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#1 What is a YouTube end screen?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A YouTube end screen<\/a> is essentially an overlay that sits on top of your video as it comes to its conclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically, end screens will appear over the last few seconds of the video (usually between 10 – 20 seconds) and will have a clear call to action<\/a> (or several).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s an example of one in action:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see that in Nick Nimmin’s outro for this video<\/a> he recommends that viewers click on the thumbnail for the ‘YouTubers Tools’ video – which is very relevant to the content of the video the viewer just watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a great way to get viewers to continue watching more of his videos, which will improve his session time. This is an important ranking factor on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could simply end your videos by saying thank you and goodbye, however, if you do that you’re missing a big opportunity to engage that viewer further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone has stuck around until the end of your video they were obviously engaged and enjoyed your video content. So why not take advantage of that fact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outros<\/a> are critical mainly because they give you an opportunity to give your viewers a call to action (CTA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, you can direct engaged viewers towards doing something that you want them to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People do respond to reminders and instructions, a great example of this is from a case study by Real Men Real Style<\/a> who saw a 70% drop in engagement on videos with no CTA. End screens are a non-intrusive way to ‘tell’ viewers what to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What CTA you use depends on your video content and your goals. Here are the most widely used CTAs in YouTube video end screens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you saw in the Nick Nimmin example, you can direct viewers to more of your YouTube videos in your outro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This can be an individual video or a related playlist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This increases viewer session time on YouTube which will help your videos rank better on YouTube<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s another example from HeyDomink (notice he’s pointing to the related video to reinforce the CTA):<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can also help viewers get to know you more, enjoy more of your content, and ultimately this can play a huge part in encouraging them to subscribe to your channel and to become regular viewers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone has watched all of your video, they’re clearly enjoying your content so it’s the perfect opportunity to encourage them to subscribe to your channel so they don’t miss out on your content in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ask the viewer to subscribe in your outro and then add the subscribe CTA in your end screen to make it easy for them to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s an example of how that looks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another commonly used CTA in end screens is the external link CTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re on the YouTube partner program<\/a> you can link out to external websites (as long as they don’t breach YouTube’s guidelines<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you have a Merch store, a website, or a landing page that you want to drive visitors to, your end screen could be the perfect spot for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s a good example from Primal Video. You can see they have a CTA that goes to a webpage where you can download their free YouTube ranking guide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not a bad lead generation tactic: <\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll cover the steps to create your end screen below, but first here are the essential components on a YouTube end screen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever you decide to focus on with your end screen CTA, it needs to be related to the video content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn’t really apply to a ‘subscribe CTA’ as this can be used on all of your videos but if you’re encouraging viewers to click on other videos or playlists, or click through to a landing page then it has to make sense contextually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If not, you’re unlikely to get a good amount of viewers to do whatever it is you want them to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple example is from Josh Ryan’s end screen below where he links to very related videos to the topic of the original video: <\/p>\n\n\n\n End screens can’t go longer than 20 seconds but you need to make a judgment call on what the right amount of time between 5 – 20 seconds is for your end screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For longer videos, you can easily have a 20-second outro but if your video is short an outro\/end screen of that length might be a bit odd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In YouTube Analytics<\/a>, you can see data on the top videos by end screen, top-performing end screen element types, and also end screen element CTR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This data can inform on what end screens are working and help you understand what length (as well as other features) work best for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also only put your end screen at the very end of the video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your YouTube outro, like your video, should have a 1920px x 1080px resolution (16:9), and the end screen elements should be as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If most viewers have the option to sit through or not sit through 20 seconds of silence, odds are they\u2019ll choose the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could optimize the end screen elements and visual design, but if you don\u2019t account for the listening experience, you probably won\u2019t see the engagement rates, click-through rates, and subscriber growth that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple solution to this problem is to use background music<\/a> from the YouTube Audio Library or a royalty-free music company<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can have up to four elements in your end screen at once, but sometimes too many choices can lead viewers to feel overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pick the elements that make the most sense for a given video, and don’t overdo it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Very rarely does it make sense to include all four possible elements in an end screen but it’s important to test and see what works best for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see below that YouTuber James Charles has a lot going on in their end screens with a video CTA, website link, and subscribe CTA – as well as social media icons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re just starting out we’d recommend having two CTAs in your end screens but as time goes on you should continue to test and optimize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep the color palette and styling consistent across all elements of your videos. From the thumbnails, intro, content, and outro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With this consistency over time, you can build an effective and memorable brand, and your end screen plays a part in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see that Primal Video’s intro has their brand colors, font, and typical layout:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And their outro and end screen have the same consistent look and feel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re just starting out then you’re unlikely to know what the best approach is for your end screens and video outros. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A good tactic here is to research your competition and see what they’re doing with their end screens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a good place to start, and over time you can develop your own style and work out what’s best for your videos and channel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are plenty of tools you can use (here are some of the best<\/a>) to create your end screens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some other useful tools you can use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fastreel Video Editor<\/a> is an online video maker that makes it incredibly easy to make videos, all within your browser. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They have a good range of templates you can utilize, including outros, so all you have to do is upload your files, add your text, and choose the music (if needed). <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to make more detailed changes to the videos Fastreel allows for this too. You can easily cut, crop, rotate, compress, and much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced video editor, Fastreel’s straightforward and user-friendly interface and broad functionality will make it easy for you to create videos and outros. <\/p>\n\n\n\n InVideo<\/a> is another browser-based tool that allows you to create videos from scratch, as well as create specific video elements including end screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They have a solid range of end screens and ‘thanks for watching’ outro templates<\/a> that you can use to quickly and easily create your own end screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All templates on the platform are fully customizable, so you can change all the various details to get a look that will match your brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate video creator InVideo is certainly worth checking out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re on a tight budget, there are some incredible free options when it comes to creating end screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the best free tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re looking for the quickest and easiest way to create a YouTube end screen, we recommend using Placeit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All you have to do is choose an end screen template from their library, they have over 240<\/a>, customize it your brand, and download it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole process takes a few minutes – you quickly change the elements of your end screens including placements, colors, fonts, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guys from Primal Video have created a great video walking you through the process, as well as showing you how to add it to your video on YouTube:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/nick-nimmin-end-screen.jpg\")
#2 Why are end screens important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Related videos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/HeyDominik-end-screen.jpg\")
Increase subscribers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/chris-williamson-end-screen.jpg\")
Drive traffic to a website<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/primal-video-link-cta.jpg\")
#3 End Screen Essentials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It needs to be relevant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Josh-Ryan-end-screen.jpg\")
It’s not too long or short<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It’s the right size and format<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mk0designhubco91nmqm.kinstacdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/end-screen-dimensions-1024x576.png\")
It has the right background audio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It doesn’t look overcrowded<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/James-Charles-end-screen.jpg\")
It is on brand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/primal-video-intro.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/primal-video-outro.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt’s been researched<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#4 Tools to create YouTube end screens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fastreel Video Editor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mk0designhubco91nmqm.kinstacdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/fastreel-1024x479.jpg\")
InVideo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Beauty-InVideo.gif\")
Free Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/canva-outro-maker.jpg\")
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#5 How to easily make a YouTube end screen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designhub.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/placeit-end-screens.jpg\")