Hopefully, by now you are advancing your social media game with video, specifically YouTube Shorts. Heck, we’ve been talking about them for a while now. For those who need a quick refresher, YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s solution to short-form video (60-seconds or less).  They are the place to find trends, connect with your audience in an authentic and fun way and you can do it all from a smartphone. They may be called “Shorts” but they are giant on social media right now!

There are two YouTube apps available for phone and tablets which help creators edit and manage their videos. There is the original YouTube app which has the video creator studio where you can edit, upload and manage video, and then there is the YouTube Studio app which is separate from the main YouTube. Studio is an additional app you can install on your smartphone to manage your content and view analytics. We are going to talk about both in this article. Let’s get started with video editing on the original YouTube app.

Editing Shorts with YouTube Studio

There are many video editing apps available, but we are going to look at the many advantages of editing videos directly in the platform with YouTube studio vs using another service. The main advantage of doing it all with YouTube is you don’t need to toggle from apps and devices to pull content; everything you need is right there, literally in your hand. What is more, it’s free to use!

To access YouTube Studio in YouTube on a computer, sign in, click your photo ico in the top right corner and then select “YouTube Studio.” There is so much you can do here, but we are just focusing on the video editing. Click “Create” which is how you will upload a video.  If you are doing this on your phone, in the YouTube app, click the “+” icon at the bottom. Since many people use their smartphone to record and upload Shorts, we are going to walk through how to edit in the app. For details on the video editing features available for videos on a desktop, visit YouTube.

It’s really so easy to record, edit and publish engaging quality video that gets you noticed on social media with just your phone! You can record and edit a Short directly using the YouTube app or upload a previously recorded 60-second or less video and edit it as a Short in the YouTube app. Once you have the video content, you may want to make some edits in the app to enhance the video before publishing. Here are some of the tools available.

Some of the editing features available for Shorts include the ability to add text on the video, control the speed of the video, record a voiceover, insert copyright-friendly video, apply filters and more. Another fun feature to play with in the studio is piecing different clips together to make a short.

Managing Shorts with YouTube Studio

There is another official YouTube app that can be downloaded on a mobile device. When using the separate YouTube Studio app, you can manage video content that has already been uploaded. This is not a tool for editing, rather a tool for managing and measuring existing YouTube content. There are some editing capabilities regarding your video detail information, but you cannot make video-enhancing edits here. This additional app is also helpful for  playlists organization and comment moderation. It is your home for managing, and even monetizing, your YouTube content.

Once your Shorts are edited, don’t forget to ensure you’ve taken all the possible actions to increase the visibility of your video before uploading. You can get the 101 on YouTube’s algorithm and learn how to work with it in this PLANOLY article.

Similar to YouTube, TikTok also has a native, free video editing tool for users. In October last year, TikTok increased the editing capabilities such as editing clips, sound and speed to name a few. It’s safe to assume that as the social media landscape and trends continue to evolve, so will the platforms and their editing capabilities. Be sure to follow PLANOLY so you stay in-the-know when it comes to social media information.