From Raw Footage to Viral Hit: How to edit a YouTube video?

As a YouTuber, if you cannot weave your raw footage into an interesting and engaging story, your video will fail to attract the desired engagement from your target audience. You don’t necessarily need to invest in expensive video editing software to create viral-worthy videos. Whether you have a decent subscriber base or have yet to post your first video, knowing how to edit YouTube videos effectively is a crucial skill that can catch your audience’s attention. Besides, it is also very helpful when you promote video on YouTube. Let’s go through the best tips to get your shots together and hit the right frame.

Best Practices to Create Attention-Grabbing Videos

As Databox reports, the YouTube audience’s average retention rate is around 30%. This means that viewers watch just 30% of the entire video. So, if you have some similar numbers in your YouTube analytics stats, you need to upskill your video editing capabilities to engage with your audience on a deeper level.

1. Protect Your Data By Creating Multiple Copies

You might wonder what multiple copies have to do with creating captivating videos. Here’s your answer. There’s always a chance that your file may get damaged or corrupted. Having multiple copies helps to avoid losing any raw footage. Besides, this practice of creating multiple copies gives you the liberty to test different creative angles and perspectives simultaneously when you sit to edit YouTube videos.

2. Make Your Video Reflect A Story

Strong storytelling can capture and hook your audience to watch your entire video. Having a narrative sequence like an introduction that sets the scene, user problems and their impact, and an end that shows the transformation the potential solution brings. Every dialogue or transition should push the story forward.

3. Include B-Rolls Often When You Edit A YouTube Video

Any supplemental footage that you add to your video is called a B-roll. It breaks the monotonous flow and increases the odds of user engagement. For instance, if you’re making travel videos, you can have some close-up shots of nature, the journey to the destination, or some behind-the-scenes footage. When you are editing a YouTube video, ensure smooth transitions between scenes to build the storyline and maintain your viewer’s interest.

4. Have Outstanding Audio Quality

Nothing irritates the viewer more than poor quality or loose audio while watching an interesting video. It impacts the engagement and retention rates negatively. Whenever you’re editing raw videos, balance the audio level with your speech and background music. Avoid echo at all costs. It creates a better viewing experience for your audience.

5. Follow Consistent Branding Practices

A consistent branding practice leads to a higher recall factor in your audience’s mind. While editing videos for maximum reach, maintain consistent branding in elements like logos and their placements, transitions and effects, fonts and colors, sound and tone, thumbnails, and messaging.

6. Allow Viewers To Process the Information

Your audience has no compelling reason to rush through watching your video. Keeping the text and speech faster may reduce the interest of your viewers and thus disengage them, reducing the reach of your videos. When you edit a YouTube video, identify the important moments in your videos, take timely pauses, and make the transitions smooth to process every part of your video content. Viewers tend to engage the most with content they closely resonate with.

How To Edit YouTube Videos Like A Pro?

There are 3 main methods successful creators follow to make videos that break the record. You can complement these three methods with the option to buy YouTube views for your videos.

1. Editing Videos In YouTube Studio

You can access the premade video editor in YouTube Studio. There are limited features to

  • Add your own end screen or select from a pre-set template of the screen
  • Access the dream screen feature(available only to a few)
  • Blur a specific area in your video
  • Trim videos to your desired length or remove unwanted scenes.
  • Add additional content like playlists, links, or other channel references.

2. Using A Third Party Video Editing Software

YouTube Studio offers limited features if you are looking to add some branded transitions and effects for maximum impact. You can use any YouTube video editing tools available online. A few of them include Kapwing, Canva, Adobe Premiere Pro, Clipchamp, Final Cut Pro, etc. You can explore VN, Capcut, and Adobe After Effects if you want sophisticated editing features.

3. Hiring a Professional Video Editor To Edit a YouTube Video

This is one of the best methods to edit YouTube videos like a Pro. You might not have the technical expertise to understand the nuances of video editing. Moreover, you will have to invest time to learn and experiment with various video editing tools and strategies. If you wish to hit your goals faster, we recommend having a professional video editor on board to help you achieve exceptional video quality results. Besides, it also gives you time to focus your energy and focus on creative pursuits of growing your channel rather than getting engaged in time-consuming tasks.

But still, if you feel you cannot hire a full-time Video editor for your channel, learn the art of creating high-quality YT videos under budget. 

Conclusion

You are well equipped with the knowledge of how to edit YouTube videos and buy YouTube subscribers. The days are gone when you can upload random video without any intense edits or a powerful story on YouTube and expect viewers to watch it. In an era where your potential viewers have a million things to watch for, having a high-quality content strategy is a must. Master the crucial skill of video editing but also go beyond such tools and infuse your videos with a vision unique to you. Such types of content will deeply resonate with your viewers and help you expand your subscriber base faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What tools do YouTubers use to edit their videos?

More often, YouTubers use video editing tools like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Filmora, and Shotcut.

Q2. Which free app is best for editing YouTube videos?

Clipchamp, iMovie, and DaVinci Resolve are the most preferred free apps for YouTube video editing.

Q3. How to use YouTube’s Video Editor?

Execute these steps to start using the YouTube video editor

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio
  2. Click Content
  3. Click on the thumbnail of the video you wish to edit
  4. Towards the left sidebar, you will see an option called ‘Editor’
  5. Trim relevant sections of your video. It could be the beginning, end, or middle parts of your video
  6. Add an end screen to your video

Q4. Do you need other video editing apps when you have YouTube Studio to edit videos?

It depends on your video editing requirements. If you are keen on learning this crucial skill and want to create high-quality, super-engaging videos, you will need a third-party video editing tool. These tools have advanced features to add visually appealing transitions, overlays, and branding elements.

Ashwini Singh: Being a wordsmith, I love helping business owners craft marketing copies and digital content for their business and amplify their online presence. Connect with me to know more about how words can build or break the digital presence of your business. If I am not writing, you'll see me travelling and exploring this fascinating world.