Mind Matters: Top Educational YouTube Picks

Top 10 Educational YouTube Channels

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

There are many benefits that come with using educational YouTube channels to study and learn for both students and teachers. Video has a transformative way of learning which has been proven to encourage flipped classroom models where students have a chance to digest the lecture content at their pace, besides delving deeper into the content during class time. Below is a short preview of the specific benefits that using YouTube has for teachers and their students-:

• YouTube videos inspire and engage students in ways not possible with traditional lecturing methods.
• Using educational YouTube channels assists in mastery learning in instances where technical or complex topics are being studied.
• YouTube learning facilitate thinking and problem solving amongst the students
• Educational YouTube channels provide a vast resource for research on a myriad of subjects and topics
• Videos can be downloaded and accessed with great convenience, whether online or offline.
• They enable the teachers to reach millions of potential students in different countries across the globe.
• The engaging nature of videos makes them to be a more effective way of learning
• Educational YouTube channels can be used to create an archive of free learning resources which both the students and teachers can access without having to pay.

Top 10 Educational YouTube Channels

Below are the top ten educational YouTube channels that both students and teachers will find useful-:

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Channel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the most premier higher learning centers in the world and so it is justifiable for it to have one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. The channel avails a wide variety of educational videos, cutting across various disciplines and anyone can access them without paying any tuition fees.

2. The University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is another top public research and teaching institution in the United States and it also has one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. Just like the MIT channel, UC channel avails thousands of quality educational videos cutting across a plethora of subjects. All the materials are available to the general public for free and they are systematically arranged to help you progress from one level to another. However, UC Berkelyey course content on its channel is unavailable from 2017, March 15. And the UC Berkeley’s Webcast and Legacy Course Capture Content is available to UC Berkeley community members with an active CalNet and bConnected (Google) identity now.

3. TechnoBuffalo

TechnoBuffalo is one of the most comprehensive YouTube educational channels dedicated to everything that deals with electronics. It presents reviews on various electronic products, besides showing the workings of the various products. It also has practical videos as well as first look videos on the latest technology and gadgets.

4.ASAP Science

Just as the name suggests, ASAP Science is a science-themed educational YouTube channels. It primarily shows videos on the practical application of science in our everyday life. Within the channel, learners will find strange and interesting videos teaching different ways on how science impact on the day to day lives of people.

5. Sick Science

This is a leading educational YouTube channels for those interested in intriguing scientific experiments and demonstrations. The videos in this channel are clearly and thoroughly explained and they cover a wide variety of topics. One thing that you will find amazing about this channel is that most of the experiments are very safe and can be done by anyone at home.

6. BBC Earth

BBC Earth is some of the few educational YouTube channels dedicated to promoting different education programs, especially those that are usually shown on BBC Earth television channel. The nature of the content of the videos in this channel includes research, nature and natural history videos, with some dating back to fifty years ago.

7. Veritasium

Veritasium is an educational YouTube channel where complex issues are dissected in consumable content to help those interested in learning. The channel has partnered with some of the big brands to bring more educational content and offer a great deal of useful information to their subscribers.

8. SmarterEveryday

With 3.1 million subscribers, there is no doubt that SmarterEveryday is amongst the top educational YouTube channels you will ever come across. The channel is created and run by an engineer whose goal is to educate people by exploring the world through scientific demonstrations then explaining his processes and findings on the channel.

9. The Game Theorists

This educational YouTube channel is all about video games where it tries to separate the fact from the fiction in the development of the video games, especially the science behind the development of the cars seen in the video games.

10.Speak English with Misterduncan

This is an awesome educational YouTube channels for anyone who is interested in learning English as a second language. Most of the videos contained in the channel teach about definitions of words, idioms as well as silent letters. What student find most amazing in this channel is the subtitles at the end of the screen to aid learning more about spelling and pronunciation of what is being taught.

Conclusion

YouTube has become a beloved educational resource for both students and teachers across the globe. It makes the process of teaching and learning so simple that most people no longer find learning to be an arduous task it used to be in the past. Besides, there are a plethora of educational YouTube channels with hundreds of high quality educational materials available to the general public for free. Irrespective of your interest of study, you can always find several educational YouTube channels to use in your learning journey.

If you are a YouTube or want to make a tutorial by your own, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough, it also allows you to record the PC screen which is very practical for tutorial video making.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

There are many benefits that come with using educational YouTube channels to study and learn for both students and teachers. Video has a transformative way of learning which has been proven to encourage flipped classroom models where students have a chance to digest the lecture content at their pace, besides delving deeper into the content during class time. Below is a short preview of the specific benefits that using YouTube has for teachers and their students-:

• YouTube videos inspire and engage students in ways not possible with traditional lecturing methods.
• Using educational YouTube channels assists in mastery learning in instances where technical or complex topics are being studied.
• YouTube learning facilitate thinking and problem solving amongst the students
• Educational YouTube channels provide a vast resource for research on a myriad of subjects and topics
• Videos can be downloaded and accessed with great convenience, whether online or offline.
• They enable the teachers to reach millions of potential students in different countries across the globe.
• The engaging nature of videos makes them to be a more effective way of learning
• Educational YouTube channels can be used to create an archive of free learning resources which both the students and teachers can access without having to pay.

Top 10 Educational YouTube Channels

Below are the top ten educational YouTube channels that both students and teachers will find useful-:

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Channel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the most premier higher learning centers in the world and so it is justifiable for it to have one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. The channel avails a wide variety of educational videos, cutting across various disciplines and anyone can access them without paying any tuition fees.

2. The University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is another top public research and teaching institution in the United States and it also has one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. Just like the MIT channel, UC channel avails thousands of quality educational videos cutting across a plethora of subjects. All the materials are available to the general public for free and they are systematically arranged to help you progress from one level to another. However, UC Berkelyey course content on its channel is unavailable from 2017, March 15. And the UC Berkeley’s Webcast and Legacy Course Capture Content is available to UC Berkeley community members with an active CalNet and bConnected (Google) identity now.

3. TechnoBuffalo

TechnoBuffalo is one of the most comprehensive YouTube educational channels dedicated to everything that deals with electronics. It presents reviews on various electronic products, besides showing the workings of the various products. It also has practical videos as well as first look videos on the latest technology and gadgets.

4.ASAP Science

Just as the name suggests, ASAP Science is a science-themed educational YouTube channels. It primarily shows videos on the practical application of science in our everyday life. Within the channel, learners will find strange and interesting videos teaching different ways on how science impact on the day to day lives of people.

5. Sick Science

This is a leading educational YouTube channels for those interested in intriguing scientific experiments and demonstrations. The videos in this channel are clearly and thoroughly explained and they cover a wide variety of topics. One thing that you will find amazing about this channel is that most of the experiments are very safe and can be done by anyone at home.

6. BBC Earth

BBC Earth is some of the few educational YouTube channels dedicated to promoting different education programs, especially those that are usually shown on BBC Earth television channel. The nature of the content of the videos in this channel includes research, nature and natural history videos, with some dating back to fifty years ago.

7. Veritasium

Veritasium is an educational YouTube channel where complex issues are dissected in consumable content to help those interested in learning. The channel has partnered with some of the big brands to bring more educational content and offer a great deal of useful information to their subscribers.

8. SmarterEveryday

With 3.1 million subscribers, there is no doubt that SmarterEveryday is amongst the top educational YouTube channels you will ever come across. The channel is created and run by an engineer whose goal is to educate people by exploring the world through scientific demonstrations then explaining his processes and findings on the channel.

9. The Game Theorists

This educational YouTube channel is all about video games where it tries to separate the fact from the fiction in the development of the video games, especially the science behind the development of the cars seen in the video games.

10.Speak English with Misterduncan

This is an awesome educational YouTube channels for anyone who is interested in learning English as a second language. Most of the videos contained in the channel teach about definitions of words, idioms as well as silent letters. What student find most amazing in this channel is the subtitles at the end of the screen to aid learning more about spelling and pronunciation of what is being taught.

Conclusion

YouTube has become a beloved educational resource for both students and teachers across the globe. It makes the process of teaching and learning so simple that most people no longer find learning to be an arduous task it used to be in the past. Besides, there are a plethora of educational YouTube channels with hundreds of high quality educational materials available to the general public for free. Irrespective of your interest of study, you can always find several educational YouTube channels to use in your learning journey.

If you are a YouTube or want to make a tutorial by your own, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough, it also allows you to record the PC screen which is very practical for tutorial video making.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

There are many benefits that come with using educational YouTube channels to study and learn for both students and teachers. Video has a transformative way of learning which has been proven to encourage flipped classroom models where students have a chance to digest the lecture content at their pace, besides delving deeper into the content during class time. Below is a short preview of the specific benefits that using YouTube has for teachers and their students-:

• YouTube videos inspire and engage students in ways not possible with traditional lecturing methods.
• Using educational YouTube channels assists in mastery learning in instances where technical or complex topics are being studied.
• YouTube learning facilitate thinking and problem solving amongst the students
• Educational YouTube channels provide a vast resource for research on a myriad of subjects and topics
• Videos can be downloaded and accessed with great convenience, whether online or offline.
• They enable the teachers to reach millions of potential students in different countries across the globe.
• The engaging nature of videos makes them to be a more effective way of learning
• Educational YouTube channels can be used to create an archive of free learning resources which both the students and teachers can access without having to pay.

Top 10 Educational YouTube Channels

Below are the top ten educational YouTube channels that both students and teachers will find useful-:

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Channel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the most premier higher learning centers in the world and so it is justifiable for it to have one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. The channel avails a wide variety of educational videos, cutting across various disciplines and anyone can access them without paying any tuition fees.

2. The University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is another top public research and teaching institution in the United States and it also has one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. Just like the MIT channel, UC channel avails thousands of quality educational videos cutting across a plethora of subjects. All the materials are available to the general public for free and they are systematically arranged to help you progress from one level to another. However, UC Berkelyey course content on its channel is unavailable from 2017, March 15. And the UC Berkeley’s Webcast and Legacy Course Capture Content is available to UC Berkeley community members with an active CalNet and bConnected (Google) identity now.

3. TechnoBuffalo

TechnoBuffalo is one of the most comprehensive YouTube educational channels dedicated to everything that deals with electronics. It presents reviews on various electronic products, besides showing the workings of the various products. It also has practical videos as well as first look videos on the latest technology and gadgets.

4.ASAP Science

Just as the name suggests, ASAP Science is a science-themed educational YouTube channels. It primarily shows videos on the practical application of science in our everyday life. Within the channel, learners will find strange and interesting videos teaching different ways on how science impact on the day to day lives of people.

5. Sick Science

This is a leading educational YouTube channels for those interested in intriguing scientific experiments and demonstrations. The videos in this channel are clearly and thoroughly explained and they cover a wide variety of topics. One thing that you will find amazing about this channel is that most of the experiments are very safe and can be done by anyone at home.

6. BBC Earth

BBC Earth is some of the few educational YouTube channels dedicated to promoting different education programs, especially those that are usually shown on BBC Earth television channel. The nature of the content of the videos in this channel includes research, nature and natural history videos, with some dating back to fifty years ago.

7. Veritasium

Veritasium is an educational YouTube channel where complex issues are dissected in consumable content to help those interested in learning. The channel has partnered with some of the big brands to bring more educational content and offer a great deal of useful information to their subscribers.

8. SmarterEveryday

With 3.1 million subscribers, there is no doubt that SmarterEveryday is amongst the top educational YouTube channels you will ever come across. The channel is created and run by an engineer whose goal is to educate people by exploring the world through scientific demonstrations then explaining his processes and findings on the channel.

9. The Game Theorists

This educational YouTube channel is all about video games where it tries to separate the fact from the fiction in the development of the video games, especially the science behind the development of the cars seen in the video games.

10.Speak English with Misterduncan

This is an awesome educational YouTube channels for anyone who is interested in learning English as a second language. Most of the videos contained in the channel teach about definitions of words, idioms as well as silent letters. What student find most amazing in this channel is the subtitles at the end of the screen to aid learning more about spelling and pronunciation of what is being taught.

Conclusion

YouTube has become a beloved educational resource for both students and teachers across the globe. It makes the process of teaching and learning so simple that most people no longer find learning to be an arduous task it used to be in the past. Besides, there are a plethora of educational YouTube channels with hundreds of high quality educational materials available to the general public for free. Irrespective of your interest of study, you can always find several educational YouTube channels to use in your learning journey.

If you are a YouTube or want to make a tutorial by your own, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough, it also allows you to record the PC screen which is very practical for tutorial video making.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

There are many benefits that come with using educational YouTube channels to study and learn for both students and teachers. Video has a transformative way of learning which has been proven to encourage flipped classroom models where students have a chance to digest the lecture content at their pace, besides delving deeper into the content during class time. Below is a short preview of the specific benefits that using YouTube has for teachers and their students-:

• YouTube videos inspire and engage students in ways not possible with traditional lecturing methods.
• Using educational YouTube channels assists in mastery learning in instances where technical or complex topics are being studied.
• YouTube learning facilitate thinking and problem solving amongst the students
• Educational YouTube channels provide a vast resource for research on a myriad of subjects and topics
• Videos can be downloaded and accessed with great convenience, whether online or offline.
• They enable the teachers to reach millions of potential students in different countries across the globe.
• The engaging nature of videos makes them to be a more effective way of learning
• Educational YouTube channels can be used to create an archive of free learning resources which both the students and teachers can access without having to pay.

Top 10 Educational YouTube Channels

Below are the top ten educational YouTube channels that both students and teachers will find useful-:

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Channel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the most premier higher learning centers in the world and so it is justifiable for it to have one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. The channel avails a wide variety of educational videos, cutting across various disciplines and anyone can access them without paying any tuition fees.

2. The University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is another top public research and teaching institution in the United States and it also has one of the best educational YouTube channels in the internet. Just like the MIT channel, UC channel avails thousands of quality educational videos cutting across a plethora of subjects. All the materials are available to the general public for free and they are systematically arranged to help you progress from one level to another. However, UC Berkelyey course content on its channel is unavailable from 2017, March 15. And the UC Berkeley’s Webcast and Legacy Course Capture Content is available to UC Berkeley community members with an active CalNet and bConnected (Google) identity now.

3. TechnoBuffalo

TechnoBuffalo is one of the most comprehensive YouTube educational channels dedicated to everything that deals with electronics. It presents reviews on various electronic products, besides showing the workings of the various products. It also has practical videos as well as first look videos on the latest technology and gadgets.

4.ASAP Science

Just as the name suggests, ASAP Science is a science-themed educational YouTube channels. It primarily shows videos on the practical application of science in our everyday life. Within the channel, learners will find strange and interesting videos teaching different ways on how science impact on the day to day lives of people.

5. Sick Science

This is a leading educational YouTube channels for those interested in intriguing scientific experiments and demonstrations. The videos in this channel are clearly and thoroughly explained and they cover a wide variety of topics. One thing that you will find amazing about this channel is that most of the experiments are very safe and can be done by anyone at home.

6. BBC Earth

BBC Earth is some of the few educational YouTube channels dedicated to promoting different education programs, especially those that are usually shown on BBC Earth television channel. The nature of the content of the videos in this channel includes research, nature and natural history videos, with some dating back to fifty years ago.

7. Veritasium

Veritasium is an educational YouTube channel where complex issues are dissected in consumable content to help those interested in learning. The channel has partnered with some of the big brands to bring more educational content and offer a great deal of useful information to their subscribers.

8. SmarterEveryday

With 3.1 million subscribers, there is no doubt that SmarterEveryday is amongst the top educational YouTube channels you will ever come across. The channel is created and run by an engineer whose goal is to educate people by exploring the world through scientific demonstrations then explaining his processes and findings on the channel.

9. The Game Theorists

This educational YouTube channel is all about video games where it tries to separate the fact from the fiction in the development of the video games, especially the science behind the development of the cars seen in the video games.

10.Speak English with Misterduncan

This is an awesome educational YouTube channels for anyone who is interested in learning English as a second language. Most of the videos contained in the channel teach about definitions of words, idioms as well as silent letters. What student find most amazing in this channel is the subtitles at the end of the screen to aid learning more about spelling and pronunciation of what is being taught.

Conclusion

YouTube has become a beloved educational resource for both students and teachers across the globe. It makes the process of teaching and learning so simple that most people no longer find learning to be an arduous task it used to be in the past. Besides, there are a plethora of educational YouTube channels with hundreds of high quality educational materials available to the general public for free. Irrespective of your interest of study, you can always find several educational YouTube channels to use in your learning journey.

If you are a YouTube or want to make a tutorial by your own, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough, it also allows you to record the PC screen which is very practical for tutorial video making.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Strategic Use of YouTube Cards & Markup

How to Use YouTube Cards and Annotations?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

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

0

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

0

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

0

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