, it is featured some cool templates and preset for making an outro. I recommend you try it as well.

Part 3: How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature

Make sure to create a space at the end of your video for the elements of your end screen to sit on top of. Your end screen will not add to the length of your video, it will overlay onto the last 5-20 seconds.

Here’s how you add an End Screen:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio, then switch to Videos on the left menu;
2. Click Details next to the video you want to add an end screen to.
3. Click the End screen in the menu under the lower right window.
4. Click Element to start adding videos, playlists, and subscribe buttons to your outro. You could also choose to use the same layout as a previous end screen with Import From Video, or you could apply multiple elements at once with a YouTube Template.
5. Drag the elements to where you want them and adjust the timing using the timeline.
6. Click Save when you’re done.

Part 4: How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

One of the most important statistics for measuring the growth of Your YouTube channel is Watch Time. You need 4,000 hours of watch time (over the past 12 months) in order to qualify for monetization/the YouTube Partner Program, and watch time also plays an important role in how your videos are ranked in YouTube’s search results.

Watch time is more important than views. If you’re getting views, but people are only watching short sections of your video, YouTube’s algorithm thinks the people who are clicking on your videos don’t like them and ranks them lower.

Outros are one of the best ways of increasing the watch time for your channel, because the whole point of an outro is to convince viewers to stick around and watch more videos. Here are some best practices:

Link to related videos and playlists: if someone has watched one video on a topic to the end, they’ll likely be interested in another highly related video from you. For example, someone who’s watched a Let’s Play for God of War is more likely to be interested in another God of War video than your review of your new gaming headset.

Link to your newest video: YouTube’s algorithm places the most weight on the data it collects about your video within the first 24 hours of it being listed as Public. To give your newest video it’s the best chance at success, you should do everything you can to boost its watch time when it’s first posted and linking to it in the end screens of all your other videos is one way to do that.

You don’t have to change every screen individually, YouTube lets you link to your most recent video automatically.

Link to Playlists: if you can get a viewer watching a playlist of related videos then that’s great for your watch time. If they’re already in a playlist they’re far more likely to watch multiple videos than if they have to go to your channel page and hunt down the content they’re interested in.

Include a ‘CTA’ with your subscribe button: besides just including a button people can use to subscribe, you should ask them to click on it with a ‘Call to Action’ or CTA. This can mean writing something like ‘Subscribe for more videos!’ on your end card, or asking them in an outro voiceover. People are more likely to subscribe if you ask than if you don’t.

Are you using a YouTube outro? What elements do you include, and how do you think it’s helped the growth of your channel?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Your YouTube outro, or end screen , is your last chance to keep a viewer on your channel. There are a lot of videos in the ‘Related’ sidebar that might catch their attention, or they could decide to go back to their search results.

A good outro will prompt viewers to keep watching related content from you instead of from someone else, and it could even convince them to subscribe.

1. YouTube Outro Basics
2. YouTube Outro Templates
3. How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature
4. How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

Part 1: YouTube Outro Basics

From the video above we can see that it features video recommendations and a prominent subscribe button.

A YouTube end screen might have the following features:

Videos: you can embed links/thumbnails for videos you’ve made on similar topics in order to keep viewers watching your content.

Playlists: instead of (or in addition to) linking to individual videos, you can embed playlists and link viewers to all of your content on a particular topic.

Subscribe Button: prompt viewers to subscribe to your channel.

Background: you may choose to use all of the elements described above in combination with an end card consisting of a moving background or still image. You can even find templates that will have slots for all your thumbnails and buttons.

You may also want to include social icons and handles for your accounts on sites like Instagram or Twitter. These won’t be clickable (you’ll need to add them yourself outside of YouTube’s end screen tool), but they’ll still let viewers know where else they can find and follow you.

Part 2: YouTube Outro Templates Download

Here are 4 sites where you can download templates for YouTube Outros:

Tube Arsenal: this site has a good selection of customizable outros with moving backgrounds. On the Tube Arsenal site, before you download, you can adjust the colors and text included in your outro and even load in your own logo.

You can preview your customized outro by clicking Preview Still or Preview Movie.

Outros on Tube Arsenal cost $9 for 720P or $13 for 1080p.

Outro Maker: you can get animated end screens/outros from Outro Maker for $2.99 a month (or, if you just need one outro, you can probably finish it during your 7-day free trial).

Outro Maker uses the content already uploaded onto your channel to create your outro, so you will need to link the service with your channel.

Biteable: the templates you can customize on Biteable are not specifically designed to be YouTube Outros and will not have slots for your end screen elements. The videos start out a lot longer than you’ll want for an end screen (an end screen can’t last longer than 20 seconds), but you can shorten them by deleting all the ‘scenes’ you don’t need and keeping just the one or two you want.

The clips you can get from Biteable look great, and their process for changing the text and colors is simple and intuitive.

You can create 5 free projects every month with Biteable, but you’ll need to upgrade to their paid service to download them. It’s $30 for one month.

Velosofy: this site has a decent selection of templates you can download for free. However, the downloads are all project files for programs like Adobe Photoshop or After Effects. You’ll need to have the program that goes with your download in order to customize your outro.

You can also find free outro templates by searching for them on YouTube! Lots of people have created free outros to share with the YouTube community.

Besides downloading outro templates from the website, you can also create it with some outro makers or with the video editing software that you are using. Wondershare Filmora video editor is the video editor that I used often, it is featured some cool templates and preset for making an outro. I recommend you try it as well.

Part 3: How to Use YouTube’s End Screen Feature

Make sure to create a space at the end of your video for the elements of your end screen to sit on top of. Your end screen will not add to the length of your video, it will overlay onto the last 5-20 seconds.

Here’s how you add an End Screen:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio, then switch to Videos on the left menu;
2. Click Details next to the video you want to add an end screen to.
3. Click the End screen in the menu under the lower right window.
4. Click Element to start adding videos, playlists, and subscribe buttons to your outro. You could also choose to use the same layout as a previous end screen with Import From Video, or you could apply multiple elements at once with a YouTube Template.
5. Drag the elements to where you want them and adjust the timing using the timeline.
6. Click Save when you’re done.

Part 4: How YouTube Outros/End Screens Can Help You Grow on YouTube

One of the most important statistics for measuring the growth of Your YouTube channel is Watch Time. You need 4,000 hours of watch time (over the past 12 months) in order to qualify for monetization/the YouTube Partner Program, and watch time also plays an important role in how your videos are ranked in YouTube’s search results.

Watch time is more important than views. If you’re getting views, but people are only watching short sections of your video, YouTube’s algorithm thinks the people who are clicking on your videos don’t like them and ranks them lower.

Outros are one of the best ways of increasing the watch time for your channel, because the whole point of an outro is to convince viewers to stick around and watch more videos. Here are some best practices:

Link to related videos and playlists: if someone has watched one video on a topic to the end, they’ll likely be interested in another highly related video from you. For example, someone who’s watched a Let’s Play for God of War is more likely to be interested in another God of War video than your review of your new gaming headset.

Link to your newest video: YouTube’s algorithm places the most weight on the data it collects about your video within the first 24 hours of it being listed as Public. To give your newest video it’s the best chance at success, you should do everything you can to boost its watch time when it’s first posted and linking to it in the end screens of all your other videos is one way to do that.

You don’t have to change every screen individually, YouTube lets you link to your most recent video automatically.

Link to Playlists: if you can get a viewer watching a playlist of related videos then that’s great for your watch time. If they’re already in a playlist they’re far more likely to watch multiple videos than if they have to go to your channel page and hunt down the content they’re interested in.

Include a ‘CTA’ with your subscribe button: besides just including a button people can use to subscribe, you should ask them to click on it with a ‘Call to Action’ or CTA. This can mean writing something like ‘Subscribe for more videos!’ on your end card, or asking them in an outro voiceover. People are more likely to subscribe if you ask than if you don’t.

Are you using a YouTube outro? What elements do you include, and how do you think it’s helped the growth of your channel?

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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