In 2024, Compre Written Guide on Incorporating Markup Features in YouTube
Compre Written Guide on Incorporating Markup Features in YouTube
How to Use YouTube Cards and Annotations?
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:
Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.
You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.
This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.
Part 1: Annotations
Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.
Section 1: Types of Annotations
There are five types of YouTube annotations:
Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.
Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.
Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.
Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.
Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.
Section 2: How to Use Annotations
*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.
Here are two of the best uses for annotations:
Clickable End Cards / Outros
One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.
When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.
Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.
This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.
Promoting Your Videos
You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.
This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.
Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.
You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.
Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.
Part 2: YouTube Cards
YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.
When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.
Section 1: When to Use Cards
A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.
Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.
When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.
Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.
If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:
Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.
You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.
This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.
Part 1: Annotations
Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.
Section 1: Types of Annotations
There are five types of YouTube annotations:
Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.
Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.
Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.
Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.
Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.
Section 2: How to Use Annotations
*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.
Here are two of the best uses for annotations:
Clickable End Cards / Outros
One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.
When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.
Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.
This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.
Promoting Your Videos
You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.
This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.
Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.
You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.
Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.
Part 2: YouTube Cards
YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.
When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.
Section 1: When to Use Cards
A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.
Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.
When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.
Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.
If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:
Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.
You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.
This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.
Part 1: Annotations
Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.
Section 1: Types of Annotations
There are five types of YouTube annotations:
Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.
Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.
Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.
Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.
Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.
Section 2: How to Use Annotations
*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.
Here are two of the best uses for annotations:
Clickable End Cards / Outros
One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.
When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.
Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.
This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.
Promoting Your Videos
You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.
This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.
Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.
You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.
Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.
Part 2: YouTube Cards
YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.
When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.
Section 1: When to Use Cards
A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.
Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.
When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.
Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.
If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:
Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.
You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.
This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.
Part 1: Annotations
Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.
Section 1: Types of Annotations
There are five types of YouTube annotations:
Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.
Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.
Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.
Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.
Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.
Section 2: How to Use Annotations
*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.
Here are two of the best uses for annotations:
Clickable End Cards / Outros
One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.
When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.
Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.
This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.
Promoting Your Videos
You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.
This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.
Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.
You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.
Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.
Part 2: YouTube Cards
YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.
When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.
Section 1: When to Use Cards
A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.
Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.
When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.
Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.
If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock Wondershare Filmstock and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Web Integration: Adding YouTube Playlists Easily
YouTube is an excellent resource for entertainment, education, and general information, but did you know you can also display a YouTube playlist on your website?
Embedding a YouTube playlist will allow you to showcase a collection of videos on a topic or theme on your website. It’s also a great way to keep your visitors engaged on your site for more extended periods.
To help you with the process, we’ll explore different step-by-step methods to embed a YouTube playlist on a website to add interactivity to your site.
So, if you’re ready to get started, read on!
How To Embed a YouTube Playlist on a Website
If you want to embed and display a YouTube playlist on your website, we’ll give you a complete rundown of the three methods you can try to get this done. But, of course, each method has its pros and cons, so you’ll need to decide which is right for you.
Here’s how to embed a YouTube playlist on a Website:
Embedding a YouTube Playlist on Website Using WordPress Plugin
The plugin is the simplest way to add a YouTube Playlist to your WordPress website. This will help you get this done in no time without having to write any code for the process.
With plugins like YouTube Feed Pro by Smash Balloon , you can extend your website’s functionality and create, customize, or embed a YouTube playlist with just a few clicks of a mouse.
To embed and add a YouTube playlist on your website page/post, do the following steps in sequence:
Step1 Launch a browser on your PC and head to your WordPress website’s login page. Sign in to your dashboard using your username and password.
Step2 Click the “Plugins” option from the left-hand side menu on the WordPress dashboard. Now, click “Add New” and use the search option to find and install the YouTube Feed Pro plugin. Afterward, click the “Activate” option to enable the plugin.
Step3 Click the “YouTube Feed” option from the left menu and open “All Feeds.” On the next page, click “Add New” at the top left of the screen.
You will now be asked what type of feed you want to create. Select “Playlist” and click “Next.”
Step4 You need to create your YouTube API Key , copy it, and paste it into the pop-up. Click “Add” to connect your YouTube account to the plugin.
Step5 Select the Playlist you want to display on your WordPress website and take its ID. Paste that in the next pop-up window and click “Next” to continue the process.
Your YouTube playlist will be connected to your WordPress website. To further customize it, select the template you want and click “Next.” You can also configure the Feed Layout and Color Scheme.
Step6 Once you are done with customization, click the “Embed” option on the top-right side of the screen, and a pop-up window will appear. Next, click “Add to a Page,” and a list of pages on your website will be displayed.
Parental Control Software
Choose your page and click “Add” at the bottom of the pop-up window. You’ll be directed to a new page where you can embed the feed. Click the “Plus” icon at the top-left of the screen, search for YouTube Feed and choose the Feeds for YouTube block to embed and add your playlist.
That’s about it! You’ve successfully embedded a YouTube playlist on your WordPress website.
Embedding a YouTube Playlist on a Website Using oEmbed Code
Another method to embed a YouTube playlist on your WordPress website is to use oEmbed Code. This method requires basic CSS, HTML, or Java knowledge; otherwise, you won’t be able to customize your playlist.
Moreover, this method is too complicated for beginners, and you will miss the customer support provided by WordPress plugin developers in case of any mishaps.
To use the oEmbed Code method, do the following steps:
Step1 In the first step, head to your YouTube account and access the Playlist you want to embed. Next, click the three dots below it and copy its URL.
Step2 Now, login to your WordPress dashboard and open the post or page editor where you want to add the playlist.
Step3 Paste the URL directly in the editor and click “Update” to save the changes.
WordPress will grab your playlist from YouTube and automatically show it in your post using oEmbed. The outcome is a single video with a menu that your viewers can click to see other videos in the playlist.
