When it comes to sharing video online, YouTube is king. The platform boasts over a billion hours of video watched per day and is the 2nd highest search engine online behind only its owner, Google. With such a massive achieve, it's articulate why marketers favor the platform when engaging with consumers through video. But when it comes to using links on YouTube, in that location seems to some confusion over how best to do so…

links on youtube

There are a variety of ways to use links on YouTube. These range from the description box, the channel page, and comments department, to linking within the videos themselves. This can be done from either 'cards' that pop up in the frame of the video, or clickable 'end screen' elements that are overlaid on the video itself.

links on youtube
– End Screen example from the Rebrandly YouTube aqueduct.

Whether yous're using YouTube to build your personal brand online, or a large business looking to aggrandize your reach through video marketing, knowing the best practices for linking on the platform is essential. Let's accept a look at the various ways to do so!

Channel Folio and Banner

When you visit a user's channel, this is the default page yous'll exist brought to. This is where all the basic information is laid out – who the creator or brand is, what their channel is about, a trailer demonstrating the blazon of content they produce, and a banner image.

links on youtube
– Neil Patel's YouTube Channel

The first place you'll be able to notice links on YouTube is at the bottom correct-hand corner of the banner. First up is the master link, which should lead to your master landing pages, such every bit a website or blog. To the right of this, additional links leading to diverse social channels of your choosing. Adding this in is quick and like shooting fish in a barrel – merely go to your About page, click "Add together Links", and fill in URLs you want.

links on youtube
– Rebrandly YouTube imprint links

Yous tin add upward to 5 links on your banner. The first link will exist displayed on the left, with the title of your choosing. Information technology's important to remember that this will be a "DoFollow" link, meaning whatsoever traffic driven from it volition count towards your search ranking. Exist certain to utilise your principal landing page hither to capitalize on this! The rest of these links can be filled with social media, back up, or whatever URLs you wish.

links on youtube

We recommend using your own branded link for the first one on your banner, as they come with additional features such equally detailed link analytics. This lets you track how many clicks your primary banner link is getting, forth with a whole host of extra analytical data y'all'd be missing out on otherwise.

Links in the Video Description

"Cheque out my links in the description below!" is a phrase every YouTube viewer is used to hearing – creators, influencers, marketers, no affair the video-maker, everyone wants you lot to click their links in the description. These tin can range from chapter marketing links to trade offers to simply other social media accounts.

links on youtube

In that location are 2 main problems that well-nigh creators confront when linking in their description – only thankfully, nosotros've got solutions for both! The first is pretty simple:always include "https://" before the link.When copying and pasting links from various unlike sources, information technology tin be easy to lose or forget that prefix. However, due to the style YouTube is congenital, no links on the platform will work without it – they'll simply show upward equally manifestly text, not clickable:

links on youtube

links on youtube

While people tin can of course withal copy this text and paste it into their browser – that'southward one step besides many! Only including the 'hypertext transfer protocol secure' prefix allows people to click the link and be brought to your intended destination directly away. Prissy and unproblematic!

links on youtube

The second problem is also i that tin be solved with branded links – and that is; messy, ugly, inconsistent links. This is an issue experienced past fifty-fifty the most popular YouTube creators. Let's accept a look at two examples – The Rock and Zoella. Each of these receives millions of views per video. Even if just 1% of these viewers choose to view and click the links in the description, that still tens of thousands of possible conversions – not to be sniffed at!

links on youtube

links on youtube

If the examples above, we can encounter both The Stone and Zoella accounts are filled to the skirt with links. However, in that location's no consistency – some are long URLs, some are generic short URLs -non i of these featuring their ain make! Permit's take a look at what these descriptions couldlook like if one of these creators used a branded link with their own domain:

links on youtube
– Possible new YouTube description links for The Rock

Certainly looks a lot neater to me! On top of that, branded links can have a potential increment in click-throughs of upward to 39%, with an added sense of trust and security. This is because of the user's brand beingness on their links. With Rebrandly, they can also change the destination URL of whatsoever of these links at whatever stage – perfect for irresolute the destination of links on several videos at once.

Links on YouTube videos – Cards and Finish Screen

In the early days of YouTube, 'Annotations' were the primary method of linking from within a YouTube video itself. These were originally ugly text boxes with included the long URL popping up on screen, interrupting the video.

links on youtube
– Old annotation links, via Cybergenica

Since then, YouTube has moved on and developed 2 less intrusive means to link from videos – Cards and End Screens. With Cards, a unproblematic circle featuring an exclamation point appears in the top correct-hand corner of your video, with teaser text if yous wish, alerting the viewer to a link. Once tapped, a list of thumbnails and links pops up on the correct-paw side of the screen. Cards can be useful for: linking to other videos, a relevant website, or merchandise store.

links on youtube
– YouTube Card example, via CD Baby Weblog

End Screen elements work in a similar fashion, altho they remain on the screen itself. These links appear in the final xx seconds of a YouTube video, giving the user an option to click on similar videos, subscribe, or exist sent to a website of the user's choosing. Almost creators will specifically create an finish screen template for the end of their video to fit these links – the raw video simply has a blank space for the 'tiles' to exist added.

links on youtube
– Terminate Screen template, via YouTube

Both Cards and End Screens are incredibly useful tools for growing a user'due south channel. Linking videos together and linking to preferred landing pages creates a seamless user feel for the viewer – they tin can be kept watching your content for longer and directed to your website to convert.

However, information technology's of import to remember that linking to an external website is only available to channels that are signed upwardly for the YouTube Partner program and accept their chosen website connected with to their account. Unfortunately, information technology'south not possible to link a multifariousness of different sites from your videos – YouTube likes to keep a business firm grip on where you're sending their viewers!

links on youtube

In that location are plenty of ways to use links on YouTube – yous just need to be sure you're playing by YouTube'southward rules when you practise then. While the video-sharing platform can be an incredible tool for marketers and businesses akin, you must ever pay attention to where and how you're placing your links.

At Rebrandly, nosotros'd recommend e'er using branded links on YouTube – everywhere except the Cards & Terminate Screens, as they have to be dedicated YouTube or linked-website URLs.

Whether you're commenting on a partner's video, filling out your descriptions or almost pages, branded links are the manner to go. They look neater and more than professional person; Rebrandly.Video/Subscribe. They give a sense of consistency while promoting brand sensation – Rebrandly.Alive/Highlights, Rebrandly.Blog/Read-More. Because yous can always change the destination URL of any branded link you lot identify on YouTube, yous tin can ensure your links never go out of engagement.

Are you using YouTube to market your business organization? Comment below with a link to your channel, let us know how you discover information technology!

Further Reading:

  • How to increment conversions with video marketing
  • How to Edit and Make your Instagram Bio Link (Video)
  • Linking on Instagram: How to Link in Instagram Stories
  • Linking to live video: Facebook Live tips for marketers

This Article is Near:

  • Using links on youtube
  • YouTube linking
  • Video marketing
  • branded links for youtube

Originally Posted: fourth of Dec 2018
Last Updated: 3rd of March 2021