Everything You Need to Know to Create YouTube Shorts in 2025 (& Get Massive Views)

What’s a day in your life like? For YouTube, a typical day means racking up 70 billion views on Shorts—among other things. If you’ve been researching this topic for a while, you’ve probably come across this statistic repeatedly. There’s a reason it’s so widely cited: it’s impressive. Try dividing 70 billion by YouTube’s 2 billion users, and you’ll find that, on average, each user contributes about 28 views per day to YouTube Shorts.

This goes to show that you need not worry about the difficulty of finding your foothold among your competition when you start to make YouTube Shorts—there are enough views to go around. What you do need to worry about is how to make great YouTube Shorts and achieve what you want through them, whether that’s making money through Shorts, increasing the popularity of your YouTube channel, or something else.

This article will break down everything you need to know about how to create YouTube Shorts and upload them to your channel. We’ll also reveal five lucrative ways to use YouTube Shorts to make money. 💸😉

What Are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are short-form video content designed for quick consumption. They are YouTube’s replica of TikTok and Instagram Reels, offering creators another way to reach their audience and gain rapid engagement beyond long-form YouTube videos. 

When Was YouTube Shorts Created? 🗓️

Nobody—except perhaps YouTube employees—knows the exact date or month when Shorts were first created. However, it’s widely known that YouTube initially launched Shorts in India in September 2020, in the U.S. in March 2021, and globally in July 2021. If you had a smartphone around this time, you might remember the surprise of opening the YouTube app and noticing the Shorts icon next to the homepage icon.

How Long Can YouTube Shorts Be?

Before October 15, 2024, the maximum length of Shorts was 60 seconds, while the minimum length was 15 seconds. After October 15, 2024, the Shorts creation tool now supports videos up to 3 minutes or 180 seconds long. Before you create a Short, you can set the maximum length by tapping the “15s” icon at the top right of your screen, which adjusts the duration to 3 minutes.

And… How Long Should They Be?

How long should your YouTube Shorts be? At the time of writing, there is no recent research on the subject. Most studies on the optimal length of YouTube Shorts were conducted before the time limit was extended to three minutes. While some suggested that the best length falls between 50 to 60 seconds, others concluded it was between 30 to 60 seconds. 

In an interview with @ThinkMediaPodcast, YouTube employee Rene Ritchie stated that there is no single ‘ideal length’ for any type of video content on YouTube, whether short or long. You might think your competition consists of YouTube creators producing content similar to yours, but in reality, you’re competing with creators across every other video platform—TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and even movie-streaming apps like Netflix!

💡With this in mind, your focus shouldn’t be on uploading Shorts of a specific length but on ensuring that every second a viewer spends on your Short delivers as much value as possible. We know—you’ve heard this plenty of times. But have you actually put it into practice? 

How to Create YouTube Shorts: An Easy Guide for New Creators

Already know how to upload Shorts to YouTube? No problem! Click here to skip this section and jump straight to how to use Google’s VEO AI features to create Shorts. Or skip ahead to…

• 5 Ways to Make Money With Shorts
• Tips to Get More Shorts Views
• 5 Shorts That Went VIRAL (and Why)
• FAQs

Here’s how to make a YouTube Short for the first time—and every time after that:

On a Mobile Device 📲

Step 1: Record 

• On a mobile device (Android phone, iPhone, iPad)
• Open the YouTube app. Ensure you’re signed in to YouTube. 
• Tap the ‘+’ (Create) button at the bottom of the screen.

• You’ll find four content creation options: “Video,” “Short,” “Live,” and “Post.” Select “Short.”

• Tap the “15s” button at the top right corner of the screen to increase the max duration of your Short to 3 minutes if you want to record a longer Short. 

• Tap and hold the red record button to start recording. You can record multiple clips by releasing and pressing the button again. Tap the undo arrow to remove the last clip if needed.

In the menu within the recording interface, you’ll find these tools:

• 🔄 Flip: Switches between the front and rear cameras.
• ⚡️ Speed: Adjusts the recording speed (e.g., slow motion or fast motion).
• ⏱️ Timer: Sets a countdown before recording starts, useful for hands-free shooting.
• ✨ Effects: Adds visual effects like animations or distortions.
• 🟩 Green Screen: Replaces the background with an image or video.
• 🪄 Retouch: Smooths skin and enhances facial features for a polished look.
• 🌈 Filters: Applies color filters to change the video’s tone.
• ↔️ Align: Helps align shots when recording multiple clips for continuity.
• 🔦 Lighting: Adjusts brightness to improve visibility in low-light conditions.
• 📸 Flash: Turns the camera flash on or off.
• ✂️ Trim: Cuts or shortens video clips.
• 🔚 Close: Exits the menu.

Whenever you need to use any of them, tap the appropriate icon to apply the tool’s function to your Short. When you’re done recording, tap the checkmark at the bottom left of your screen. 

Step 2: Edit ✂

Tapping the checkmark will take you to YouTube’s editing interface, where you’ll see the following tools that you can use to edit the Short:

• Text (Aa icon): Adds text overlays to the video, which can be customized in terms of font, size, and colour.
• Trim (Clip icon): Enables cutting or shortening parts of the video to refine its length.
• Filters (Three-circle icon): Applies different colour filters to enhance the video’s look.
• Voiceover (Microphone icon): Lets you record a voiceover to narrate or explain parts of the video.
• Retouch (Face icon with blue dot): Enhances facial features, smoothing skin and adjusting lighting for a better appearance.
• “Add sound” button: Allows you to  insert music or sound effects from YouTube’s audio library.
• “Timeline” button: Allows precise placement of text, stickers, and effects across different timestamps in the video.

Step 3: Upload ⬆️

After you create Shorts, you may want to upload them for the world to see. Here’s how to do that: 

• Tap the “next” button in the editing interface to get to the “add details page.” Here’s what the page looks like:

• Caption or title your Short. You can also type hashtags in this field.

• By default, your Short is public, meaning that anyone anywhere can see it. If you want it to be visible to only you, change its visibility to private.🔒

• Tap “location” to add your approximate location at the time of posting. 

• Tap “select audience” to stipulate whether the video is made for kids or not and whether it should be restricted to an adult-only audience. If you make your videos age-restricted, they may not be eligible for monetization. 

• Tap “related video” to link the Short to a video on your channel. This will help viewers find the linked video content faster, and it’s useful when a Short is used as a preview of long-form content that’s already been uploaded to your channel. By default, YouTube allows other users to remix the visuals and audio from your Shorts. Don’t want them to remix the video? Change the Shorts remixing permission to “allow only audio remixing.” ▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|•

• Add a paid promotion label if the Short is sponsored. 

• If you used AI tools to create content or applied techniques to generate a realistic scene that never happened, you must disclose it. This includes making a real person appear to say or do something they didn’t or altering footage of a real place or event. To do this, tap “Altered content” and select “Yes.”

• Tap the “comments” button to adjust the comment moderation settings or turn off comments entirely. 
• When you’re done, tap “Upload Short.”👍

On a PC or Desktop Computer 

You upload a Short the same way you would upload a longer YouTube video. The only difference is that, for YouTube to categorize it as a Short, it must meet these requirements:

• It must be a square or vertical video, meaning its dimensions or aspect ratio must be 1:1 or 9:16. 
• It must not be longer than 3 minutes, which is the maximum YouTube Shorts length.

If a horizontal video is under 3 minutes, YouTube won’t classify it as a Short. So how do you get a vertical video? Easy—record it with your phone. What if your phone isn’t an option? 🤳 Use your preferred device to record the video, then find a free video resizer to adjust the aspect ratio to square or vertical. We recommend Adobe’s resizer, as it’s free and preserves the original video quality.👌

Although the main appeal of YouTube’s Shorts is that you can record and upload them using your phone, YouTube provides only limited editing options in both the main mobile app and the YouTube Studio app. If you rely on your phone to post Shorts, you won’t have access to these additional settings:

• Description: The description provides additional details about the Short to help users understand it better. It can be up to 5,000 characters long.

• Category: Helps YouTube categorize the video for better discovery (e.g., People & Blogs). There are 15 categories.

• Comments sorting: Sets how comments appear (i.e., top or newest comments first).

• Like count visibility: Enables or disables showing the number of likes.

• Automatic places: Checking the “automatic places” box gives YouTube permission to identify and highlight public locations in the video (e.g., restaurants, landmarks).

• Video language: This is the primary language spoken in the video.

• Caption certification: Indicates if the video contains official subtitles or closed captions.

• Recording date & video location: Add metadata to help viewers search for videos based on location and time of recording.

• Licensing: Choose which type of license should apply to your Short. With the standard YouTube license, YouTube hosts the video, but others cannot reuse it. On the other hand, the Creative Commons license allows others to use your video in their own content, as long as they give you proper credit.

• Publishing to subscription feed: Checking this option ensures subscribers get notified about the upload.

How to Upload Shorts on a PC 💻

With all of the above in mind, here’s how to upload YouTube Shorts from your PC:

• Visit www.youtube.com and log in to your YouTube account.

• On your homepage, click the “+” icon and select “upload.” 

• Click “select files” to choose the video file from your PC. 

• Add the required video details—specifically, the title and whether it’s made for kids. You don’t need to provide other details, such as tags, description, location, or license, to publish the Short, but they are important for YouTube SEO. Optimizing these elements can help your content rank better on YouTube and reach a wider audience.
• Publish the Short. ✅️

Shorts Creation with Google Veo 2: Is It Worth the Hype?

When Google released Veo 2 on December 16, 2024, the conversation around AI video generation instantly shifted. Those who had been saying “the future is coming” started saying “the future is here.”

But what exactly does Veo 2 bring to the table? It’s an advanced AI-powered video generation model developed by Google DeepMind. Designed to create high-quality, realistic videos with smooth motion and rich details, it supports resolutions up to 4K and gives creators extensive control over cinematic elements.🍿

With Veo 2, creators can specify camera angles, lens types, lighting, and visual styles. These features allow for more dynamic and intentional storytelling.

How to Access Veo 2 

Option 1: Through VideoFX

VideoFX is an experimental tool from Google Labs that lets users generate videos from text prompts. It runs on Google’s Veo 2 model, which means it can create detailed, realistic clips based on what you describe.

It has a Storyboard Mode, so you can build a video scene by scene instead of getting a random one-shot result. There’s also an option to add music and effects to make it feel more polished. ✨

Right now, it’s not open to everyone. As at December 2024, it was available to early-access users in the US who’re 18 years or older. If you don’t fit that bill, you have to join a waitlist to try VideoFX. 

To join the waitlist: ✅

• Go to Veo 2. 
• Click “Try on VideoFX.”
• Click “Sign in with Google.”
• Click “Sign in.”
• If you’re signed in to multiple Gmail accounts on your device, you’ll need to choose one to continue. 
• Once you’re signed in, tap or click “Join the waitlist.”
• Fill the Google Labs Early Access Waitlist form and submit. 

Option 2: Through Vertex AI

Vertex AI is Google’s machine learning platform that helps developers and businesses build, train, and deploy AI models without needing to manage the infrastructure themselves. As a one-stop shop for everything AI-related, it gives users access to powerful generative AI tools, including Google’s Veo.

To access Veo 2 through Vertex AI, reach out to your Google Cloud account representative. 🙋🏻‍♀️

Option 3: Through YouTube Shorts’ Dream Screen

YouTube has added the ‘Dream Screen’ feature to the Shorts tab for users in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. This feature allows eligible users to access Veo 2 through the Shorts app for free. 

Here’s a Short from @youtubecreators demonstrating how to use Dream Screen:

If you have access to the feature, here’s how you can try it yourself:

• Log into your YouTube account.
• Tap the “+” icon at the bottom center of the screen and select “Create a Short.”
• Tap the “Green Screen” icon on the right side and select “Dream Screen.”
• Enter a text prompt describing the background or video to generate.
• Select a style like Vintage, Clay, Anime, Pastel, or Digital, or leave it as “None.”
• Tap “Create” to generate a background image for the Short or a standalone AI-generated video.
• Tap “Use Image” to apply a static background or “Create Video” for a dynamic clip.
• Record the Short with the chosen background or AI-generated video.
• Review the Short, make any necessary edits, and tap “Next.”
• Add captions, hashtags, and tap “Upload” to share the Short.

Option 4: Through Freepik 

If you’re not eligible to access Veo 2 through any of the three methods above, there’s still hope.🤞Veo 2 is integrated with Freepik, a site that offers a massive collection of design assets, including vectors, illustrations, stock photos, icons, videos, templates, mockups, etc. 

On Freepik, Veo 2 is one of the custom video generation models. This means that if you want to see what Veo 2 can do via Freepik, follow these steps:

Getting Started

1. Log into your Freepik account via a web browser on your mobile device or computer.
2. On the homepage, locate the bar under the “Search” and “Create” buttons. Type your prompt inside the bar.
3. Click the small drop-down icon next to the bar, select “AI Video,” then click “Generate.”

Inside the Freepik Video Editor 🎞️

4. Enter your prompt in the prompt box.
5. Click “Effects” to choose from a range of camera movements.
6. Click “Start Image” to upload an image as the first frame of your video.
7. The default aspect ratio is 16:9. Click it and switch to 9:16 to optimize your video for YouTube Shorts.
8. The default AI model is King 1.6 Standard. Click it, then select “Google Veo 2” from the list.
9. The default video duration is 5 seconds. Click “5 sec” to choose between 5 seconds and 8 seconds, then select the one that suits your needs.
10. Click “Generate.”

After Generation

11. Once you submit your request, Freepik queues your video for processing. In about 3 minutes, your video will be ready. After generating, you can use these options to enhance it:
    1. Apply Sound Effects (BETA): Adds AI-generated or pre-set sound effects for better immersion.
    2. Add Lip Sync (EXPERIMENTAL): Syncs AI characters’ lip movements with an AI-generated voiceover.
    3. Reuse for New Video: Generates a continuation of your original prompt, allowing you to create a sequel using the same settings.
    4. Video Upscale (BETA): Enhances resolution and overall quality for a sharper, more detailed video.

Testing Veo 2 

Google introduced Veo 2 as a tool with advanced motion depiction abilities and a strong understanding of real-world physics, so we tested it on Freepik using three prompts to see how well it lived up to those claims.

Below, we’ll walk you through the prompts, show the results, and share our thoughts.

Test 1️⃣

Prompt: A lone figure walks through a vast, foggy landscape. In the distance, a glowing doorway stands tall, humming with energy. As they approach, the ground beneath them shifts, rippling like water. With a deep breath, they step through—suddenly, the world flips upside down, colors invert, and gravity reverses. The figure floats weightlessly for a moment… then disappears into the void. The screen fades to black with the words: “Where did they go?”

Result:

Review: Veo 2 clearly made an effort. It got the first part of the prompt—the first three sentences—correct but failed to depict more complex actions like the figure taking a deep breath, floating weightlessly, and the world flipping upside down. However, its accuracy in rendering written text and the neon landscape is astounding.

Test 2️⃣

Prompt: A playful golden retriever scurries under a wooden dining table, clutching a sock in its mouth. A child crouches down, peeking under with a mischievous grin, trying to coax the dog out. Sunlight streams through the window, casting soft shadows on the tiled floor. The dog wags its tail excitedly, scooting further back as if playing hide-and-seek. Laughter fills the room as the child reaches out, only for the dog to dart out from the other side.

Result:

Review: Again, Veo 2 came impressively close to getting it right. It captured important elements of the prompt well, but there were a few missteps. The introduction of a second dog and the incomplete action sequence—where the dog scoots backward and then darts out from the other side—are worth noting. 

Test 3️⃣

Prompt: A Caucasian man with short, slightly tousled brown hair sits on a dark gray couch, holding a navy blue phone to his ear. He wears a light beige hoodie, the sleeves pushed up just past his wrists. His light hazel eyes remain unfocused as he listens, occasionally murmuring a quiet “mm-hmm.” A warm lamp glow softens the shadows on his face, highlighting his thoughtful expression.

Result:

Review: We deliberately included small details—like the character’s hair color, race, and hoodie color—to see if Veo 2 would pick up on them. And it did! While the character doesn’t seem to be simply murmuring “hmm,” everything else is spot on.

➡️ Our final verdict: Veo 2 does understand and effect prompts to a large extent, but it’s best to use it, in the meantime, for videos with minimal movement. As you can see, the third video is much closer to the prompt than the first two because of the simplicity of the prompt.

5 Ways to Use YouTube Shorts to Make Money  

Eager to monetize YouTube Shorts? Here’s a step-by-step guide on earning income from your short videos.

1) YouTube’s Shorts Monetization Module 💰

Between 2021 and 2022, YouTube rewarded Shorts creators through the YouTube Shorts Fund, a $100 million pool distributed among eligible creators. In February 2023, YouTube discontinued the fund and instead allowed creators to monetize Shorts directly. To earn from YouTube Shorts, you must qualify for and apply to the YouTube Partner Program. 

Here’s how to qualify for the YouTube Shorts monetization system:

• Gain a minimum of 1,000 subscribers.
• Accumulate 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days or 4,000 valid public watch hours on long-form videos within the last 12 months.
• Adhere to YouTube’s Community Guidelines,Terms of Service, copyright policies, and Google AdSense program policies.
• Ensure all your content aligns with advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

After meeting the above thresholds, accept the Shorts Monetization Module terms to start earning from ads and YouTube Premium in the Shorts Feed.

When you qualify for the Partner Program, you’ll get 45% of the total ad revenue generated from Shorts ads. However, this revenue is not tied to individual Shorts like in long-form videos. Instead, all revenue from ads shown between Shorts is pooled together. 

From this total, YouTube first sets aside money for music licensing if a Short uses copyrighted music. The remaining amount is then distributed among monetized creators based on their share of total views across all Shorts. Once a creator’s share is calculated, they receive 45% of that amount, while YouTube keeps 55%. This system ensures that ad revenue is shared fairly among creators, even if individual Shorts don’t display ads directly. 📢

Extra: Meeting these monetization requirements takes time. Want to fast-track the process? Get a monetized YouTube channel or watch hours and start earning from your very first Short!

2) Add Product Tags to Shorts 🏷️

You can no longer add affiliate links to the description of a Short or as a comment, so direct affiliate marketing through YouTube isn’t possible. What you can do is make creative references to a product and add the product tag to the Short—if you’re eligible to use the tag option. YouTube will review your tag to ensure that it complies with YouTube’s Community Guidelines.

The product tag option is only available for physical products, such as merchandise or goods from third-party manufacturers. You can’t use it for services, courses, or other digital offerings.

3) Sponsorships 🤝

Making sponsored YouTube Shorts is the perfect way to increase your income. The amount you earn per sponsored Short depends on your channel’s niche, the age of your audience, average views per video, and your follower count. A channel with over 100K subscribers could negotiate a CPM-based deal with a sponsor, meaning the sponsor pays a fixed amount per 1,000 views the video accumulates. 

In some cases, the CPM may be as high as $20. Channels with larger audiences in high-paying niches can charge more, with sponsors continuing to pay for each additional 1,000 views up to an agreed cap.

As a new YouTuber looking to make money with YouTube Shorts, focus on making your Shorts look as polished as possible and expanding your reach. Learn how to contact brands for sponsorship deals—you’ll be doing that quite a few times, especially when you’re new to the YouTube Shorts game. 

4) Crowdfunding 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️

Since YouTube disabled links in Shorts, you can no longer include crowdfunding links in your Shorts. Here’s what you can do instead:

A. Add QR Codes On-screen

The QR codes will link to crowdfunding pages such as Patreon or Kofi. Your viewers will be able to screenshot and scan the codes to visit your crowdfunding pages. 

B. Direct Viewers from Shorts to Community Posts

Upload a Short calling for support and follow up with a request for your viewers to check out a Community Post containing the actual link to your crowdfunding page.

Another way to direct viewers to a Community Post is by using secret keywords to filter out those who are genuinely interested in contributing to your crowdfunding goals. Ask your audience to comment with the keyword. For example, you could say, “If you’d like to help me reach X goal, comment ‘yes’.” Once engagement builds up, direct the commenters to a Community Post or a pinned comment with more details about the crowdfunding avenue. 

Whichever method you use, the storyline of your Short should naturally lead to the crowdfunding campaign. 

5) Redirect Traffic to Long-form Videos ▶️

In your Shorts, add links to related long-form videos on your channel where you promote paid services, affiliate links, crowdfunding links, and more. This method doesn’t generate money directly from Shorts, but it gently nudges viewers and softens the ground for them to take action later. 

How to Get More Shorts Views in 2025 – 9 Strategies

All the ways to make money through Shorts content revolve around one key metric: views. So how do you get these Shorts views that everyone keeps talking about? Here’s a guide to increasing your views:

1) Do Your Own Research 

Just as YouTube analytics data vary across channels, every channel owner must figure out how to get more views for their Shorts. YouTube creators use several tools to discover YouTube Shorts ideas with high viral potential. 🔥 We’ll walk you through three of the most effective ones. 

A. VidIQ’s “Most Viewed”

Behind this feature of VidIQ is a simple idea: when you want to go viral on YouTube, you do what others that have gone viral have done. 

How to Get Insights from VidIQ

• Download the VidIQ extension from the Chrome Web Store. Type “VidIQ” in the search bar, and click on “VidIQ Vision for YouTube.”
  

• Click “Add to Chrome.” Confirm that you want to add the extension. 

• After you’ve successfully added the extension to Chrome, VidIQ will redirect you to YouTube.
• Reload the YouTube homepage so that the extension appears on it. 
• Click the VidIQ icon to access a drop-down menu. 
• From the menu, select “Most Viewed.” 👀

• In the search bar within the “Most Viewed” feature, type “#shorts” followed by the keyword you’re researching. For example, if you’re looking for trending Shorts about sitcoms, type “#shorts sitcom.” 
• VidIQ will return a list of the most viral Shorts with that keyword in their tags. Filter the results by subscriber count to find Shorts published by small creators, and check the views per hour (VPH) metric to see how many views each Short receives every hour. 

How to Use These Insights 👇

• Identify what works: Study the structures of the trending Shorts, that is, their lengths, themes, hooks, captions, sound effects, viral sounds, storytelling styles, etc. 
• Replicate and improve: Create similar but better content that includes elements that these Shorts share in common. 
• Analyze and refine: After you make Shorts and publish them, monitor their analytics in YouTube Studio, particularly the percentage of viewers who chose to watch versus those who swiped away. While there are other important metrics, this one gives you an immediate clue about how attention-grabbing your Short is, helping you determine what changes, if any, need to be made moving forward.

B. Google Trends

Google Trends is the ultimate site for finding YouTube trends to mirror in Shorts. In this context, a trending topic refers to what YouTube users are currently searching for, not necessarily what creators are producing content on.

The only downside of using Google Trends to boost your Shorts’ views is that you must be ready to create and post Shorts almost immediately after discovering a trend. If you wait too long, the topic may no longer be trending. 📈

Here’s how to discover trending Shorts ideas: 

• Go to Google Trends.

• Click any of the filters to  narrow down the displayed trends. There are three relevant filters: “worldwide,” “past 12 months,” and “all categories.”.
  • “Worldwide”: By default, worldwide trends are shown. To view trends in your target country, that is, the country of your target audience, click the “worldwide” filter. You’ll then see a list of all countries in the world. Select your target country. For example, if you’re creating Shorts for users in the US while living in the UK, choose the United States. 
  • “Past 12 months”: This is the period filter and it’s used for sorting out trends within a specified timeframe. To find the most relevant trends, view results from the past 7 or 30 days. 
  • “All categories”: Google displays trends across all categories of content on YouTube. Select the category that’s the closest match to your niche. 
• To view data on a specific idea, type it into the “Add search term” box and press Enter on your keyboard.👩🏻‍💻

2) Loop Shorts

You know how sometimes you keep watching a Short on repeat before realizing it’s already started over? That happens when a Short is so seamless that you can’t tell where it begins or ends. These smooth loops tend to rack up more views simply because people watch them multiple times.

One of the best examples in YouTube Shorts history is Jake Fellman’s Minecraft Arrowhead Loop, which has over 450 million views at the time of writing. 

How to Loop a Short

To successfully loop a Short, make sure the end of your video leads directly to the beginning. Here are three ways to get that done:

A. Match the First and Last Clips 🤝

The final shot should visually or contextually connect with the first shot. For example, if your video starts with someone turning their head in surprise, it should end with an action or expression that naturally leads back to that moment.

Example 

• Scenario: A character is sitting in a chair, looking at their phone.
• Start: The video begins with a close-up of their surprised face as they read a shocking text.
• End: The video finishes with the character looking at their phone again, reacting in shock.
• Effect: The final shot perfectly mirrors the first, making the Short feel like an endless cycle.

B. Use Motion or Action to Link Them 

Movement should feel continuous. If a character walks off-screen at the end, they should walk in from the same position at the start. Actions like throwing an object, spinning, or opening a door can also create a seamless transition.

Example 

• Scenario: Someone throws a basketball at the hoop.
• Start: The video opens with a person winding up to take the shot.
• End: The ball goes through the hoop and bounces back toward the person, resetting them to their starting position.
• Effect: Since the ending leads naturally into the setup of the beginning, the motion feels continuous.

C. End with the Hook 🫷

The last line of your script should be the hook of your Short. This way, when the video loops, the viewer is instantly re-engaged, making them more likely to watch again without realizing where the loop restarts.

Example 

• Scenario: A comedy Short where someone reacts to something shocking.
• Start: The video begins with someone exclaiming, “You won’t believe this!”
• End: Right before the loop restarts, the last line is also “You won’t believe this!”
• Effect: Since the final line is the hook, it instantly grabs attention again when the video restarts.

How NOT to Loop a Short 

You can’t create a seamless loop by adding a still frame to the beginning and end of your Short. Since each frame in a Short lasts at least 0.1 seconds, a still frame at the beginning delays the start of the main content, while one at the end extends the video by another 0.1 seconds.

When the Short loops, these extra frames add up to a 0.2-second pause—0.1 seconds before the content starts and another 0.1 seconds before it loops again. That’s not what you want, is it?

3) Use Engaging Captions

In this context, the caption is the title of the Short. A strong caption isn’t just about grabbing attention. It can also keep viewers from leaving. If a Short takes time to load due to poor internet, the caption gives them a reason to stay on the page while they wait. It’s also useful for engaging viewers who watch Shorts on mute, helping them understand what the Short is about before they even see it. 

Unlike traditional video captions, an engaging Shorts caption should:

• Be short and impactful (since viewers scroll quickly).
• Create curiosity or suspense to encourage viewers to watch and rewatch.
• Encourage engagement (likes, comments, shares).
• Use trendy language, emojis, and hashtags (but sparingly).
• Give the viewer an idea of what the Short is about. 

Essentially, an engaging caption makes a viewer stop scrolling and compels them to watch, interact, or rewatch the Short.🤩

Examples

We analyzed the channels of some of today’s most popular YouTubers and found a clear pattern: Shorts with more engaging captions tended to have more views. 

Channel 1: @MrBeast

Most popular Short (1.4B views): Would You Fly to Paris to Get a Baguette?

Why it performed well:

• The question format sparks curiosity and makes people want to find out what happens.
• The idea of traveling to Paris just for a baguette is absurd yet possible, making it engaging.
• The caption taps into humor, luxury, and relatability, so it appeals to a broad audience.
• Viewers are more likely to comment opinions, such as agreeing, disagreeing, or joking about the idea.
• The intriguing nature makes people want to watch multiple times and share with others. ↪️

Least popular Short (21M views): I Crashed One of the Most Expensive Cars

Why it didn’t perform as well:

• The caption gives away the full story rather than inviting curiosity.
• Most people have no experience with expensive cars, much less crashing them. It was a bit harder for viewers to connect with the caption. 
• While surprising, it doesn’t leave a lasting impression or encourage repeat views.
• Viewers might react with surprise but are less likely to comment or start a discussion.
• Once the crash happens, there’s little incentive to rewatch or share.

Channel 2: @dudeperfect

Most popular Short: Oreo Roll Roulette (180M+ views) 

Why it performed well:

• The name suggests a game or challenge. It makes viewers curious about how it works.
• As everyone knows Oreos, the caption is instantly relatable and accessible.
• Viewers may want to try it themselves or comment on the outcome.
• “Roulette” implies unpredictability, attracting people to stay to see what happens.

Least popular Short: THE LIQUID NITROGEN ONE 😱 (900K+ views)

Why it didn’t perform as well: 

• “The Liquid Nitrogen One” doesn’t clearly describe what happens. From the get-go, it’s less engaging.
• Unlike “Oreo Roll Roulette,” which tells you the premise, this title leaves too much unknown without an engaging hook.
• Liquid nitrogen is more niche and less universally recognized compared to Oreos.
• The caption makes it harder for viewers to connect with or participate in the activity demonstrated in the Short. 

Channel 3: @CelineDept

Most popular Short: Whatever You Land On, Crossbar! (520M+ views)

Why it performed well:

• This title is instantly engaging because it suggests a challenge with an element of unpredictability. 
• The phrase “Whatever You Land On” creates suspense, making viewers curious about what will happen next. 
• “Crossbar” connects with football/soccer fans, a massive global audience, thus fulfilling the requirement of relatability. 
• The challenge format naturally encourages interaction, as viewers may try to predict outcomes or share their thoughts in the comments. 

Least popular Short: Country + Player Telepathy Game 🧠⚽ (380K+ views)

Why it didn’t perform as well: 

• The title is more vague and doesn’t create immediate curiosity. 
• “Telepathy Game” is abstract and doesn’t clearly communicate the type of challenge, making it less likely to stop scrollers. 
• While the use of “⚽” suggests a football/soccer theme, the connection isn’t as instantly clear as “Crossbar.” 
• The concept might require prior knowledge, which limits its accessibility to a wider audience.

4) Use Trending Music and Sounds

While the number of people that watch Shorts with trending sounds is uncertain, a survey of 20,000 YouTube users showed that 70% of videos watched by a user are determined by YouTube’s algorithm. 📶

In its tips for creators, Google specifically states that one of the cues YouTube’s algorithm uses to determine which Shorts to show a user is the trending songs or sampled audio they have engaged with. This means that if you want to grow enough to earn good revenue from YouTube, you should post YouTube Shorts that feature trending sounds.

To see the trending sounds in your target country:

• Go to your YouTube settings and change your location to the target country. 
• Attempt to create a Short by tapping the “+” button within the YouTube app. Record any random clip. 
• After recording, tap “Add sound.” 
• Check out recommended and top sounds. Save the sound you want to use.

Plus, YouTube has now made it even easier—there’s a “Trends” button right on the Shorts page in the mobile app. Here’s what it looks like:

When you tap the button, YouTube takes you to this page, where you’ll see daily trends and Shorts that use those trending songs. ♬

Watch a few Shorts featuring a song you’re interested in to get a feel for how creators are incorporating it into their videos.

When you’re ready to hop on the trend:

• Tap the “Join this trend” button underneath a trend.
• Record your Short, syncing it to the audio.
• Publish.😄

The method above is useful if you’re searching for trending audio in YouTube’s audio library 🔊 . Alternatively, you can also use Lenos copyright-free music library to find trending and non-copyrighted songs that are safe to use in your Shorts.

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5) Publish Content That Encourages Replays

It’s possible that the reason why viewers aren’t rewatching your Short is simply that they’ve had enough of it on the first play. To beat that, you need to ensure that the content can keep drawing the viewer back to itself. Try:

• Beat-matching edits: Creating visuals that sync perfectly with trending audio. 
• Unexpected twists: Shorts with endings that surprise viewers, encouraging them to watch the Short again. 
• Fast-paced Shorts: Instead of spreading information across 2 or 3 minutes, condense it into 15 to 60 seconds. You’ll be giving viewers more than they can absorb in one go, making them want to rewatch the Short to catch everything. 
• Challenges: Users will want to rewatch a challenge to relive the thrill they experienced the first time they viewed it. The shorter a challenge, the better. 
• Seamless loops: As we explained above, perfectly-looping Shorts are impressive, and because users don’t immediately realize they’ve started over, they keep rewatching.

6) Don’t Neglect YouTube Shorts’ Metadata

You’ve done your research and identified the YouTube content ideas that are best for your Shorts. Great!👌But are you paying attention to your Shorts’ metadata? The term “metadata” is nothing but a fancy word for describing titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, and video attributes that help to provide more information about your Short, making it easier for users to find and engage with your content. 

There are many apps that can help optimize metadata. For SEO-friendly titles that drive real traction on YouTube, try our free video title generator. Additionally, you can use a YouTube tags extractor to quickly find the exact tags used by top-performing videos, along with valuable data on each tag’s search volume and competition—making it easier to choose the best tags for your content.

7) Choose Effective Hooks

Make sure what you come up with can convince a viewer to watch your Short the moment they stumble upon it. That’s how little time you have to hook your audience—one second. ⏱️

Who said so, you wonder? Jenny Hoyos, known as @JennyHoyos on YouTube. The creator, who has over 8 million subscribers and more than 2.5 trillion views, shared this insight in an interview with YouTube Shorts product lead Todd Sherman. 

Now that your work has been cut out for you, how do you go about it? Draft the script or outline for your Short (if you have one), paste it into ChatGPT or DeepSeek, and ask the app to generate a hook that grabs a viewer’s attention within the first second. Don’t have a script yet? Go straight to our introduction (hook) generator. 

8) Audit Your Channel 

You can’t solve a problem without first pinpointing it. To figure out how to get more Shorts views, you must first learn why your Shorts aren’t performing well.

A few sites, such as VidIQ, offer free automated channel audit services. We tested some of them and found that they don’t provide in-depth insights. Most barely scratch the surface of the problem, simply repeating data already available in YouTube Analytics. That’s why we created a new, powerful free channel audit service. 🔎👀

With Lenos, you’ll get a free audit of your last 50 videos, including both long-form YouTube videos and Shorts, along with an analysis of their titles, descriptions, and tags. You’ll also see the top five performing videos from your last 50 uploads, as well as their views, likes, and comments at a glance. While limited, this data can help you figure where to start from. 

9) Post at Optimal Times 

When is the best time to post on YouTube? The answer is: when your audience is most active. 🤳Lenos allows you to calculate the best time to post on YouTube for free, based on the country and city where your viewers are located. The result of each calculation is a posting schedule for every day of the week, showing the best times to post each day.

5 Shorts That Went Viral—and Why

Growing on YouTube takes plenty of skill, a lot of guidance, and yes, a little splash of luck. While you can’t control luck, you can control which skills and strategies you apply to your Shorts.

To help you on this journey, we’ve put together a list of five viral Shorts. Each has certain strengths that contributed to its success. Let’s take a look. 

Short 1: “Buy Feastables, Win Unlimited Money” by @MrBeast

Publish date: April 30, 2024

Views: 290M+

Strengths:

• Visuals: The Short opens with Mr Beast standing next to a huge money vault with piles of cash pouring out.  
• Hook: Mr Beast immediately explains what’ll be done in the Short, which gets viewers excited to see who’ll win “unlimited money” just for buying a snack. 

Short 2: “3 things in Korea that just make sense! 🤌😳🤌” by @Koreaa_life

Publish date: March 4, 2025

Views: 3.6M+

Strengths 

• Opening frame: The video clip of a broth-based teddy bear melting in a pan instantly captures the viewer’s attention. 
• Caption: The use of “3” sets a clear expectation of brevity. This is especially useful in today’s world, where scientific research has confirmed that the average human attention span is now 3 minutes at most.. 

Short 3: “THE PERFECT LOOP DOES NOT EXI–🌀” by @davidbeck

Publish date: May 18, 2022

Views: 42M+

Strengths 

• Looping: Remember what we said about ensuring that the final clip in your Short leads naturally to the opening clip? This Short is a perfect example of a great loop. 
• Brevity: The Short is about 8 seconds long. With the average attention span being 8.25 seconds, this Short is almost sure to have a watch rate of 100% from every person that doesn’t swipe away as soon as it starts playing. 
• Tags: The creator kept hashtags relevant and within the recommended limit of 3 to 5 hashtags. 

Short 4: “Trapped In A Time Loop 😨” by @zackdfilms

Publish date: March 15, 2025

Views: 3.2M+

Strengths 

• Immersive storytelling: From the beginning of the Short till the end, the viewer wonders if or when the time loop will end. 
• Subtitles: Even if your phone’s audio is muted, you can still follow the plot by reading the bold subtitles. 
• Looping: While the thick plot fills the viewer with pure intrigue, the looping of the Short makes them stay on it longer than they otherwise would. It’s no wonder the Short crossed 3 million views within less than 24 hours of its release.

Short 5: “Respect🔥🐈🥶😱||Amazing” by @Respectgoend

Publish date: February 3, 2024

Views: 183M+

Strength

• Thumbnail: The thumbnail of this Short features an AI-generated image of an extremely muscular man with multiple exaggerated limbs and bulging muscles, creating an unnatural, almost monstrous physique. If you see the thumbnail before the Short starts playing, you’ll likely watch until the end, curious to find the moment where the man appears.

Interestingly, while this strategy worked for this Short, it didn’t have the same success across the creator’s other videos. Most of their latest Shorts haven’t even reached a million views. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: How much does YouTube pay per view on Shorts? 

A: Many creators have reported earning just over $30 per 1 million views. Based on this, the earnings per view would be approximately $0.00003, or 0.003 cents. This is only an average, and your actual earnings may be higher or lower. 

Q: How much does YouTube Shorts pay for 1000 views?

A: The amount you earn from 1,000 Shorts can vary depending on the location of your viewers and the CPM or the cost per 1000 views that advertisers pay for Shorts ads in your niche. The general range is between $0.01 and $0.06.

You can find out how much YouTube Shorts video has earned with our free YouTube shorts earning calculator.

Q: Why are my YouTube Shorts not getting views?

A: Your Shorts may not be getting as many views as they should if:

• Your hooks are weak and they don’t encourage viewers to watch your Shorts till the end. 
• You don’t post Shorts consistently, so the YouTube Shorts algorithm doesn’t recognize your content that much. 
• The algorithm hasn’t indexed your Shorts. 
• Your YouTube Shorts content is blurry, poorly-edited, or incorrectly formatted. 
• You don’t optimize your Shorts’ metadata. 

Q: How to save YouTube Shorts? 

A: View the Short you want to save. Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the screen and select “Save to playlist” from the options. 

Q: Can you schedule YouTube Shorts?

A: Shorts can also be scheduled. To do that:

• Create a Short or upload a video that is in line with YouTube Shorts requirements.
• In the video settings, tap “Visibility” and select “Schedule.” 
• Choose the date and time when you want your Short to become visible to the world on YouTube. 
• Tap “Upload Short.”
  

Q: Do YouTube Shorts have to be vertical?

A: When we say YouTube Shorts are vertical videos, we mean they are displayed in a vertical format. The video itself doesn’t have to be recorded vertically, but once uploaded, YouTube presents it in a vertical layout.

Q: Do YouTube Shorts have thumbnails?

A: Yes, YouTube Shorts have thumbnails. Since Shorts are played consecutively, you won’t notice the thumbnails of Shorts in your Feed. To view the thumbnails of Shorts, exit your feed and browse through the Shorts recommendations on your homepage. 

Q: How to change thumbnail on YouTube Shorts?

A: Open the YouTube app and follow the usual steps to upload a Short until you reach the “Add details” section. By default, the thumbnail is the first frame of the Short. To customize it, tap the pencil (edit) icon on the Short and select any frame you want to use as your thumbnail. Tap the “Aa” icon to add text, and use the three-circle icon to apply a filter of your choice. 

Q: Should I use hashtags on YouTube Shorts?

A: Absolutely. Tags provide additional information about your Short to YouTube’s algorithm, Google, and other search engines, helping improve its ranking potential. When using tags, make sure they comply with YouTube’s Community Guidelines. 

Q: Where to put hashtags on YouTube Shorts?

A: You add hashtags in a Short’s description. Unfortunately, the description setting isn’t available in the YouTube mobile app or YouTube Studio. This means you’ll need to open YouTube Studio in a web browser on your phone or PC to add hashtags to a Short. 

Q: How many hashtags should I use on YouTube Shorts?

A: Someone asked this question in the official YouTube community. Majority of the responses suggested that it’s safe to use three to five hashtags per Short. 

Q: Can I buy views for my YouTube Shorts?

A: You can buy views to give your Shorts a little boost, as long as you buy them from reputable websites that deliver views from real users. At Lenostube you can buy 100% real views for your Shorts. You should also give YouTube ads a try. 

Q: How many YouTube Shorts can you upload a day?

A: YouTube won’t stop you from uploading as many Shorts as you want every day. However, while don’t want to overwhelm your audience, you also don’t want to publish so infrequently that the algorithm doesn’t notice your channel. For this reason, aim to upload about 1 to 3 Shorts a day or 3 to 5 Shorts per week. 

Q: What is the most liked video on YouTube Shorts?

A: The most liked YouTube Short is @MrBeast’s “Would You Fly to Paris for a Baguette?” Since it was uploaded on December 8, 2022, it’s had about 1.4 billion views and 54 million likes. 

Q: What is a good average view duration on YouTube Shorts?

A: The average view duration (AVD) of a YouTube Short is the average amount of time viewers spend watching a Short before swiping away or exiting. Generally, a good AVD falls between 60% and 100% or more of a Short’s length, as this indicates high audience retention. For example, if you have a 50-second Short, an AVD of 30 to 50 seconds or higher is ideal. 

Q: What is a good like-to-view ratio on YouTube Shorts?

A: The like-to-view ratio of a Short represents the proportion of likes it receives compared to its total views. For example, if a Short has 300 views and 10 likes, its like-to-view ratio is 3.33%. As with other performance indicators, a higher ratio is better, but anything between 3.75% and 4% is considered good. 

Q: Can you use copyrighted music on YouTube Shorts?

A: Yes, you can use copyrighted music in your Shorts if you source it from YouTube’s audio library. Since YouTube pays the copyright owners, you won’t face a copyright infringement claim. However, if you use copyrighted music from another source, you must have permission to do so. Otherwise, you risk a legal claim, and that Short may not be eligible for monetization. 

Q: What is a good swipe rate for YouTube Shorts?

A: The swipe rate for YouTube Shorts refers to the percentage of viewers who scroll past (swipe away from) a Short before watching it in full. This is different from the percentage of users who actually watched the Short to the end, which is the retention rate or view-through rate (VTR). While the swipe rate should ideally be low (between 10% and 30%), the VTR should be high (around 70% to 90%). Your goal should be to maintain a low swipe rate and a high VTR.

Q: Should I allow Shorts remixing on YouTube?

A: Allowing people to remix your Shorts has its upsides and downsides. On the one hand, you get free promotion, which may positively impact your channel’s reach. On the other hand, allowing the remixing of a Short makes it easier for other creators to reuse your content without giving you credit.

It’s up to you to decide if you want to enable remixing or not, but remember that people can reuse your material even if you don’t allow remixing. There are several YouTube Shorts downloaders that allow anyone to download a Short without watermarks, regardless of whether the remixing option was enabled or not. If there’s a risk of people reusing your Short anyway, why not also take advantage of the potential benefits?

Q: Do YouTube Shorts count towards watch hours?

The total time viewers spend watching YouTube Shorts on a channel is included in the channel’s total watch hours. You can verify this by opening YouTube Studio and checking your channel analytics.

However, watch time from Shorts does not count toward the 4,000 watch hours required to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program. For example, if a channel has 3,000 total watch hours, but 500 of them come from Shorts, only 2,500 will count toward the 4,000-hour monetization threshold.

Q: How to promote YouTube Shorts?

A: Proven ideas for YouTube Shorts promotion include:

• Sharing the videos on Instagram Reels, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and similar social media apps. 
• Embedding the links to Shorts in blog posts
• Promoting the Shorts in long-form videos.
• Running YouTube ads.
• Going live and driving traffic to your Shorts. 
• Ensuring that your Shorts loop seamlessly, encouraging viewers to watch for longer.
  

Q: Do YouTube Shorts help your channel?

A: Yes, Shorts contribute to your channel’s views, subscriber count, and overall visibility on YouTube. A small creator who rarely gets up to 1,000 views per long-form video could get thousands—or even millions—of views per Short. Take @courtneyscraziness, for example. One of the Shorts on this channel has over a million views, whereas the most popular long-form video has about 25K views. 

Q: Does YouTube Shorts pay more than TikTok?

A: From the reports of several TikTok creators, we’ve seen that TikTok pays about $0.50 to $0.70 per 1,000 views that are eligible for monetization. Not all views that a TikTok gets will qualify for monetization, by the way.

On the other hand, once your channel qualifies for YouTube’s monetization program, all your Shorts views will be monetized. However, you’ll earn between $0.01 and $0.06 per 1,000 Shorts views, with an average of $0.03. This means that while 100K eligible TikTok views could earn you $50 to $70, the same number of Shorts views would make you $1 to $6 richer. 

Q: Can you see who viewed your YouTube Shorts?

A: No, you can’t see the specific users who viewed your Shorts. You can only see the countries where your viewers are located. For a deeper look at your video’s performance, you can use YouTube Studio (for your own videos) or try oue YouTube video analytics checker (for any other video).

Final Thoughts: Should You Create Shorts?

We’ve come to the end of our comprehensive guide on how to make Shorts and earn from your hard work. For you, everything we’ve discussed comes down to one question: should you produce Shorts?

Given that the YouTube success rate is less than 10%—meaning at least 90 out of every 100 YouTubers won’t achieve the growth they envisioned when starting out—this is an important question to consider so you don’t waste your time.

The answer? While YouTube Shorts have a high potential for success, your chances improve significantly if you apply the strategies revealed above. Remember to conduct regular audits of your channel to ensure you’re not unintentionally hindering your own progress.