Google is undoubtedly the leader in Internet research, email management and even cartography via Google Maps. But there is another area where the Mountain View firm dominates all of its competitors: video sharing. The numbers are more than impressive:
- YouTube has 800 million unique monthly users,
- 4 billion videos are viewed each month,
- 25% of views are taken on a mobile,
- One billion mobile views are counted every day,
- Every minute, 72 hours of video are added to the service.
If the tool is well thought out and very easy to learn, there are many more or less technical tips to improve YouTube, whether you are a creator or a simple spectator.
Start a YouTube video at a specific time
When you share a posted YouTube video with your friends, you don’t necessarily want to show them the whole video. Rather than sending them the “classic” link and telling them exactly when to watch, you can send an anchor link: the video will start at the desired second.
- Just add this at the end of the video address: # t = XXm XX s
- By replacing XX with the corresponding number of minutes and seconds
Example: youtube.com/watch?v=2a5rWypKrts # t = 00m36s
It is also possible to share the precise moment of a video very easily within the comments. Just indicate 00:36 to link to the 36th second of the video.
Use the new interface and customize your channel
Recently, YouTube offers everyone to use a new interface for channels. This visually approximates the latest changes to Google+. Logical, since Google wants the convergence of its different services. To benefit from the new version of the channels, go to the page dedicated to the presentation of the single channel on YouTube .
You can switch to the new version, or go back to the old one if you are already using the One Channel interface. YouTube explains that the new channels make it possible to make a good impression (with a trailer for non-subscribers only) and present content in a personalized and optimal way for all screens. To try it is to adopt it !
To personalize your channel, note that the dimensions of the YouTube artwork are the same as the cover on Google+ : 2120 × 1192 pixels , maximum. You can therefore use the same image as on Google’s social network if you feel like it!
Offer direct subscription to your YouTube channel
On YouTube, you can share a link to access your channel. The address is easy to remember, since it is: http://www.youtube.com/user/ Your_Name , obviously replacing “ Your_Name ” by your real username or your name. To make sure which username to use, just go to YouTube, identify yourself and click on your name at the top of the left menu.
You can also offer direct subscription to your channel. Concretely, Internet users will be able to subscribe to your channel with a single click using the link provided. The link to share is: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user= Your_Name .
Promote a video or your channel
Via your channel settings, you can add a link to a specific video or your channel across all of your videos. What to boost the audience of a video to promote and encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel! Just go to your account options, then your channel settings. Then use InVideo Programming to activate the feature!
Retrieve automatically generated captures
When you add a video to YouTube, the service automatically creates still previews of your video. This mechanism makes it possible to display an image to illustrate the videos on the network. You can retrieve these images to integrate them on a website for example. The advantage is that the address structure is the same for all previews: you only have to replace the ID corresponding to your video (the sequence of numbers and letters) to obtain your captures.
- http://img.youtube.com/vi/2a5rWypKrts /0.jpg– 480 × 360
- http://img.youtube.com/vi/2a5rWypKrts /1.jpg– 120 × 90
- http://img.youtube.com/vi/2a5rWypKrts /2.jpg– 120 × 90
- http://img.youtube.com/vi/2a5rWypKrts /3.jpg– 120 × 90
YouTube to HTML5
By default, flash technology is used to view videos on YouTube. If you prefer to use an HTML5 player, go to youtube.com/html5 and follow the instructions. Most recent browsers are compatible!
A full screen video on your browser
Videos may appear small on YouTube. And you have the right to find those too big videos in full screen mode. Fortunately, a parade exists! You can “fill” your entire browser with the video of your choice. This way, you can choose precisely its size, and continue to use your computer. Just use this link by replacing the ID.
- com/v/2a5rWypKrts
Know your average connection speed on YouTube
YouTube records the speed available for its service for each IP. So you can know how much bandwidth your computer can use on average. This is a good indicator of the quality of your network: the higher the speed, the faster the videos load. It is possible to compare this performance with the average of your access provider, your city or your country. A history is even available! To find your speed, go to youtube.com/my_speed .
Upload a video using your phone
To add video to YouTube, there are several ways. You can go through the site directly, or use the Capture application for example. The video sharing site also offers to add a video by sending it by email: adding a video from your smartphone has never been easier! To find the email address corresponding to his profile, simply go to the settings of his YouTube account .
YouTube privacy settings
Privacy on YouTube is relatively easy. Not enough data is made public by default. These can be privatized with a few clicks via the account settings . It is mainly:
- Likes applied to rated videos
- Subscriptions made through their account
- The “public” nature of its channel
- Sharing videos
- Statistics related to each video
- Receipt of messages by all registrants
Finally, do not hesitate to browse the settings of your YouTube account : you can consult the statistics of your channel, your videos, view the latest comments at a glance, find out what’s new in the service, consult the Creator’s Guide YouTube , manage your videos, your playlists, your history, or even activate ads on your videos to monetize your audience if your account allows it. Features to discover!
