Overcoming the Challenge of Hidden YouTube Shorts Thumbnails

Video thumbnails are important since they encourage people to click and watch the video. But what if your set YouTube Shorts thumbnail is not showing? YouTube will use a random part of the video as the thumbnail. It may be an unflattering or uninteresting shot. Then, your Shorts video is doomed.

That said, it is a problem you want to solve. Here are 7 FAQs about YouTube Shorts thumbnails. They may help you with fixing this issue.

Q1. Can I Customize YouTube Shorts Thumbnails?

Yes, you can. YouTube did allow short-form video creators to upload custom thumbnails for their Shorts. However, they aren’t that optimized. For instance, some people may not see them on the Shorts shelf. Also, if you share a link to the video somewhere else, the old video thumbnail may show instead of the new one.

Adding a custom thumbnail for YouTube Shorts is the same as adding one for long-form videos on the platform. Follow these steps:

• Open the YouTube mobile app. Click the “Plus” icon at the bottom center > “Create Short.” Upload, edit, and post your video.

• Get to your desktop computer or laptop. Open your channel’s YouTube Studio.

• On the left navigation menu, click “Content.”

• Click the “pencil” icon next to the Shorts you just uploaded. This video should be at the top of the list.
• Navigate to the Thumbnail section. Click “Create Thumbnail.”

Q2. Why Are YouTube Shorts Thumbnails Not Showing?

It’s not you who’s the only one with Shorts thumbnails not showing. Many short-form content creators on the platform are also facing this issue. A YouTuber took to Reddit to complain about how he uploaded custom thumbnails for all his videos. The thumbnails are correct in the editor. However, YouTube still displays a random frame as the thumbnail on the Shorts shelf.

“They ALL have randomly selected different parts of each video I have uploaded & somehow generated a new/unknown thumbnail that was neither what I uploaded as the custom option nor 1 of the 3 that YouTube auto populated.”

YouTuber on Reddit

The reason behind this is the difference in the thumbnail size. Regular YouTube video thumbnails are in the ratio of 16:9. Meanwhile, Shorts uses a ratio of 9:16. The thing is that YouTube does not yet allow you to upload 9:16 thumbnails. Thus, the thumbnail for Shorts may show correctly on the video section but not on the Shorts shelf.

Q3. How to Fix YouTube Shorts Thumbnail Problem?

Unfortunately, there is no reliable fix to this problem yet. YouTubers have tried different things in hopes that YouTube will display the correct thumbnail for their Shorts.

Some YouTubers have tried using different images. Others have experimented with changing the aspect ratio of the thumbnail or using Adobe editor for ratios. Clearing histories and cache, using different browsers, resizing, and changing the images’ resolution have also been done. Sadly, these are all failed attempts.

Q4. How To Boost Views When I Have no Control Over YouTube Shorts Thumbnails?

Attracting viewers on Shorts is the same as attracting viewers on the main YouTube. You use interesting thumbnails and video titles. Since thumbnails are out of the options, selecting great video titles has become even more important.

Here are some pointers. Your title should be at most 40 characters. Also, it should be concise and irresistible. And forget about SEO since no one is searching for YouTube Shorts anyway. People consume what they see in their feeds. So instead, the title should be “snappy.” It should intrigue, entertain, or enlighten the viewers. That will net you some views for your Shorts content.

Q5. How To Get More Views on YouTube Shorts?

Forgoing the intro is the way to go. An intro will just prolong the video when people are in Shorts to find bite-sized videos. So jump right into the video content. You can also start the video with a still frame instead. Using hashtags, captions, and text effects are also recommended. And interacting with your audience through comments and pinned comments will keep them coming back to your Shorts channel.

Of course, ensuring that the video quality is high is key to getting more views. For that, you need a good video editor. You can try Wondershare Filmora , a powerful and easy-to-use video editor.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

The best thing is that you don’t need to transfer the video from your phone to your computer and back. Wondershare Filmora is available on mobile. And it’s one of the best tools for enhancing a short-form video.

Short-form video watchers love filters, transitions, and effects. And Filmora gives you access to all of that. It provides you with fun and amazing filters, effects, transitions, and stamps that can add a wow factor to your short-form video.

Q6. Do YouTube Shorts Make Money?

Making money from YouTube Shorts was challenging. The platform pays content creators who are doing well through the Creator Fund. However, as Shorts grew, the payout became smaller.

Luckily, that’s going to change. Starting this year, Shorts will be a part of the YouTube Partner Program. This means that you can make money from the ads that people watch on Shorts. According to YouTube, creators will keep 45% of the revenue. It will be distributed based on your share of total Shorts views.

YouTube also adjusted the requirements to qualify for the YPP. They made it easier for Shorts content creators to get into the program.

Q7. How Do You Make YouTube Shorts Play Normal?

You can watch Shorts like normal YouTube videos where you can rewind when you want to. Follow these steps.

On a Desktop Computer

• Open a Shorts video on YouTube.

• Pause the video.

• Click “Library” on the left panel.

• Select the Shorts you just watched. It should be on the top and first on the list.

On a Mobile Phone

• Open the YouTube app. Watch a Shorts video.

• Like the Shorts video.

• Tap “Library”

• Scroll down to find “Liked Videos.” Click on it.

• Select the Shorts video you just watched. It should be at the top of the list.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, custom thumbnails not showing on Shorts does not have a fix yet. So to attract viewers, you must leverage the things in your control. You must title your videos in a way that will make users click the video. Also, adding effects and filters on the video using an editor like Wondershare Filmora can help.

Users can subscribe to Shorts channels. And if they see that your videos are well-edited and high-quality, they’ll be more likely to do so. Once they are subscribed, they will see and watch your videos more often.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

The best thing is that you don’t need to transfer the video from your phone to your computer and back. Wondershare Filmora is available on mobile. And it’s one of the best tools for enhancing a short-form video.

Short-form video watchers love filters, transitions, and effects. And Filmora gives you access to all of that. It provides you with fun and amazing filters, effects, transitions, and stamps that can add a wow factor to your short-form video.

Q6. Do YouTube Shorts Make Money?

Making money from YouTube Shorts was challenging. The platform pays content creators who are doing well through the Creator Fund. However, as Shorts grew, the payout became smaller.

Luckily, that’s going to change. Starting this year, Shorts will be a part of the YouTube Partner Program. This means that you can make money from the ads that people watch on Shorts. According to YouTube, creators will keep 45% of the revenue. It will be distributed based on your share of total Shorts views.

YouTube also adjusted the requirements to qualify for the YPP. They made it easier for Shorts content creators to get into the program.

Q7. How Do You Make YouTube Shorts Play Normal?

You can watch Shorts like normal YouTube videos where you can rewind when you want to. Follow these steps.

On a Desktop Computer

• Open a Shorts video on YouTube.

• Pause the video.

• Click “Library” on the left panel.

• Select the Shorts you just watched. It should be on the top and first on the list.

On a Mobile Phone

• Open the YouTube app. Watch a Shorts video.

• Like the Shorts video.

• Tap “Library”

• Scroll down to find “Liked Videos.” Click on it.

• Select the Shorts video you just watched. It should be at the top of the list.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, custom thumbnails not showing on Shorts does not have a fix yet. So to attract viewers, you must leverage the things in your control. You must title your videos in a way that will make users click the video. Also, adding effects and filters on the video using an editor like Wondershare Filmora can help.

Users can subscribe to Shorts channels. And if they see that your videos are well-edited and high-quality, they’ll be more likely to do so. Once they are subscribed, they will see and watch your videos more often.

Youtube Mastery: Spotting Unique Audience Groups

How to Find A Niche Market on YouTube

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

What is a Niche?

A niche is what makes your channel unique.

When you are finding a niche for your YouTube channel, you are looking for a subset of a genre, subject, or topic to make videos about.

A niche can be broad like a channel about traveling.

Or more focused such as a channel only about traveling for food.

Then it can be hyper-focused such as a channel only about traveling for street food.

When people talk about “niching down,” they mean getting more focused on an area of a broader topic.

Best YouTube Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is the tool that you require at this moment if you are a YouTuber who wants to create engaging videos and earn some money, with endless features and effects, it would make your videos go viral as the engagement rate tends to increase with better quality. You can fine-tune and add music to your videos with Filmora and every single tab on Wondershare Filmora is equipped with great video editing tools such as video cutter, fine tuner, stabilize video, etc that you can make use of. Filmora is the best tool for YouTubers around the globe as it has helped a lot of new as well as professionals YouTubers in scaling their channels.

Why Do You Need a Niche on YouTube?

1. Discoverability

Having a niche differentiates your channel from all the other ones on YouTube. There is no denying the crowded space on the video platform. Every minute, 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube . If you were simply copying other YouTubers, it will be challenging to grow, as your content will be in the shadows of all the other ones.

2. Consistency

By having a consistent niche, your channel will be more coherent for those who discovered your awesome content and wants more related videos. If you don’t have a clear focus on your YouTube channel, it will be confusing for your potential fans.

For example, if you created a great video about painting, but your channel also contains videos with you playing video games, doing movie commentaries, and cooking recipes, then the viewer who discovered your painting video wouldn’t subscribe to you because she has no interest in the other topics your channel covers.

3. Credibility

In a specialized niche, you can own it and become an expert on the topic. Increasing your credibility will allow you to build trust much faster with your audience and therefore, grow at a much faster rate.

Finding Your Niche on YouTube

What Is Your Objective On YouTube?

Do you want to make money? Do you want to fuel a passion? Do you want to educate the masses?

Your intentions on YouTube can be a numbers game: you want to get views, subscribers, and make money.

Or perhaps your intentions on YouTube can be to make content for a specific audience so that you can build a community.

Moreover, you might be using YouTube as the platform to showcase your personal brand and develop a reputation that you can bring to the real world.

Once you have a clear objective for what you want to achieve on YouTube, then you can consider the tactical direction to take your channel in: finding a niche and creating content for it.

What is Your Passion?

Building a YouTube channel is a grind and if you are not passionate about the topics you are covering in your niche, you may not have the motivation needed to churn out videos day after day, week after week.

Answering what you are passionate about isn’t enough to form your niche around, but it is definitely a critical part. Start by finding your passion.

Think of the things that you can do for hours without getting bored. Think of the hobbies you have where you put in hours and hours to improve. Think about all the research you’ve done on a given topic for no other reason than satisfying your own curiosity. These can all help you understand what you are most passionate about.

Knowing your passion opens an avenue for you to travel down in discovering your niche. But the journey isn’t over yet… there are few more questions to ask:

What Are Your Expertises?

Over the course of your life, you have gained experiences and skills — and you might not even know it. Stop for a moment and take inventory of everything that you feel you know better than the average person.

While the term “expert” is subjective, consider this, what can you pick up and do without a guide or a manual, or what can you tell me without Googling or researching?

If you can sit at a piano and start playing beautiful music, you have expertise in it. If you can tell me off the top of your head what train and bus to take to get across town, you are an expert in your city. Your expertise is what you confidently know.

What Do People Know You For?

If you are having trouble finding your expertise, ask those who are close to you: What am I best known for?

If your friends tell you that you are known for being athletic, then that might be an area to explore. If your classmates tell you that you are always punctual, you might be an expert in time management.

Sometimes it takes someone else to tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Once you’ve recognized what you are an expert on, you can expand on it.

Ask yourself these questions about your expertise:

- Can I teach people what I know?

- Will I want to learn more about this topic?

- Does this knowledge solve problems or improve life?

Once answered, you are that much closer to identifying your niche. But there is still another major question:

What Are Your Audience’s Wants and Needs?

If you are passionate about and an expert on a topic, but the topic is not interesting or useful to anyone then you are going to have a tough time getting views on YouTube.

When it comes down to it, your content needs to do at least 1 of 3 things, but if you strive to have all 3, you’ll have the recipe for a successful video:

- Educate

- Entertain

- Inspire

Educate Your Audience

Your audience wants to learn how to solve a problem or answer a question. If your content can teach, it will be valuable because it has real-world applications. (example: How-tos, product reviews, etc.)

Entertain Your Audience

Your audience wants to be entertained. Remember, when a viewer is watching your content, they are choosing it over all the books, movies, and music in the world. You have their attention, so don’t be boring. (example: Daily vlogs, commentary, etc.)

Inspire Your Audience

Your audience might be looking for a community to support them as they attempt a new goal. YouTube is a great platform to encourage others to do their best and achieve more. (example: 30-day challenges, motivational talks, etc.)

Don’t pick a niche simply because of general interest in a topic. If your niche comes to you in a flash and you go: “That’s a good idea,” before you set up your YouTube channel and commit to this video project, sit down, do some research, write out a script, and actually film the initial video. Go through the process and know what you are getting into.

Once you have a niche, it’s all about coming up with ideas for your video. If you want to become an idea machine, read this blog: How to Come Up With Better YouTube Video Ideas

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

What is a Niche?

A niche is what makes your channel unique.

When you are finding a niche for your YouTube channel, you are looking for a subset of a genre, subject, or topic to make videos about.

A niche can be broad like a channel about traveling.

Or more focused such as a channel only about traveling for food.

Then it can be hyper-focused such as a channel only about traveling for street food.

When people talk about “niching down,” they mean getting more focused on an area of a broader topic.

Best YouTube Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is the tool that you require at this moment if you are a YouTuber who wants to create engaging videos and earn some money, with endless features and effects, it would make your videos go viral as the engagement rate tends to increase with better quality. You can fine-tune and add music to your videos with Filmora and every single tab on Wondershare Filmora is equipped with great video editing tools such as video cutter, fine tuner, stabilize video, etc that you can make use of. Filmora is the best tool for YouTubers around the globe as it has helped a lot of new as well as professionals YouTubers in scaling their channels.

Why Do You Need a Niche on YouTube?

1. Discoverability

Having a niche differentiates your channel from all the other ones on YouTube. There is no denying the crowded space on the video platform. Every minute, 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube . If you were simply copying other YouTubers, it will be challenging to grow, as your content will be in the shadows of all the other ones.

2. Consistency

By having a consistent niche, your channel will be more coherent for those who discovered your awesome content and wants more related videos. If you don’t have a clear focus on your YouTube channel, it will be confusing for your potential fans.

For example, if you created a great video about painting, but your channel also contains videos with you playing video games, doing movie commentaries, and cooking recipes, then the viewer who discovered your painting video wouldn’t subscribe to you because she has no interest in the other topics your channel covers.

3. Credibility

In a specialized niche, you can own it and become an expert on the topic. Increasing your credibility will allow you to build trust much faster with your audience and therefore, grow at a much faster rate.

Finding Your Niche on YouTube

What Is Your Objective On YouTube?

Do you want to make money? Do you want to fuel a passion? Do you want to educate the masses?

Your intentions on YouTube can be a numbers game: you want to get views, subscribers, and make money.

Or perhaps your intentions on YouTube can be to make content for a specific audience so that you can build a community.

Moreover, you might be using YouTube as the platform to showcase your personal brand and develop a reputation that you can bring to the real world.

Once you have a clear objective for what you want to achieve on YouTube, then you can consider the tactical direction to take your channel in: finding a niche and creating content for it.

What is Your Passion?

Building a YouTube channel is a grind and if you are not passionate about the topics you are covering in your niche, you may not have the motivation needed to churn out videos day after day, week after week.

Answering what you are passionate about isn’t enough to form your niche around, but it is definitely a critical part. Start by finding your passion.

Think of the things that you can do for hours without getting bored. Think of the hobbies you have where you put in hours and hours to improve. Think about all the research you’ve done on a given topic for no other reason than satisfying your own curiosity. These can all help you understand what you are most passionate about.

Knowing your passion opens an avenue for you to travel down in discovering your niche. But the journey isn’t over yet… there are few more questions to ask:

What Are Your Expertises?

Over the course of your life, you have gained experiences and skills — and you might not even know it. Stop for a moment and take inventory of everything that you feel you know better than the average person.

While the term “expert” is subjective, consider this, what can you pick up and do without a guide or a manual, or what can you tell me without Googling or researching?

If you can sit at a piano and start playing beautiful music, you have expertise in it. If you can tell me off the top of your head what train and bus to take to get across town, you are an expert in your city. Your expertise is what you confidently know.

What Do People Know You For?

If you are having trouble finding your expertise, ask those who are close to you: What am I best known for?

If your friends tell you that you are known for being athletic, then that might be an area to explore. If your classmates tell you that you are always punctual, you might be an expert in time management.

Sometimes it takes someone else to tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Once you’ve recognized what you are an expert on, you can expand on it.

Ask yourself these questions about your expertise:

- Can I teach people what I know?

- Will I want to learn more about this topic?

- Does this knowledge solve problems or improve life?

Once answered, you are that much closer to identifying your niche. But there is still another major question:

What Are Your Audience’s Wants and Needs?

If you are passionate about and an expert on a topic, but the topic is not interesting or useful to anyone then you are going to have a tough time getting views on YouTube.

When it comes down to it, your content needs to do at least 1 of 3 things, but if you strive to have all 3, you’ll have the recipe for a successful video:

- Educate

- Entertain

- Inspire

Educate Your Audience

Your audience wants to learn how to solve a problem or answer a question. If your content can teach, it will be valuable because it has real-world applications. (example: How-tos, product reviews, etc.)

Entertain Your Audience

Your audience wants to be entertained. Remember, when a viewer is watching your content, they are choosing it over all the books, movies, and music in the world. You have their attention, so don’t be boring. (example: Daily vlogs, commentary, etc.)

Inspire Your Audience

Your audience might be looking for a community to support them as they attempt a new goal. YouTube is a great platform to encourage others to do their best and achieve more. (example: 30-day challenges, motivational talks, etc.)

Don’t pick a niche simply because of general interest in a topic. If your niche comes to you in a flash and you go: “That’s a good idea,” before you set up your YouTube channel and commit to this video project, sit down, do some research, write out a script, and actually film the initial video. Go through the process and know what you are getting into.

Once you have a niche, it’s all about coming up with ideas for your video. If you want to become an idea machine, read this blog: How to Come Up With Better YouTube Video Ideas

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

What is a Niche?

A niche is what makes your channel unique.

When you are finding a niche for your YouTube channel, you are looking for a subset of a genre, subject, or topic to make videos about.

A niche can be broad like a channel about traveling.

Or more focused such as a channel only about traveling for food.

Then it can be hyper-focused such as a channel only about traveling for street food.

When people talk about “niching down,” they mean getting more focused on an area of a broader topic.

Best YouTube Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is the tool that you require at this moment if you are a YouTuber who wants to create engaging videos and earn some money, with endless features and effects, it would make your videos go viral as the engagement rate tends to increase with better quality. You can fine-tune and add music to your videos with Filmora and every single tab on Wondershare Filmora is equipped with great video editing tools such as video cutter, fine tuner, stabilize video, etc that you can make use of. Filmora is the best tool for YouTubers around the globe as it has helped a lot of new as well as professionals YouTubers in scaling their channels.

Why Do You Need a Niche on YouTube?

1. Discoverability

Having a niche differentiates your channel from all the other ones on YouTube. There is no denying the crowded space on the video platform. Every minute, 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube . If you were simply copying other YouTubers, it will be challenging to grow, as your content will be in the shadows of all the other ones.

2. Consistency

By having a consistent niche, your channel will be more coherent for those who discovered your awesome content and wants more related videos. If you don’t have a clear focus on your YouTube channel, it will be confusing for your potential fans.

For example, if you created a great video about painting, but your channel also contains videos with you playing video games, doing movie commentaries, and cooking recipes, then the viewer who discovered your painting video wouldn’t subscribe to you because she has no interest in the other topics your channel covers.

3. Credibility

In a specialized niche, you can own it and become an expert on the topic. Increasing your credibility will allow you to build trust much faster with your audience and therefore, grow at a much faster rate.

Finding Your Niche on YouTube

What Is Your Objective On YouTube?

Do you want to make money? Do you want to fuel a passion? Do you want to educate the masses?

Your intentions on YouTube can be a numbers game: you want to get views, subscribers, and make money.

Or perhaps your intentions on YouTube can be to make content for a specific audience so that you can build a community.

Moreover, you might be using YouTube as the platform to showcase your personal brand and develop a reputation that you can bring to the real world.

Once you have a clear objective for what you want to achieve on YouTube, then you can consider the tactical direction to take your channel in: finding a niche and creating content for it.

What is Your Passion?

Building a YouTube channel is a grind and if you are not passionate about the topics you are covering in your niche, you may not have the motivation needed to churn out videos day after day, week after week.

Answering what you are passionate about isn’t enough to form your niche around, but it is definitely a critical part. Start by finding your passion.

Think of the things that you can do for hours without getting bored. Think of the hobbies you have where you put in hours and hours to improve. Think about all the research you’ve done on a given topic for no other reason than satisfying your own curiosity. These can all help you understand what you are most passionate about.

Knowing your passion opens an avenue for you to travel down in discovering your niche. But the journey isn’t over yet… there are few more questions to ask:

What Are Your Expertises?

Over the course of your life, you have gained experiences and skills — and you might not even know it. Stop for a moment and take inventory of everything that you feel you know better than the average person.

While the term “expert” is subjective, consider this, what can you pick up and do without a guide or a manual, or what can you tell me without Googling or researching?

If you can sit at a piano and start playing beautiful music, you have expertise in it. If you can tell me off the top of your head what train and bus to take to get across town, you are an expert in your city. Your expertise is what you confidently know.

What Do People Know You For?

If you are having trouble finding your expertise, ask those who are close to you: What am I best known for?

If your friends tell you that you are known for being athletic, then that might be an area to explore. If your classmates tell you that you are always punctual, you might be an expert in time management.

Sometimes it takes someone else to tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Once you’ve recognized what you are an expert on, you can expand on it.

Ask yourself these questions about your expertise:

- Can I teach people what I know?

- Will I want to learn more about this topic?

- Does this knowledge solve problems or improve life?

Once answered, you are that much closer to identifying your niche. But there is still another major question:

What Are Your Audience’s Wants and Needs?

If you are passionate about and an expert on a topic, but the topic is not interesting or useful to anyone then you are going to have a tough time getting views on YouTube.

When it comes down to it, your content needs to do at least 1 of 3 things, but if you strive to have all 3, you’ll have the recipe for a successful video:

- Educate

- Entertain

- Inspire

Educate Your Audience

Your audience wants to learn how to solve a problem or answer a question. If your content can teach, it will be valuable because it has real-world applications. (example: How-tos, product reviews, etc.)

Entertain Your Audience

Your audience wants to be entertained. Remember, when a viewer is watching your content, they are choosing it over all the books, movies, and music in the world. You have their attention, so don’t be boring. (example: Daily vlogs, commentary, etc.)

Inspire Your Audience

Your audience might be looking for a community to support them as they attempt a new goal. YouTube is a great platform to encourage others to do their best and achieve more. (example: 30-day challenges, motivational talks, etc.)

Don’t pick a niche simply because of general interest in a topic. If your niche comes to you in a flash and you go: “That’s a good idea,” before you set up your YouTube channel and commit to this video project, sit down, do some research, write out a script, and actually film the initial video. Go through the process and know what you are getting into.

Once you have a niche, it’s all about coming up with ideas for your video. If you want to become an idea machine, read this blog: How to Come Up With Better YouTube Video Ideas

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

What is a Niche?

A niche is what makes your channel unique.

When you are finding a niche for your YouTube channel, you are looking for a subset of a genre, subject, or topic to make videos about.

A niche can be broad like a channel about traveling.

Or more focused such as a channel only about traveling for food.

Then it can be hyper-focused such as a channel only about traveling for street food.

When people talk about “niching down,” they mean getting more focused on an area of a broader topic.

Best YouTube Video Editor - Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is the tool that you require at this moment if you are a YouTuber who wants to create engaging videos and earn some money, with endless features and effects, it would make your videos go viral as the engagement rate tends to increase with better quality. You can fine-tune and add music to your videos with Filmora and every single tab on Wondershare Filmora is equipped with great video editing tools such as video cutter, fine tuner, stabilize video, etc that you can make use of. Filmora is the best tool for YouTubers around the globe as it has helped a lot of new as well as professionals YouTubers in scaling their channels.

Why Do You Need a Niche on YouTube?

1. Discoverability

Having a niche differentiates your channel from all the other ones on YouTube. There is no denying the crowded space on the video platform. Every minute, 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube . If you were simply copying other YouTubers, it will be challenging to grow, as your content will be in the shadows of all the other ones.

2. Consistency

By having a consistent niche, your channel will be more coherent for those who discovered your awesome content and wants more related videos. If you don’t have a clear focus on your YouTube channel, it will be confusing for your potential fans.

For example, if you created a great video about painting, but your channel also contains videos with you playing video games, doing movie commentaries, and cooking recipes, then the viewer who discovered your painting video wouldn’t subscribe to you because she has no interest in the other topics your channel covers.

3. Credibility

In a specialized niche, you can own it and become an expert on the topic. Increasing your credibility will allow you to build trust much faster with your audience and therefore, grow at a much faster rate.

Finding Your Niche on YouTube

What Is Your Objective On YouTube?

Do you want to make money? Do you want to fuel a passion? Do you want to educate the masses?

Your intentions on YouTube can be a numbers game: you want to get views, subscribers, and make money.

Or perhaps your intentions on YouTube can be to make content for a specific audience so that you can build a community.

Moreover, you might be using YouTube as the platform to showcase your personal brand and develop a reputation that you can bring to the real world.

Once you have a clear objective for what you want to achieve on YouTube, then you can consider the tactical direction to take your channel in: finding a niche and creating content for it.

What is Your Passion?

Building a YouTube channel is a grind and if you are not passionate about the topics you are covering in your niche, you may not have the motivation needed to churn out videos day after day, week after week.

Answering what you are passionate about isn’t enough to form your niche around, but it is definitely a critical part. Start by finding your passion.

Think of the things that you can do for hours without getting bored. Think of the hobbies you have where you put in hours and hours to improve. Think about all the research you’ve done on a given topic for no other reason than satisfying your own curiosity. These can all help you understand what you are most passionate about.

Knowing your passion opens an avenue for you to travel down in discovering your niche. But the journey isn’t over yet… there are few more questions to ask:

What Are Your Expertises?

Over the course of your life, you have gained experiences and skills — and you might not even know it. Stop for a moment and take inventory of everything that you feel you know better than the average person.

While the term “expert” is subjective, consider this, what can you pick up and do without a guide or a manual, or what can you tell me without Googling or researching?

If you can sit at a piano and start playing beautiful music, you have expertise in it. If you can tell me off the top of your head what train and bus to take to get across town, you are an expert in your city. Your expertise is what you confidently know.

What Do People Know You For?

If you are having trouble finding your expertise, ask those who are close to you: What am I best known for?

If your friends tell you that you are known for being athletic, then that might be an area to explore. If your classmates tell you that you are always punctual, you might be an expert in time management.

Sometimes it takes someone else to tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Once you’ve recognized what you are an expert on, you can expand on it.

Ask yourself these questions about your expertise:

- Can I teach people what I know?

- Will I want to learn more about this topic?

- Does this knowledge solve problems or improve life?

Once answered, you are that much closer to identifying your niche. But there is still another major question:

What Are Your Audience’s Wants and Needs?

If you are passionate about and an expert on a topic, but the topic is not interesting or useful to anyone then you are going to have a tough time getting views on YouTube.

When it comes down to it, your content needs to do at least 1 of 3 things, but if you strive to have all 3, you’ll have the recipe for a successful video:

- Educate

- Entertain

- Inspire

Educate Your Audience

Your audience wants to learn how to solve a problem or answer a question. If your content can teach, it will be valuable because it has real-world applications. (example: How-tos, product reviews, etc.)

Entertain Your Audience

Your audience wants to be entertained. Remember, when a viewer is watching your content, they are choosing it over all the books, movies, and music in the world. You have their attention, so don’t be boring. (example: Daily vlogs, commentary, etc.)

Inspire Your Audience

Your audience might be looking for a community to support them as they attempt a new goal. YouTube is a great platform to encourage others to do their best and achieve more. (example: 30-day challenges, motivational talks, etc.)

Don’t pick a niche simply because of general interest in a topic. If your niche comes to you in a flash and you go: “That’s a good idea,” before you set up your YouTube channel and commit to this video project, sit down, do some research, write out a script, and actually film the initial video. Go through the process and know what you are getting into.

Once you have a niche, it’s all about coming up with ideas for your video. If you want to become an idea machine, read this blog: How to Come Up With Better YouTube Video Ideas

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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