In part 6 of our YouTube Setup Guide we taught you how to set up an advanced option called an associated website, one of the most valuable features YouTube has for video marketing. today and next week we’ll teach you how to use this feature with YouTube Annotations to increase traffic to your website and views of your videos.

What Are YouTube Annotations?

YouTube annotations are text, spotlights, and links added directly onto a video after it has been uploaded to YouTube. Annotations make your YouTube videos interactive, giving additional information and engaging viewers by suggesting actions.

How to Create YouTube Annotations.

You create annotations through the Video Manager by clicking edit on a video, then clicking the annotations tab.

There are five types of annotations that you can create for your video:

1. Speech Bubble - Creates speech bubbles with text and a link that you can put anywhere on the video (think VH1's pop up videos)

2. Spotlight - lets you highlight an area of the video, and when the viewer moves the mouse over the highlighted area, text will appear. It can also include a link, so viewers can click on the highlighted area.

3. Note - Similar to a Speech Bubble except it’s just a square transparent box over the video, it lets you create pop up boxes containing text and a link.

4. Title - Creates text overlay on your video, best for use at the beginning and/or end for title and credits. For a more professional video, have your video production company add titles to the video instead of using this annotation.

5. Label - Similar to a spotlight, except a little less subtle. The text shows automatically, and it can include a link.

Font size, color, and background color can all be changed on annotations, and they can take up as much as 30% of the size of the video. You can choose when the annotation starts to display on the video, and when it ends.

What to Consider When Using Annotations

The biggest benefit of annotations for businesses using YouTube is that they can add clickable links directly on to a video. However, the text annotations themselves do not look very professional, and you are better off having your video production company create them in post production in a style that fits with your video and brand. Then, you can add a link through the Spotlight or Label YouTube annotations once it is uploaded.

Another important thing to consider when using annotations is that they do not show up for viewers on mobile devices, tablets, or TV’s. So, having your video production company add text annotations in post production will make sure that these viewers can see them as well.

Next week we’ll show you how to add a link, what links you’re allowed to add, and how to strategically use the annotations feature to drive website traffic, leads, and sales.