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"[New] Rank Higher on YouTube Essential SEO Tips Unveiled"
Rank Higher on YouTube: Essential SEO Tips Unveiled
Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora
An easy and powerful video editor
Numerous video and audio effects to choose from
Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel
More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.
Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.
In this article
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
How Does YouTube SEO Work?
YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.
Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.
Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.
Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.
1. Conduct Keyword Research First
When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.
For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.
2. Use a Good Video Title
The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.
3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website
Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.
4. Add Tags To The Video Description
When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.
When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.
5. Edit The Filename
The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.
6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.
7. Select Video Category
When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.
8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail
Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.
Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.
Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.
9. Make High-Quality Longer
Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.
Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora
Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!
Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora
An easy and powerful video editor
Numerous video and audio effects to choose from
Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel
10. Focus on User Engagement
Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.
Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.
11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards
YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.
Conclusion
Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!
More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.
Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.
In this article
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
How Does YouTube SEO Work?
YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.
Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.
Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.
Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.
1. Conduct Keyword Research First
When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.
For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.
2. Use a Good Video Title
The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.
3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website
Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.
4. Add Tags To The Video Description
When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.
When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.
5. Edit The Filename
The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.
6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.
7. Select Video Category
When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.
8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail
Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.
Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.
Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.
9. Make High-Quality Longer
Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.
Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora
Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!
Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora
An easy and powerful video editor
Numerous video and audio effects to choose from
Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel
10. Focus on User Engagement
Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.
Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.
11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards
YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.
Conclusion
Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!
More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.
Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.
In this article
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
How Does YouTube SEO Work?
YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.
Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.
Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.
Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.
1. Conduct Keyword Research First
When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.
For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.
2. Use a Good Video Title
The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.
3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website
Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.
4. Add Tags To The Video Description
When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.
When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.
5. Edit The Filename
The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.
6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.
7. Select Video Category
When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.
8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail
Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.
Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.
Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.
9. Make High-Quality Longer
Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.
Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora
Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!
Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora
An easy and powerful video editor
Numerous video and audio effects to choose from
Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel
10. Focus on User Engagement
Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.
Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.
11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards
YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.
Conclusion
Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!
More than 85% of businesses use YouTube videos as a marketing tool. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, with users uploading over 500 hours of video content every minute. Because video SEO is constantly evolving, you need to stay current on optimization best practices to rank higher on search results.
Luckily, this article offers YouTube SEO tips to help you create a solid strategy that will help you rank your videos.
In this article
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
How Does YouTube SEO Work?
YouTube SEO is an excellent way to ensure your videos get more views. The main goal of YouTube SEO is to rank high for specific keywords in search engines. As such, it is crucial to know how YouTube SEO works if you want to boost the ranking of your videos.
Whether you are a blogger, market researcher, or video marketer, you need YouTube SEO to generate traffic to your videos. YouTube SEO involves optimizing your videos, channel, descriptions, metadata, and playlists. You can optimize videos for search within and outside YouTube.
Because search engine bots can’t watch YouTube videos, they depend on accompanying text data when indexing them. So you must also know how to harness the power of text in your video, which can positively impact SEO, viewership, engagement, and user experience.
Watch Video: YouTube SEO Tips 2022: Boost Your Video Ranking
11 Useful YouTube SEO Tips to Help Boost Your Video Ranking
Want to drive more traffic and increase your video views? Here are eleven YouTube SEO tips that will help you to boost your video ranking.
1. Conduct Keyword Research First
When it comes to YouTube SEO, keywords are crucial. YouTube uses these keywords to determine the subject of your video, index the content, and then associate it with what users are searching for. As such, you must add them to certain fields, including description, tags, and title, when you are uploading the video file. YouTube will then get this information and use it to rank your video.
For this reason, you have to know the keywords that best identify your videos and have the potential to attract viewers to your channel.
2. Use a Good Video Title
The title of your video is the first thing other people see, and it’s what decides whether or not they watch it. Given how important it is, you’ll want to make sure that your title accurately reflects the content of your video and includes all relevant keywords.
3. Link Your Videos Directly to Your Website
Each time you publish a new video, make sure you embed it on your website or blog. Not only will this encourage viewers to stay on your website instead of leaving immediately, but it will also make it easier for search engines crawlers to index your website.
4. Add Tags To The Video Description
When you upload your video, remember to add tags to the “About” section of the page. You can do this by adding some relevant keywords with each tag like you would with blog posts.
When planning your strategy for YouTube keywords, you need to find 10-20 single keyword tags you want to rank for; keep in mind that this platform limits the number of tags users can include in a video. So you should first add the most relevant keyword phrases then include specific multi-word tags that will easily rank on top of search results.
5. Edit The Filename
The filename of your video, or the “video URL,” can also affect its rankings. Including keywords in this section will help the crawlers index your video faster, which will increase its chances of ranking higher.
6. Add Subtitles and Closed Captions
Adding subtitles and closed captions to your videos is also a good idea, especially if you want the video’s ranking and viewership to improve. Subtitles make it easier for new viewers to understand your videos, especially if your audience comes from different linguistic backgrounds.
7. Select Video Category
When uploading a video, be sure to select the most appropriate category for it. Essentially, this helps with SEO optimization because choosing the right category means that YouTube’s algorithm will place your video in the proper search results. In turn, viewers will easily find your video and watch it.
8. Use a Compelling Thumbnail
Make sure you use the right YouTube video thumbnail image , as this makes a big difference in the click-through rate. You might want to use high-quality, high-contrast images with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube will choose which frame it will display as the video thumbnail. The platform will present three screenshots that you can choose from; however, you can upload your image or select a shot of another moment in the video.
Remember that YouTube overlays the duration of the video in the corner of your thumbnail. So make sure it does not obstruct any relevant details in your thumbnail. Google also uses image recognition to filter out specific imagery, including the YouTube logo.
Ideally, you need an image that is a perfect visual representation of the keywords you are targeting. In turn, this is going to take your presence in relevant search results even further.
9. Make High-Quality Longer
Videos that are less than 2 minutes long often rank low. The duration of most of the videos in the first five positions is usually 11 minutes 44 seconds. Therefore, you need to invest in longer videos that are around 10 minutes long. These videos meet the expectations of many users seeking complete and in-depth content. Additionally, you should create high-quality videos to ensure your viewers will keep watching.
Create High-Quality YouTube Video with Filmora
Wondershare’s Filmora program allows you to edit your video content with trim, transitions, and overlays. You can also add cool effects to your videos to make them more captivating. It also includes advanced editing features like Key Framing, Motion Tracking and more. Learn about Filmora now!
Improve Your YouTube Video Performance with Wondershare Filmora
An easy and powerful video editor
Numerous video and audio effects to choose from
Detailed tutorials provided by the official channel
10. Focus on User Engagement
Encourage your audience to like, comment, and share your videos. You should also respond to messages and comments. These engagement metrics strongly correlate with higher rankings.
Google cares about how people respond to your content because this is what keeps people on their platform.
11. Add End Screens and YouTube Cards
YouTube cards encourage viewers to take action during your video. The cards show up in the top right corner of your videos; users can click on and explore more. Using YouTube cards is an excellent way to boost your ranking. YouTube allows you to add a maximum of five cards to each video.
Conclusion
Using these YouTube SEO tips will ensure that your videos rank on top search results. That means more people will watch your videos and subscribe to your channel. Let’s start editing now!
9 Best Free and Easy Editing Apps You Should Know
9 Best Free and Easy Editing Apps You Should Know
Richard Bennett
Dec 14, 2023• Proven solutions
Have you ever made a video 100% on your phone using a mobile video editing app?
If you’ve just started off on YouTube, there’s a good chance your main camera is the one in your phone. Actually, there’s a good chance of that even if you’ve been making YouTube videos for a while now.
Since you’re shooting videos on your phone, why shouldn’t you edit them there too? Here are 9 free video editing apps you can use for YouTube.
Note: This is not a ranked list. The apps will appear in alphabetical order.
- Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS)
- Cameo (iOS)
- Clips (iOS)
- Filmora (Android or iOS)
- Funimate (Android or iOS)
- iMovie (iOS)
- Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS)
- PowerDirector (Android)
- Vlogit (Android or iOS)
Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Automatic using clips. Times them to music
- Guides you with pop-up tips
- No text/title overlays
- Exports directly to YouTube
Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade desktop editor, and Adobe Premiere Clip lives up to the quality standards set by its big-brother software. It is missing some features you might want for YouTube videos, like title effects, but it does have some bells and whistles. There’s a good selection of filters.
Making changes to your picture, like adjusting the exposure or the prevalence of highlights or shadows, is just a matter of sliding bars. The tools for splitting and duplicating clips are easy to find too. You just toggle between the two icons right above your video – the one that looks like a shutter and the one that looks like adjustment bars – to switch between the picture tools and the other tools.
You cannot add what you might normally think of as a title effect in Adobe Premiere Clip, so it’ll be hard to fully complete your video. You can add text cards to put in-between your video clips, but you can’t overlay the title on top of a clip.
You can share your video directly to YouTube when you export.
Cameo (iOS)
Key Points:
- Easy-to-apply themes
- Customizable titles
- Limited features
- Exports to 4K (if your clips are 4K)
Vimeo is a video sharing site with more of a ‘filmmaker’ focus than YouTube, so it isn’t a surprise that their mobile editing app Cameo can export high-quality 4K videos.
Like some of the other apps on this list, Cameo does not have a huge variety of functions. You can reorder your clips, trim them, add titles, and apply themes (essentially filter and title combos).
There are three icons on the main interface: Scissors, a Music Note, and Filters.
The Scissors will take you to the trimming screen, where you can make your clip shorter or longer.
You can also add a title in the trimming screen, but you will not be able to change the font style or color until you are in the Filter screen.
In the Filter screen (tap the overlapping filters icon on the main interface) you will be able to adjust the color of your text by tapping on the circle with the A in it. Tapping where it says ‘Font’ will change your font style.
You can also tap on Themes and choose a premade style.
Here’s what ‘Crush’ looks like applied:
My font was changed, and there’s also a filter now. In order to apply a filter, you must start with a theme.
Clips (iOS)
Key Points:
- Great selection of stickers
- Lacks some basic tools
- Simple interface
Clips is an intuitive app with a lot of options for decorating your videos. It is lacking in some of the more basic editings features you might expect (i.e. you cannot split clips or do any color correction), but it has a lot of fun features like stickers and emojis that could make up for that depending on your needs.
There are also more traditional effects, like filters and titles. There are a wide range of title options in styles that are popular on YouTube, and a fairly standard filter selection.
While you cannot split clips in this app, but trimming and reordering them is easy. For trimming, you just select the clip and then Trim to open a screen where you can drag the start and end points of the clip.
To rearrange your clips, just tap the clip you want to move and hold down. You’ll be able to drag it to a new location.
It’d be hard to rely on Clips exclusively as your YouTube video editor, but it’s well suited for Instagram or for making quick ‘on-the-go’ videos.
Filmora (Android or iOS)
Key Points:
- Export directly to YouTube
- 16:9 or 1:1 for Instagram
- Includes effects like transitions, filters, and overlays
- End-roll logo
You can make a complete video easily just by tapping and dragging in Filmora, and there are even effects like filters, transitions, and overlays you can add to make your video more polished.
After importing your media into Filmora (you can import videos and photos saved on your phone, or media which has been uploaded to a social media account like Facebook or Instagram) you can change the order of your clips by tapping one, pressing down for a moment, and then dragging your clips where you want them.
Trimming a clip is as simple as tapping on it and then Duration. You’ll get this screen where you can adjust the length easily by dragging the markers to beginning or endpoints.
Cropping and zooming are simple too.
Filmora comes with pre-made themes you can apply which include titles, filters, and other effects. These might not be ideal if you already have branding you like to use for YouTube, but in some situations, they can make video creation a lot faster.
Filmora comes loaded with music, or you can even import your own music from your phone.
Once you’re done, tap ‘save’ in the top right corner of your screen to export your video. From the save screen, you’ll be able to export your video directly to YouTube.
One potential drawback is that Filmora will add its own logo to the end of your exported video. This logo will not distract from your video content since it is added at the end and never overlaps any of your clips, but it still might not be ideal for all creators.
Funimate (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easily add text and shapes
- Rainbow doodling
- Shake effects
- Small ‘Funimate’ watermark in videos from the free version
Funimate is lives up to the ‘fun’ promise in its name. It’s designed mostly for music videos/Musical.ly and while it is missing a lot of more typical editing options, there are a few free tools in Funimate that other apps just don’t have.
For example, there are shake and distortion effects available through Funimate that you usually only find in desktop software.
You can also draw rainbow designs on your video with your finger – no other app on this list can do that.
The text tool in Funimate is easy to use, and there are cool looking glow effects you can apply in the color selection screen. Those options are also available when you’re adding shapes, likes stars and sparkles.
Funimate is not built for typical editing, which is both its strength and its weakness. Trimming your clips is its own stage which you must complete before you start adding effects, and you cannot split clips or add multiple clips.
The free version of Funimate does add a small watermark to your videos in the bottom-right corner, but it is subtle enough that I almost missed it completely while reviewing the app.
iMovie (iOS)
Key Points:
- Trailer templates
- Themes
- Limited tools and resources
iMovie’s mobile app is designed for ease and includes things like ‘trailer templates’ and themes that allow you to make a video quickly and with minimal effort.
This streamlined app is limited in its features. Other apps on this list have left out color correction tools or clip splitting tools and instead loaded up on decorative features like stickers, emojis, and overlays. iMovie has left out these tools and does not have an abundance of decorative features either.
There are filters, themes, and titles, however.
The titles are simple but polished, and you’ll find all the standard types of filters.
The themes include a variety of graphics and are applied to your entire video, not individual clips. You can also apply one filter to your entire video.
iMovie also includes a decent selection of transitions, which you can apply easily by tapping the area between two clips.
Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Good title tool
- Stickers
- Change clip duration
- 16:9 or 1:1
Movie Maker Filmmaker (the app will be labeled ‘Alive’ in on your phone) has a lot of features that will help you put together a fun YouTube video. There’s a great selection of stickers, filters, and overlays and they’re all easy to apply. You just click on what you want and resize/reposition it in the player.
This app is missing a lot of basic editing features, however. You cannot adjust things like brightness or saturation. This won’t be a problem if you’re happy with your clips as-is, but it’s a bit odd to not have those options.
There is a text tool and while it is fairly basic, it is also flexible. There is a good selection of fonts to choose from, and you can also choose whether or not you want a colored background, and if your text should have a shadow.
Once you’ve decided on the look of your text you can drag it, resize it, and tilt it however you want in the preview screen.
A slightly odd feature of this app is that it doesn’t save your video to your phone or export it directly to YouTube. Instead, it saves it – and shares it – within the app and gives you the option of sharing it with YouTube after.
Power Director (Android)
Key Points:
- A timeline like desktop software
- All the basic editing features
- Lots of transitions
- Videos from the free version will be watermarked
The first thing you’ll notice when you open up Power Director is that the interface looks a lot like the interface of a lot of desktop editors with a very classic timeline. This familiarity could make it easy to jump into if you’re used to editing on your laptop.
However, Power Director is a bit less intuitive than most of the other apps on this list. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s difficult to use – it isn’t, it’s much easier than a lot of desktop software – but among mobile apps designed for streamlined efficiency it does stand out as being a bit harder to dive into.
That is partly because there’s a lot you can do with it. It has the tools you would expect in an editor. You can split and trim clips, and you have all the standard color tools including some that most mobile apps leave out.
A lot of apps have Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, but PowerDirector also has Color Temperature and Tint.
In addition to editing tools, PowerDirector has bells and whistles like filters –
- and a ton of great transitions.
One drawback of PowerDirector is that the free version will watermark your videos. This watermark is not intrusive, but it isn’t as subtle as the Funimate one either.
You can export videos from PowerDirector directly to YouTube.
Vlogit (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easy thumbnail maker
- Export directly to YouTube
- Animated stickers
Vlogit is also an app from the creators of the Filmora Video Editor. It isn’t quite as intuitive as Filmora, but the major benefit of Vlogit for YouTube creators is that it was designed with you in mind. It has features like animated stickers, emojis, and a thumbnail maker which were included specifically because YouTubers and vloggers need them.
All the usual adjustments you might want to make, like saturation or sharpness, are easy in Vlogit. So are adjustments to the length or crop of clips.
After you save your video you’ll have the option of creating a thumbnail using a screenshot from your video. You can add a colored border, text, emojis, and more!
Once you’re done, you can export directly to YouTube. Like Filmora, Vlogit does have a post-video logo roll.
Have you ever used a free mobile app to edit one of your YouTube videos? What did you use, and were you happy with the results?
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Dec 14, 2023• Proven solutions
Have you ever made a video 100% on your phone using a mobile video editing app?
If you’ve just started off on YouTube, there’s a good chance your main camera is the one in your phone. Actually, there’s a good chance of that even if you’ve been making YouTube videos for a while now.
Since you’re shooting videos on your phone, why shouldn’t you edit them there too? Here are 9 free video editing apps you can use for YouTube.
Note: This is not a ranked list. The apps will appear in alphabetical order.
- Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS)
- Cameo (iOS)
- Clips (iOS)
- Filmora (Android or iOS)
- Funimate (Android or iOS)
- iMovie (iOS)
- Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS)
- PowerDirector (Android)
- Vlogit (Android or iOS)
Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Automatic using clips. Times them to music
- Guides you with pop-up tips
- No text/title overlays
- Exports directly to YouTube
Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade desktop editor, and Adobe Premiere Clip lives up to the quality standards set by its big-brother software. It is missing some features you might want for YouTube videos, like title effects, but it does have some bells and whistles. There’s a good selection of filters.
Making changes to your picture, like adjusting the exposure or the prevalence of highlights or shadows, is just a matter of sliding bars. The tools for splitting and duplicating clips are easy to find too. You just toggle between the two icons right above your video – the one that looks like a shutter and the one that looks like adjustment bars – to switch between the picture tools and the other tools.
You cannot add what you might normally think of as a title effect in Adobe Premiere Clip, so it’ll be hard to fully complete your video. You can add text cards to put in-between your video clips, but you can’t overlay the title on top of a clip.
You can share your video directly to YouTube when you export.
Cameo (iOS)
Key Points:
- Easy-to-apply themes
- Customizable titles
- Limited features
- Exports to 4K (if your clips are 4K)
Vimeo is a video sharing site with more of a ‘filmmaker’ focus than YouTube, so it isn’t a surprise that their mobile editing app Cameo can export high-quality 4K videos.
Like some of the other apps on this list, Cameo does not have a huge variety of functions. You can reorder your clips, trim them, add titles, and apply themes (essentially filter and title combos).
There are three icons on the main interface: Scissors, a Music Note, and Filters.
The Scissors will take you to the trimming screen, where you can make your clip shorter or longer.
You can also add a title in the trimming screen, but you will not be able to change the font style or color until you are in the Filter screen.
In the Filter screen (tap the overlapping filters icon on the main interface) you will be able to adjust the color of your text by tapping on the circle with the A in it. Tapping where it says ‘Font’ will change your font style.
You can also tap on Themes and choose a premade style.
Here’s what ‘Crush’ looks like applied:
My font was changed, and there’s also a filter now. In order to apply a filter, you must start with a theme.
Clips (iOS)
Key Points:
- Great selection of stickers
- Lacks some basic tools
- Simple interface
Clips is an intuitive app with a lot of options for decorating your videos. It is lacking in some of the more basic editings features you might expect (i.e. you cannot split clips or do any color correction), but it has a lot of fun features like stickers and emojis that could make up for that depending on your needs.
There are also more traditional effects, like filters and titles. There are a wide range of title options in styles that are popular on YouTube, and a fairly standard filter selection.
While you cannot split clips in this app, but trimming and reordering them is easy. For trimming, you just select the clip and then Trim to open a screen where you can drag the start and end points of the clip.
To rearrange your clips, just tap the clip you want to move and hold down. You’ll be able to drag it to a new location.
It’d be hard to rely on Clips exclusively as your YouTube video editor, but it’s well suited for Instagram or for making quick ‘on-the-go’ videos.
Filmora (Android or iOS)
Key Points:
- Export directly to YouTube
- 16:9 or 1:1 for Instagram
- Includes effects like transitions, filters, and overlays
- End-roll logo
You can make a complete video easily just by tapping and dragging in Filmora, and there are even effects like filters, transitions, and overlays you can add to make your video more polished.
After importing your media into Filmora (you can import videos and photos saved on your phone, or media which has been uploaded to a social media account like Facebook or Instagram) you can change the order of your clips by tapping one, pressing down for a moment, and then dragging your clips where you want them.
Trimming a clip is as simple as tapping on it and then Duration. You’ll get this screen where you can adjust the length easily by dragging the markers to beginning or endpoints.
Cropping and zooming are simple too.
Filmora comes with pre-made themes you can apply which include titles, filters, and other effects. These might not be ideal if you already have branding you like to use for YouTube, but in some situations, they can make video creation a lot faster.
Filmora comes loaded with music, or you can even import your own music from your phone.
Once you’re done, tap ‘save’ in the top right corner of your screen to export your video. From the save screen, you’ll be able to export your video directly to YouTube.
One potential drawback is that Filmora will add its own logo to the end of your exported video. This logo will not distract from your video content since it is added at the end and never overlaps any of your clips, but it still might not be ideal for all creators.
Funimate (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easily add text and shapes
- Rainbow doodling
- Shake effects
- Small ‘Funimate’ watermark in videos from the free version
Funimate is lives up to the ‘fun’ promise in its name. It’s designed mostly for music videos/Musical.ly and while it is missing a lot of more typical editing options, there are a few free tools in Funimate that other apps just don’t have.
For example, there are shake and distortion effects available through Funimate that you usually only find in desktop software.
You can also draw rainbow designs on your video with your finger – no other app on this list can do that.
The text tool in Funimate is easy to use, and there are cool looking glow effects you can apply in the color selection screen. Those options are also available when you’re adding shapes, likes stars and sparkles.
Funimate is not built for typical editing, which is both its strength and its weakness. Trimming your clips is its own stage which you must complete before you start adding effects, and you cannot split clips or add multiple clips.
The free version of Funimate does add a small watermark to your videos in the bottom-right corner, but it is subtle enough that I almost missed it completely while reviewing the app.
iMovie (iOS)
Key Points:
- Trailer templates
- Themes
- Limited tools and resources
iMovie’s mobile app is designed for ease and includes things like ‘trailer templates’ and themes that allow you to make a video quickly and with minimal effort.
This streamlined app is limited in its features. Other apps on this list have left out color correction tools or clip splitting tools and instead loaded up on decorative features like stickers, emojis, and overlays. iMovie has left out these tools and does not have an abundance of decorative features either.
There are filters, themes, and titles, however.
The titles are simple but polished, and you’ll find all the standard types of filters.
The themes include a variety of graphics and are applied to your entire video, not individual clips. You can also apply one filter to your entire video.
iMovie also includes a decent selection of transitions, which you can apply easily by tapping the area between two clips.
Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Good title tool
- Stickers
- Change clip duration
- 16:9 or 1:1
Movie Maker Filmmaker (the app will be labeled ‘Alive’ in on your phone) has a lot of features that will help you put together a fun YouTube video. There’s a great selection of stickers, filters, and overlays and they’re all easy to apply. You just click on what you want and resize/reposition it in the player.
This app is missing a lot of basic editing features, however. You cannot adjust things like brightness or saturation. This won’t be a problem if you’re happy with your clips as-is, but it’s a bit odd to not have those options.
There is a text tool and while it is fairly basic, it is also flexible. There is a good selection of fonts to choose from, and you can also choose whether or not you want a colored background, and if your text should have a shadow.
Once you’ve decided on the look of your text you can drag it, resize it, and tilt it however you want in the preview screen.
A slightly odd feature of this app is that it doesn’t save your video to your phone or export it directly to YouTube. Instead, it saves it – and shares it – within the app and gives you the option of sharing it with YouTube after.
Power Director (Android)
Key Points:
- A timeline like desktop software
- All the basic editing features
- Lots of transitions
- Videos from the free version will be watermarked
The first thing you’ll notice when you open up Power Director is that the interface looks a lot like the interface of a lot of desktop editors with a very classic timeline. This familiarity could make it easy to jump into if you’re used to editing on your laptop.
However, Power Director is a bit less intuitive than most of the other apps on this list. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s difficult to use – it isn’t, it’s much easier than a lot of desktop software – but among mobile apps designed for streamlined efficiency it does stand out as being a bit harder to dive into.
That is partly because there’s a lot you can do with it. It has the tools you would expect in an editor. You can split and trim clips, and you have all the standard color tools including some that most mobile apps leave out.
A lot of apps have Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, but PowerDirector also has Color Temperature and Tint.
In addition to editing tools, PowerDirector has bells and whistles like filters –
- and a ton of great transitions.
One drawback of PowerDirector is that the free version will watermark your videos. This watermark is not intrusive, but it isn’t as subtle as the Funimate one either.
You can export videos from PowerDirector directly to YouTube.
Vlogit (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easy thumbnail maker
- Export directly to YouTube
- Animated stickers
Vlogit is also an app from the creators of the Filmora Video Editor. It isn’t quite as intuitive as Filmora, but the major benefit of Vlogit for YouTube creators is that it was designed with you in mind. It has features like animated stickers, emojis, and a thumbnail maker which were included specifically because YouTubers and vloggers need them.
All the usual adjustments you might want to make, like saturation or sharpness, are easy in Vlogit. So are adjustments to the length or crop of clips.
After you save your video you’ll have the option of creating a thumbnail using a screenshot from your video. You can add a colored border, text, emojis, and more!
Once you’re done, you can export directly to YouTube. Like Filmora, Vlogit does have a post-video logo roll.
Have you ever used a free mobile app to edit one of your YouTube videos? What did you use, and were you happy with the results?
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Dec 14, 2023• Proven solutions
Have you ever made a video 100% on your phone using a mobile video editing app?
If you’ve just started off on YouTube, there’s a good chance your main camera is the one in your phone. Actually, there’s a good chance of that even if you’ve been making YouTube videos for a while now.
Since you’re shooting videos on your phone, why shouldn’t you edit them there too? Here are 9 free video editing apps you can use for YouTube.
Note: This is not a ranked list. The apps will appear in alphabetical order.
- Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS)
- Cameo (iOS)
- Clips (iOS)
- Filmora (Android or iOS)
- Funimate (Android or iOS)
- iMovie (iOS)
- Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS)
- PowerDirector (Android)
- Vlogit (Android or iOS)
Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Automatic using clips. Times them to music
- Guides you with pop-up tips
- No text/title overlays
- Exports directly to YouTube
Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade desktop editor, and Adobe Premiere Clip lives up to the quality standards set by its big-brother software. It is missing some features you might want for YouTube videos, like title effects, but it does have some bells and whistles. There’s a good selection of filters.
Making changes to your picture, like adjusting the exposure or the prevalence of highlights or shadows, is just a matter of sliding bars. The tools for splitting and duplicating clips are easy to find too. You just toggle between the two icons right above your video – the one that looks like a shutter and the one that looks like adjustment bars – to switch between the picture tools and the other tools.
You cannot add what you might normally think of as a title effect in Adobe Premiere Clip, so it’ll be hard to fully complete your video. You can add text cards to put in-between your video clips, but you can’t overlay the title on top of a clip.
You can share your video directly to YouTube when you export.
Cameo (iOS)
Key Points:
- Easy-to-apply themes
- Customizable titles
- Limited features
- Exports to 4K (if your clips are 4K)
Vimeo is a video sharing site with more of a ‘filmmaker’ focus than YouTube, so it isn’t a surprise that their mobile editing app Cameo can export high-quality 4K videos.
Like some of the other apps on this list, Cameo does not have a huge variety of functions. You can reorder your clips, trim them, add titles, and apply themes (essentially filter and title combos).
There are three icons on the main interface: Scissors, a Music Note, and Filters.
The Scissors will take you to the trimming screen, where you can make your clip shorter or longer.
You can also add a title in the trimming screen, but you will not be able to change the font style or color until you are in the Filter screen.
In the Filter screen (tap the overlapping filters icon on the main interface) you will be able to adjust the color of your text by tapping on the circle with the A in it. Tapping where it says ‘Font’ will change your font style.
You can also tap on Themes and choose a premade style.
Here’s what ‘Crush’ looks like applied:
My font was changed, and there’s also a filter now. In order to apply a filter, you must start with a theme.
Clips (iOS)
Key Points:
- Great selection of stickers
- Lacks some basic tools
- Simple interface
Clips is an intuitive app with a lot of options for decorating your videos. It is lacking in some of the more basic editings features you might expect (i.e. you cannot split clips or do any color correction), but it has a lot of fun features like stickers and emojis that could make up for that depending on your needs.
There are also more traditional effects, like filters and titles. There are a wide range of title options in styles that are popular on YouTube, and a fairly standard filter selection.
While you cannot split clips in this app, but trimming and reordering them is easy. For trimming, you just select the clip and then Trim to open a screen where you can drag the start and end points of the clip.
To rearrange your clips, just tap the clip you want to move and hold down. You’ll be able to drag it to a new location.
It’d be hard to rely on Clips exclusively as your YouTube video editor, but it’s well suited for Instagram or for making quick ‘on-the-go’ videos.
Filmora (Android or iOS)
Key Points:
- Export directly to YouTube
- 16:9 or 1:1 for Instagram
- Includes effects like transitions, filters, and overlays
- End-roll logo
You can make a complete video easily just by tapping and dragging in Filmora, and there are even effects like filters, transitions, and overlays you can add to make your video more polished.
After importing your media into Filmora (you can import videos and photos saved on your phone, or media which has been uploaded to a social media account like Facebook or Instagram) you can change the order of your clips by tapping one, pressing down for a moment, and then dragging your clips where you want them.
Trimming a clip is as simple as tapping on it and then Duration. You’ll get this screen where you can adjust the length easily by dragging the markers to beginning or endpoints.
Cropping and zooming are simple too.
Filmora comes with pre-made themes you can apply which include titles, filters, and other effects. These might not be ideal if you already have branding you like to use for YouTube, but in some situations, they can make video creation a lot faster.
Filmora comes loaded with music, or you can even import your own music from your phone.
Once you’re done, tap ‘save’ in the top right corner of your screen to export your video. From the save screen, you’ll be able to export your video directly to YouTube.
One potential drawback is that Filmora will add its own logo to the end of your exported video. This logo will not distract from your video content since it is added at the end and never overlaps any of your clips, but it still might not be ideal for all creators.
Funimate (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easily add text and shapes
- Rainbow doodling
- Shake effects
- Small ‘Funimate’ watermark in videos from the free version
Funimate is lives up to the ‘fun’ promise in its name. It’s designed mostly for music videos/Musical.ly and while it is missing a lot of more typical editing options, there are a few free tools in Funimate that other apps just don’t have.
For example, there are shake and distortion effects available through Funimate that you usually only find in desktop software.
You can also draw rainbow designs on your video with your finger – no other app on this list can do that.
The text tool in Funimate is easy to use, and there are cool looking glow effects you can apply in the color selection screen. Those options are also available when you’re adding shapes, likes stars and sparkles.
Funimate is not built for typical editing, which is both its strength and its weakness. Trimming your clips is its own stage which you must complete before you start adding effects, and you cannot split clips or add multiple clips.
The free version of Funimate does add a small watermark to your videos in the bottom-right corner, but it is subtle enough that I almost missed it completely while reviewing the app.
iMovie (iOS)
Key Points:
- Trailer templates
- Themes
- Limited tools and resources
iMovie’s mobile app is designed for ease and includes things like ‘trailer templates’ and themes that allow you to make a video quickly and with minimal effort.
This streamlined app is limited in its features. Other apps on this list have left out color correction tools or clip splitting tools and instead loaded up on decorative features like stickers, emojis, and overlays. iMovie has left out these tools and does not have an abundance of decorative features either.
There are filters, themes, and titles, however.
The titles are simple but polished, and you’ll find all the standard types of filters.
The themes include a variety of graphics and are applied to your entire video, not individual clips. You can also apply one filter to your entire video.
iMovie also includes a decent selection of transitions, which you can apply easily by tapping the area between two clips.
Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Good title tool
- Stickers
- Change clip duration
- 16:9 or 1:1
Movie Maker Filmmaker (the app will be labeled ‘Alive’ in on your phone) has a lot of features that will help you put together a fun YouTube video. There’s a great selection of stickers, filters, and overlays and they’re all easy to apply. You just click on what you want and resize/reposition it in the player.
This app is missing a lot of basic editing features, however. You cannot adjust things like brightness or saturation. This won’t be a problem if you’re happy with your clips as-is, but it’s a bit odd to not have those options.
There is a text tool and while it is fairly basic, it is also flexible. There is a good selection of fonts to choose from, and you can also choose whether or not you want a colored background, and if your text should have a shadow.
Once you’ve decided on the look of your text you can drag it, resize it, and tilt it however you want in the preview screen.
A slightly odd feature of this app is that it doesn’t save your video to your phone or export it directly to YouTube. Instead, it saves it – and shares it – within the app and gives you the option of sharing it with YouTube after.
Power Director (Android)
Key Points:
- A timeline like desktop software
- All the basic editing features
- Lots of transitions
- Videos from the free version will be watermarked
The first thing you’ll notice when you open up Power Director is that the interface looks a lot like the interface of a lot of desktop editors with a very classic timeline. This familiarity could make it easy to jump into if you’re used to editing on your laptop.
However, Power Director is a bit less intuitive than most of the other apps on this list. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s difficult to use – it isn’t, it’s much easier than a lot of desktop software – but among mobile apps designed for streamlined efficiency it does stand out as being a bit harder to dive into.
That is partly because there’s a lot you can do with it. It has the tools you would expect in an editor. You can split and trim clips, and you have all the standard color tools including some that most mobile apps leave out.
A lot of apps have Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, but PowerDirector also has Color Temperature and Tint.
In addition to editing tools, PowerDirector has bells and whistles like filters –
- and a ton of great transitions.
One drawback of PowerDirector is that the free version will watermark your videos. This watermark is not intrusive, but it isn’t as subtle as the Funimate one either.
You can export videos from PowerDirector directly to YouTube.
Vlogit (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easy thumbnail maker
- Export directly to YouTube
- Animated stickers
Vlogit is also an app from the creators of the Filmora Video Editor. It isn’t quite as intuitive as Filmora, but the major benefit of Vlogit for YouTube creators is that it was designed with you in mind. It has features like animated stickers, emojis, and a thumbnail maker which were included specifically because YouTubers and vloggers need them.
All the usual adjustments you might want to make, like saturation or sharpness, are easy in Vlogit. So are adjustments to the length or crop of clips.
After you save your video you’ll have the option of creating a thumbnail using a screenshot from your video. You can add a colored border, text, emojis, and more!
Once you’re done, you can export directly to YouTube. Like Filmora, Vlogit does have a post-video logo roll.
Have you ever used a free mobile app to edit one of your YouTube videos? What did you use, and were you happy with the results?
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Dec 14, 2023• Proven solutions
Have you ever made a video 100% on your phone using a mobile video editing app?
If you’ve just started off on YouTube, there’s a good chance your main camera is the one in your phone. Actually, there’s a good chance of that even if you’ve been making YouTube videos for a while now.
Since you’re shooting videos on your phone, why shouldn’t you edit them there too? Here are 9 free video editing apps you can use for YouTube.
Note: This is not a ranked list. The apps will appear in alphabetical order.
- Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS)
- Cameo (iOS)
- Clips (iOS)
- Filmora (Android or iOS)
- Funimate (Android or iOS)
- iMovie (iOS)
- Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS)
- PowerDirector (Android)
- Vlogit (Android or iOS)
Adobe Premiere Clip (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Automatic using clips. Times them to music
- Guides you with pop-up tips
- No text/title overlays
- Exports directly to YouTube
Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade desktop editor, and Adobe Premiere Clip lives up to the quality standards set by its big-brother software. It is missing some features you might want for YouTube videos, like title effects, but it does have some bells and whistles. There’s a good selection of filters.
Making changes to your picture, like adjusting the exposure or the prevalence of highlights or shadows, is just a matter of sliding bars. The tools for splitting and duplicating clips are easy to find too. You just toggle between the two icons right above your video – the one that looks like a shutter and the one that looks like adjustment bars – to switch between the picture tools and the other tools.
You cannot add what you might normally think of as a title effect in Adobe Premiere Clip, so it’ll be hard to fully complete your video. You can add text cards to put in-between your video clips, but you can’t overlay the title on top of a clip.
You can share your video directly to YouTube when you export.
Cameo (iOS)
Key Points:
- Easy-to-apply themes
- Customizable titles
- Limited features
- Exports to 4K (if your clips are 4K)
Vimeo is a video sharing site with more of a ‘filmmaker’ focus than YouTube, so it isn’t a surprise that their mobile editing app Cameo can export high-quality 4K videos.
Like some of the other apps on this list, Cameo does not have a huge variety of functions. You can reorder your clips, trim them, add titles, and apply themes (essentially filter and title combos).
There are three icons on the main interface: Scissors, a Music Note, and Filters.
The Scissors will take you to the trimming screen, where you can make your clip shorter or longer.
You can also add a title in the trimming screen, but you will not be able to change the font style or color until you are in the Filter screen.
In the Filter screen (tap the overlapping filters icon on the main interface) you will be able to adjust the color of your text by tapping on the circle with the A in it. Tapping where it says ‘Font’ will change your font style.
You can also tap on Themes and choose a premade style.
Here’s what ‘Crush’ looks like applied:
My font was changed, and there’s also a filter now. In order to apply a filter, you must start with a theme.
Clips (iOS)
Key Points:
- Great selection of stickers
- Lacks some basic tools
- Simple interface
Clips is an intuitive app with a lot of options for decorating your videos. It is lacking in some of the more basic editings features you might expect (i.e. you cannot split clips or do any color correction), but it has a lot of fun features like stickers and emojis that could make up for that depending on your needs.
There are also more traditional effects, like filters and titles. There are a wide range of title options in styles that are popular on YouTube, and a fairly standard filter selection.
While you cannot split clips in this app, but trimming and reordering them is easy. For trimming, you just select the clip and then Trim to open a screen where you can drag the start and end points of the clip.
To rearrange your clips, just tap the clip you want to move and hold down. You’ll be able to drag it to a new location.
It’d be hard to rely on Clips exclusively as your YouTube video editor, but it’s well suited for Instagram or for making quick ‘on-the-go’ videos.
Filmora (Android or iOS)
Key Points:
- Export directly to YouTube
- 16:9 or 1:1 for Instagram
- Includes effects like transitions, filters, and overlays
- End-roll logo
You can make a complete video easily just by tapping and dragging in Filmora, and there are even effects like filters, transitions, and overlays you can add to make your video more polished.
After importing your media into Filmora (you can import videos and photos saved on your phone, or media which has been uploaded to a social media account like Facebook or Instagram) you can change the order of your clips by tapping one, pressing down for a moment, and then dragging your clips where you want them.
Trimming a clip is as simple as tapping on it and then Duration. You’ll get this screen where you can adjust the length easily by dragging the markers to beginning or endpoints.
Cropping and zooming are simple too.
Filmora comes with pre-made themes you can apply which include titles, filters, and other effects. These might not be ideal if you already have branding you like to use for YouTube, but in some situations, they can make video creation a lot faster.
Filmora comes loaded with music, or you can even import your own music from your phone.
Once you’re done, tap ‘save’ in the top right corner of your screen to export your video. From the save screen, you’ll be able to export your video directly to YouTube.
One potential drawback is that Filmora will add its own logo to the end of your exported video. This logo will not distract from your video content since it is added at the end and never overlaps any of your clips, but it still might not be ideal for all creators.
Funimate (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easily add text and shapes
- Rainbow doodling
- Shake effects
- Small ‘Funimate’ watermark in videos from the free version
Funimate is lives up to the ‘fun’ promise in its name. It’s designed mostly for music videos/Musical.ly and while it is missing a lot of more typical editing options, there are a few free tools in Funimate that other apps just don’t have.
For example, there are shake and distortion effects available through Funimate that you usually only find in desktop software.
You can also draw rainbow designs on your video with your finger – no other app on this list can do that.
The text tool in Funimate is easy to use, and there are cool looking glow effects you can apply in the color selection screen. Those options are also available when you’re adding shapes, likes stars and sparkles.
Funimate is not built for typical editing, which is both its strength and its weakness. Trimming your clips is its own stage which you must complete before you start adding effects, and you cannot split clips or add multiple clips.
The free version of Funimate does add a small watermark to your videos in the bottom-right corner, but it is subtle enough that I almost missed it completely while reviewing the app.
iMovie (iOS)
Key Points:
- Trailer templates
- Themes
- Limited tools and resources
iMovie’s mobile app is designed for ease and includes things like ‘trailer templates’ and themes that allow you to make a video quickly and with minimal effort.
This streamlined app is limited in its features. Other apps on this list have left out color correction tools or clip splitting tools and instead loaded up on decorative features like stickers, emojis, and overlays. iMovie has left out these tools and does not have an abundance of decorative features either.
There are filters, themes, and titles, however.
The titles are simple but polished, and you’ll find all the standard types of filters.
The themes include a variety of graphics and are applied to your entire video, not individual clips. You can also apply one filter to your entire video.
iMovie also includes a decent selection of transitions, which you can apply easily by tapping the area between two clips.
Movie Maker Filmmaker by Alive (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Good title tool
- Stickers
- Change clip duration
- 16:9 or 1:1
Movie Maker Filmmaker (the app will be labeled ‘Alive’ in on your phone) has a lot of features that will help you put together a fun YouTube video. There’s a great selection of stickers, filters, and overlays and they’re all easy to apply. You just click on what you want and resize/reposition it in the player.
This app is missing a lot of basic editing features, however. You cannot adjust things like brightness or saturation. This won’t be a problem if you’re happy with your clips as-is, but it’s a bit odd to not have those options.
There is a text tool and while it is fairly basic, it is also flexible. There is a good selection of fonts to choose from, and you can also choose whether or not you want a colored background, and if your text should have a shadow.
Once you’ve decided on the look of your text you can drag it, resize it, and tilt it however you want in the preview screen.
A slightly odd feature of this app is that it doesn’t save your video to your phone or export it directly to YouTube. Instead, it saves it – and shares it – within the app and gives you the option of sharing it with YouTube after.
Power Director (Android)
Key Points:
- A timeline like desktop software
- All the basic editing features
- Lots of transitions
- Videos from the free version will be watermarked
The first thing you’ll notice when you open up Power Director is that the interface looks a lot like the interface of a lot of desktop editors with a very classic timeline. This familiarity could make it easy to jump into if you’re used to editing on your laptop.
However, Power Director is a bit less intuitive than most of the other apps on this list. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s difficult to use – it isn’t, it’s much easier than a lot of desktop software – but among mobile apps designed for streamlined efficiency it does stand out as being a bit harder to dive into.
That is partly because there’s a lot you can do with it. It has the tools you would expect in an editor. You can split and trim clips, and you have all the standard color tools including some that most mobile apps leave out.
A lot of apps have Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation, but PowerDirector also has Color Temperature and Tint.
In addition to editing tools, PowerDirector has bells and whistles like filters –
- and a ton of great transitions.
One drawback of PowerDirector is that the free version will watermark your videos. This watermark is not intrusive, but it isn’t as subtle as the Funimate one either.
You can export videos from PowerDirector directly to YouTube.
Vlogit (Android or iOS )
Key Points:
- Easy thumbnail maker
- Export directly to YouTube
- Animated stickers
Vlogit is also an app from the creators of the Filmora Video Editor. It isn’t quite as intuitive as Filmora, but the major benefit of Vlogit for YouTube creators is that it was designed with you in mind. It has features like animated stickers, emojis, and a thumbnail maker which were included specifically because YouTubers and vloggers need them.
All the usual adjustments you might want to make, like saturation or sharpness, are easy in Vlogit. So are adjustments to the length or crop of clips.
After you save your video you’ll have the option of creating a thumbnail using a screenshot from your video. You can add a colored border, text, emojis, and more!
Once you’re done, you can export directly to YouTube. Like Filmora, Vlogit does have a post-video logo roll.
Have you ever used a free mobile app to edit one of your YouTube videos? What did you use, and were you happy with the results?
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
- Title: "[New] Rank Higher on YouTube Essential SEO Tips Unveiled"
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-05-31 12:39:26
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 12:39:26
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/new-rank-higher-on-youtube-essential-seo-tips-unveiled/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
