What hooks someone on your YouTube channel? Good content, uh? Awesome content doesn’t always encourage viewers to subscribe. When scrolling through YouTube for hours, viewers often overlook those posting familiar videos. It’s for this reason that we create YouTube intros.
A YouTube intro is a short clip that plays at the beginning of videos. You can include your channel’s name, brand, animations, and catchy sounds on it. But how do you make a YouTube intro? Our easyt-to-follow guide will show you how to create eye-catching and rivetting YouTube intros that will drive up subscriptions and attract more viewers.
Get Ready to Make a YouTube Intro
Before we dive into our tutorial, let’s start with some helpful information about the things you’ll need.
Best Softare for Creating YouTube Intros
YouTube intros are famous and Google has hundreds of websites that show you how to make intros. However, some aren’t user-friendly, while other are pricey. Still, other leave watermarks on your intros. If you’re having trouble finding good software, try these options:
- Canva – We use Canva a lot because it’s fun and easy. But you will need to pay to remove the watermark.
- Filmora – You can use Filmora to help make a lot of different YouTube productions, from podcasts to videos, introductions, and more.
- Adobe – Adobe has many uses, but you can also make YouTube intros.
- Renderforest – Renderforest has free options, requires no software downloads, and can make a YouTube logo.
We tested all the options on our list and chose to go with Canva. But you can use any YouTube Intro creation software you like.
Making a YouTube Logo
Another core aspect of effective YouTube intros is a branded logo. Your logo can be anything as long as it aheres to YouTube’s Terms of Service, and it’s excellent for advertising your channel on YouTube. You can use a native program like Word Paint or go a little above and beyond and design one using Canva, Renderforest, and Adobe (to name a few).
Make Your Intro Audio
You don’t want your YouTube intro to be silent, do you? We didn’t think so. You can record your audio and add sound effects to your YouTube intro using Garageband, Audacity, or another recording software.
Make a YouTube Subscribe Button
It’s always a good idea to make a YouTube subscribe button for your intro. You can use a template in Canva or create a custom one from scratch. Ensure the button is bright in contrast to the rest of your video, and save it to a file on your computer.
Rather than attaching the subscribe button to your YouTube intro, we’ll show you where to upload it on YouTube and how to set it to play with the intro a little later.
Note: If you choose to make your own Subscribe button for your YouTube intro, ensure it’s 150X150 megapixels.
How to Make a YouTube Intro
Making the YouTube intro is the easy part. You’ll want something that plays before each of your videos and lasts less than ten seconds.
Your short YouTube intro clip should include vital information about your channel and stand out from other channels. We’re using Canva because, after our tests, it seemed to be the most user-friendly option with better selections for free subscribers.
Here’s how to make your YouTube intro:
Step 1: Log into Canva
To get started, go to the Canva website and log into your Canva account.
Helpful hint: You can also use Canva to make unique thumbnails for your YouTube videos.
Step 2: Click Create a New Design
After logging into your account, click the Create New Design button in the upper right corner.
Step 3: Click Video
A drop-down menu will appear with a few options. Click Video.
Helpful hint: You can choose the option to create a logo on this menu, too.
Step 4: Drag the Slider to Adjust the Video Length
You’ll see a video length option at the bottom of the page. Hover your cursor over the right side of it and drag it to the right. Let the slider rest at the duration you want for your intro.
Note: We set ours to eight seconds, but between five and ten seconds is fine.
Step 5: Design Your Video
Here’s the fun part. You can add your logo by copying it from another site (Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut) and pasting it into your intro. Then, you can add animations to your logo or text by clicking the animate button and choosing from the menu to the left..
Note: If you want to upload an image, click Upload on the left side. Then, drop your image file into Canva.
Step 6: Add Sounds
You can add music from Canva’s music library by clicking the Apps icon to the left and selecting Audio.
Or, you can upload your sounds by clicking Upload and dropping the audio file.
Step 7: Download Your YouTube Intro
Finally, after all the hard work is done, it’s time to save your YouTube intro to your computer. Click Share, followed by Download in the menu.
Note: Save this intro where you can access it easily because you’ll need to add it to your YouTube videos.
How to Add Your YouTube Intro to a Video
It’s best to use the video editing software you already use to add your intro. Your author often uses VideoProc for various file compression and merging tasks. So, for those of you who need new software that makes it easy to add intros to your YouTube videos, you can install Videoproc on your computer and follow these steps:
Step 1: Upload Both MP4 Files
Click the +Video option at the top and upload both files from your computer.
Note: The acceptable file type may vary depending on the editing software you like. We downloaded both files as MP4 to make the process smoother.
Step 2: Click Merge
If you’re using Videoproc to make your YouTube intro, click the Merge checkbox in the bottom right corner.
Step 3: Select Your Output File Type
Select MP4 at the bottom so you can easily upload it to YouTube.
Step 4: Click Run
Your completed file will appear on your computer’s hard drive (likely in the downloads folder).
How to Enable a Subscribe Button for Your YouTube Intro
Finally, if you need to add a subscribe button to your YouTube intro, follow these steps:
Step 1: Make a Subscribe Button
Use Canva or any other image creation software to download your Subscribe button’s image.
Step 2: Go to the YouTube Studio
Click on this link and log into your YouTube Studio. Or, you can access it from the main YouTube page by clicking your profile icon and clicking on Your Channel.
Step 3: Click Customization
Scroll down the left side menu and click on Customization.
Step 4: Click Branding
Now, you’ll see a few options at the top. Click Branding.
Step 5: Upload Your Subscribe Button
Click Upload next to Video Watermark and select your subscribe button.
Step 6: Set the Timer
Select Custom Timer and set the time to the same number of seconds as your YouTube intro (8 seconds per our example above). Then, click Publish in the top right corner.
Now, whenever your YouTube intro plays, your viewers can click the Subscribe button as soon as they see it.
Hello, YouTube
YouTube intros are a must-have feature of any serious YouTube channel. It lets your viewers know they’re watching your content without even looking at the channel details. Add your logo, some music, or even effects to make it more impactful.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Ink Drop/Shutterstock.com.
