Let's imagine that your content works for the audience with varying success – some videos get tens of thousands of views or more, while others remain in the shadows. One of the simplest ways to fix the problem – to boost the total viewing time of your channel and increase conversion rates – is using end screens for this. Below, we will tell you in more detail how to get the most out of them.

Why Your YouTube End Screen Is More Than Just an Outro

Generally speaking, end screens were created to keep the viewer on your channel longer, as they allow you to offer them clickable windows with your old videos on a similar topic. It works just like any other CTA format – you provide your audience with a clear and understandable next step, and they simply choose to follow it or not. If you do it right, it will help your channel appear more and more often in your audience's recommendations.

How to Design End Screens That Actually Convert

Let's take a closer look at what exactly you can present to viewers as clickable elements when you add an end screen to a YouTube video:

  • Thematic playlists;
  • Specific videos (in addition to those with a similar topic, these can also be the most popular or the most recent videos);
  • The “Subscribe” button.

What to Include in a High-Impact End Screen

Now that we have figured out what clickable elements can be on your end screen on YouTube, let's move on to how they should look.

Recommend Relevant Videos and Playlists

YouTube end screens, as we have already indicated above, can stimulate your viewers to watch your other channel content. However, their capabilities do not end there. For example, here, you can also place links to your other social networks, your website, and even third-party online stores and other commercial platforms – the main thing is that any of these links look organic and match the topic of your video.

Make the Subscribe Button Impossible to Miss

Don’t forget about a separate button with an invitation to subscribe – it should also be present on the YouTube end screen. You have to place it in a visible location, also, it should be large and expressive enough so that your viewers do not miss it. And yes, make sure that its design matches the overall style of your channel.

Use End Screens to Drive External Traffic

You should not post links to videos that are not related to the topic of your video for which you are creating an end screen. Instead, it should be either another episode of the series or other content that should definitely arouse the interest of the viewer who decided to watch this video by entering a specific query in the search bar.

Best practices to optimize YouTube end screens

We would like to dedicate this paragraph to the best practices for creating and optimizing a YouTube video end screen.

Add Clear and Action-Oriented CTAs

Start with a strong call to action. It should be short, unambiguous, and contain a verb. It’s also worth choosing a bold font for this message (or the one you regularly use when designing your channel). And yes, it’s possible to create an animated end screen on YouTube as well, when the call to action appears a couple of seconds – this way, you’ll make it even more noticeable and attractive.

Time Your End Screen Placement for Maximum Effect

YouTube limits viewing the end screen to 5-20 seconds, so everything you're going to show on it should fit into that time frame (the main thing is to make sure none of the clickable elements overlap each other – that’s why you have to consider YouTube end screen dimensions 16:9, too). Also, the transition to the end screen from the main content should be smooth and logical.

Use End Screens to Boost Your Channel’s Watch Time

To maximize the likelihood that a user will open a new video from the end screen, be sure to include at least one video with the most views (even if it is not relevant to the topic of the main content). You can find more information about how to increase the watch time on your YouTube channel here.

Track, Test, and Improve Using YouTube Analytics

Another thing we never tire of recommending is regular monitoring of your personal YouTube Analytics. In particular, in the context of end screens, you have to evaluate such parameters as CTR, video viewing time to the end, as well as video closing points. All these will help you understand whether your viewers are leaving your channel too early.

Conclusion

Now you know what a huge benefit a properly designed end screen on YouTube can bring and how to make that “correct” design. If you need more useful information about optimizing your YouTube channel, feel free to read other articles from our blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add an end screen to a YouTube video?

To do this, follow the steps below:

  • Log in to YouTube Studio and select the “Content” tab in the left menu;
  • Open the video for which you want to create a YouTube end screen;
  • Select “Editor” in the left menu;
  • Click “End screen” and decide what exactly you want to edit – it can be a YouTube ending screen template (all of its elements can be customized), a video, a playlist, a subscription (here, you can add a CTA to motivate viewers to subscribe to your channel, for example), a channel (to create custom messages), and a link (if you participate in the YouTube Partner Program, you can insert a link to an external website here).

What is the best time to show end screens?

To place an ending screen for YouTube, you have the last 5-20 seconds of a video.