How to edit YouTube videos for beginners

So you’re looking to learn how to edit YouTube videos and become a pro in the YouTube video editing game? You’re on the right page.

Videos play a vital role in increasing brand awareness, boosting product understanding, and driving website traffic. In a recent study, 92% of marketers said video helps them increase ROI for their business.

And to create a successful YouTube video marketing strategy, it’s important to understand how to edit videos like a pro.

A poorly edited YouTube video can weaken your footage, leaving your audience disengaged and uninterested in your content. But here's the thing - editing is one of the toughest parts of the video process according to 29% of video marketers.

But fret not. In this step by step guide, you’ll discover simple video editing tips for beginners. So if you want to turn your raw video footage into good-quality YouTube videos, keep reading.

Contents:

1. Choose a good video editing software
2. Watch YouTube editing tutorials for beginners
3. Incorporate storytelling into your video editing process
4. Incorporate engaging elements in your videos
5. Organise your video clips
6. Create an eye-catching thumbnail
7. Keep your video simple
8. Leverage colour-correction
9. Leverage jump cuts
10. Be careful when using transitions
11. Break your video editing process into phases
12. Beginners Youtube Editing FAQs
13. Conclusion

1. Choose a good video editing software 

One of the most important decisions you have to make to edit YouTube videos like a professional is to choose the right video editing software. 

With so many video editing software solutions out there, choosing a suitable solution can be challenging.

While a basic, free video editor can do the job, it won’t give you the required features to edit your videos efficiently.

Furthermore, choosing an overly complicated video editing platform can make learning the whole video editing process a long and exhausting one.

Fortunately, there are some easy-to-use video editing software available. Animoto, Movavi Video Editor, and Canva available in the market that help marketers to edit YouTube videos effectively.

These YouTube video editors offer easy-to-use features and are suitable for beginners. Attrock has also curated a list of the best video makers that help create high-quality videos.

2. Watch YouTube editing tutorials for beginners

What’s a better way to learn how to edit YouTube videos than from the experts?

The internet is awash with tutorials like the one below that can guide you through the process of editing your Youtube videos.

You can also find online blogs, educational websites like Skillshare, and other resources that offer useful tutorials for every aspect of editing videos. 

And the good thing is that most of these tutorials are free, so you can watch as many as you want to learn the ropes of video editing.

3. Incorporate storytelling into your editing process

A recent Statista survey shows that people spent an average of 17 hours per week watching online video content in 2023.

But you know what?

This doesn’t mean people are watching just any YouTube video out there. With the huge amounts of videos uploaded on YouTube daily, people have tons of video options to watch.

So, how do you stand out?

It doesn't matter whether you're creating animated or faceless Youtube videos, one of the best ways to hook viewers and keep them watching your YouTube videos is to incorporate storytelling.

Storytelling in video production is beneficial in many ways including:

• Allows you to connect with your audience on an emotional level
• Helps you engage with your audience and keep them interested in watching your videos
• Effective video storytelling can be your key differentiator 
• Can help improve conversion rates

It’s also one of the best video editing techniques if you want to add your videos to a video monetisation platform as it helps you to create a connection with your viewers and keep them watching your content for longer.

Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, has mastered this art. Instead of focusing on how to sell on Shopify, they created a fun and inspirational video that shows how it feels to make your first sale by selling on the platform.

To achieve effective video storytelling, you need to plan your story before the shooting and editing process to make your video more consistent and engaging.

4. Incorporate engaging elements in your videos

When you edit YouTube videos, you need to keep their engagement in mind as well. Your videos should resonate with your audience and hook them. 

This is especially important if you plan to use them for your influencer marketing or ecommerce strategy where engagement is key.

While using storytelling is a great idea, it isn’t enough to make your videos engaging. You need to incorporate other engaging elements like shapes, fun transitions, images, music, and more to win your audience over.

Semrush, for example, understands that data analytics is a complex subject to understand, so they created an animated video with Lego bricks as a visual metaphor to educate users about their Traffic Analytics API tool.

5. Organise your video clips

This sounds like a no-brainer but to effectively edit YouTube videos, you need to organise your footage before you start editing it. This will enable you to have a proper structure for all your footage ready. It’s especially important since a complete YouTube video can comprise of many short clips.

Spend some time sorting and labelling your clips. Organising your video clips makes it easier to import them into your video editing software’s timeline.

To organise your footage properly, have separate folders for video, photos, music, and other elements you intend to add to your Youtube video.

Organising your footage this way will make it easier to find anything you want to add to your video during the editing process.

6. Create an eye-catching thumbnail

There are millions of YouTube videos out there on different topics. How can you make your videos stand out from the crowd and get more clicks and views?

You guessed right—by creating click-worthy thumbnails.

Whether you’re vlogging on YouTube or want to create an educational video on a topic you’re knowledgeable about, you have to create stunning thumbnails.

Thumbnails are the first thing people will see before they decide whether to click and watch your videos or pass.

Video thumbnails are even more crucial than your video titles because of the following reasons.

• A stunning YouTube thumbnail increases click-through rates
• It also gets into image search results on Google
• Thumbnails cover a lot more space on a search page than the titles

Ultimately, viewers click on thumbnails that are not only relevant but also stand out from the rest.

Depending on your videos, your thumbnails could include a logo, relevant copy, human face, etc.

Here are tips to make click-worthy YouTube thumbnails.

• Leverage negative space
• Get your dimensions right
• Use consistent layout throughout your videos
• Show what your video is all about
• Ensure your text is visible
• Utilise contrasting colours

7. Keep your video simple

Learning how to edit YouTube videos as a beginner can become more difficult if you add too many elements in an attempt to make your videos more attractive.

Of course, the idea behind editing YouTube videos is that the final product looks professional and worth watching. However, you want to keep it simple to avoid overwhelming your viewers.

For instance, adding music, images, and other background elements makes your videos engaging, but you shouldn’t overdo it.

Make sure you balance the elements well to make a cohesive video that’s not only engaging but entertaining. 

Popular animated creator GingerPale's video 'How to YouTube' is a great example of this. The text, background music and voiceover are fun but not over the top so the video can still convey a clear message.

8. Leverage colour-correction

While adding crisp audio and catchy elements makes your YouTube videos look great, colour correction helps to set the mood and tone for them and makes the shots even more engaging for your viewers.

Colour-correcting your raw footage makes it look more professional and polished. Most importantly, it helps maintain consistency throughout the video.

Here, you need to leverage filters. You can create your own or find filters you can use in your clips.

The good thing about leveraging preset filters is that they automatically take effect so you don’t need to keep adding them to your footage.

A word of caution: ensure your colour correction doesn’t blur your footage.

Pro tip: To capture outstanding video clips, you need a good camera setup. And here’s the thing—some cameras come with filters as well so you can shoot with those on the lens. This film camera buying guide can help you choose the best camera set up for your video recording.

9. Leverage jump cuts

Even though people prefer to watch video content than read text, no one would be happy to watch a video that drags on forever. Using jump cuts during editing can help avoid this mistake.

Jump cutting is helpful to convert long or boring video clips into snappy and engaging ones. Ideally, this involves taking out a part of the footage and joining the rest to create consistent and seamless footage.

It’s a helpful YouTube video editing technique for condensing longer video clips and removing unnecessary pauses or transitions.

However, it’s important to avoid adding so many that your story becomes difficult to follow, because you will lose your audience in the confusion.

Here are some handy use cases of jump cuts during video editing.

• To create smooth transitions
• To create a tense scene
• To change the pace of a scene
• To break up long footage
• To compress time
• To highlight important information

10. Be careful when using transitions

Transitions are a powerful tool to edit YouTube videos with because they help to move the viewer along the story, convey a tone, and prepare them for the next scene.

You can use transitions for all videos including those you want to upload on YouTube alternative platforms as well as other social media platforms.

The most popular transitions include:

• Fade in and out
• Zoom
• Whip pan
• Hand over lens
• Glitch
• Evaporation 

Here is a good example of a video that uses the evaporation transition:

Note that even though transitions can help to beautify your videos, too many of them can hurt the flow of your story. Also, shaking things up by using different transitions all the time can also spoil the viewing experience.

Your transitions should enhance the flow of your story and not distract from it.

Here are video transition tips you can use:

• Keep them simple and maintain consistency
• Use them sparingly 
• Understand what each transition means before using it in your video

11. Break your video editing process into phases

To edit YouTube videos effectively, you need to divide the process into two sessions.

The first session will include a rough cut. Here, you don’t need to pay attention to details. Your focus is to remove inappropriate clips and create an outline for your story.

Put it in another way, your first session should include structuring your clips and cutting out unwanted shots. It’s your first draft.

During the second editing session, you need to focus on polishing your video content and tightening loose ends. Here, you need to focus on the nitty-gritty of video editing including editing audio, adding filters, frames, and other important elements. 

Beginners Youtube Editing FAQs

Are there any free video editing tools for beginners?
Yes, some popular free editing options include DaVinci Resolve, Shotcut, iMovie (Mac), and CapCut (mobile and desktop).

What file formats are compatible with most video editing software?
Common video formats include MP4, MOV, and AVI, but check your software’s documentation to confirm its compatibility.

How do I make my Youtube video look more professional as a beginner?
It's important to only use clips with good video lighting and steady shots. Having clear audio is also key, so utilise noise reduction tools in your editing software to reduce any background noise. Editing with consistent branding (colours, fonts) will also give your channel a more professional appearance.

How can I create custom thumbnails for YouTube videos?
Canva is a great option as a beginner-friendly design tool. Ensure your thumbnails are 1280x720 pixels with a clear title and eye-catching visuals.

How do I optimise my Youtube video for fast uploads?
Smaller file sizes upload to Youtube faster, and you can compress your video file without losing quality using online tools like Media.io.

Conclusion

We understand that video editing for beginners can be daunting. However, if you follow the tips shared above, you can reduce the time and effort required to create professional Youtube videos significantly.

The idea is to read, practise what you learn, and continue learning new video editing techniques to create engaging video content.

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