YouTube Timestamps: What They Are and How to Add Them

Table of Contents

What is a YouTube Timestamp?

YouTube timestamp link is a special URL mark that helps viewers go straight to a part of the video that they may be interested in. This trick makes life easier for many people and really helps save time. Moreover you can send a YouTube link with a timestamp and thus share it with your friends quickly and conveniently. We’ll talk about other equally important advantages for creators further on. That’s how the YouTube algorithm works.

Benefits of Using YouTube Timestamps

Adding timestamps to YouTube videos helps to dramatically increase efficiency in algorithms, increasing watch time and improving user experience. Each timestamp creates a separate segment that can appear in Google search results and organically increase views. Here are a couple of obvious advantages of YouTube timestamp links.

Boost for Algorithms

How many times have you turned off a video because it’s long and boring? Even if a video contains valuable information, not everyone will be looking for that one piece of information through all the video. Like we said above, timestamps help promote the video. On the one hand, it becomes more convenient for users to use your content and choose the fragments they need. On the other hand, YouTube will more often suggest videos with timestamps when they are searched.

Improvement of Watch Time

This point is literally related to the previous one. The longer the viewer stays on the video, the better the algorithms promote it. Speaking of which, even if a YouTube timestamp goes straight to the middle of the video, the video will still be considered watched in its entirety, which will not affect watch time and monetization.

SEO-optimized Videos

How many creators think about video optimization? Hardly any of them, although they should. If you add a YouTube timestamp link, the likelihood that your video will come up in a search query increases dramatically. Even if the title of the video and the title of the keyword are different in terms of subject matter. By the way, we provide more SEO tips for YouTube videos in one of our articles.

Better User Experience

We all remember the golden rule of YouTube: the more convenient it is for a user to consume your content, the more likely they are to stay on your channel. YouTube timestamp is one of these conveniences that attracts viewers. So, they can immediately see the content of the video and not waste their time on the content that does not suit them in the first place.

How to Add Timestamps to YouTube Videos

In this part of the article we will discuss 2 ideas at once: how to make a timestamp on YouTube and how to share a YouTube link with a timestamp. Both of these actions will help grow your YouTube channel fast.

Adding Timestamps Manually

Not the most modern method of adding timestamps to YouTube links, but we’ll mention it anyway. It’s actually quite simple. In a regular video link add &t=XhYmZs, where all X’s are replaced by the time you need.

Another method to share a YouTube link with a timestamp is to open the desired video, stop it on the fragment you need and right click on the video and select “Copy video URL at current time”.

Can it be done faster and easier? Sure, we’ll tell you how.

Using Built-in Timestamps

You don’t have to struggle with the URL. There’s a “Share” button under each video. Click it and YouTube itself will offer to make a link with the timecode of the moment where you paused. By the way, the same mechanism of making timestamps works with the mobile YouTube app as well.

Make Chapters from YouTube Timestamp

Want to turn a YouTube timestamp link into a whole “video plan” with timecodes? Great idea, now we’ll tell you how to do it:

Open YouTube Studio.
Click Content in the menu on the left
Select a video.
On the Video Details page, enter the timestamps and chapter titles in the Description field. (The first chapter always starts at the 00:00 mark. You should add at least three chapters to the video. The minimum length of a chapter is 10 seconds.)
Save changes

If suddenly creating chapters and timecodes seems like a daunting task to you, you can always turn to Mediacube services for professional help.

Best Practices for Using YouTube Timestamps

It is important to realize that this tool is not just a YouTube link with a timestamp. It’s literally a magic wand that can promote your videos quite effectively. Now let’s share a couple of tips on how to get the most out of YouTube timestamps.

Mark Ads in Timestamps

How do you make your audience even more loyal to you? Tag ad inserts in YouTube timestamp. Why? The answer is simple: so the viewer can immediately skip this moment of the video if desired. On the one hand, the creator benefits from the fact that the ad was viewed. On the other hand, this way you give the viewer the right to choose. So, if the viewer wants to support you, he can always click on the YouTube timestamp with the ad.

Encourage users to use timestamps while watching video

You got it right: viewers need to be reminded of the presence of the YouTube timestamp link. Why? So they’ll use them, of course. Perhaps some viewers will miss this convenient opportunity due to inattention. And this way you help all viewers to make “consuming your content” even more convenient.

Use SEO keywords in Timestamps Name

Want to get your videos in search queries even more often? Use popular keywords in YouTube timestamp. You may think that this doesn’t affect optimization. But in this case, you are wrong. If you want to learn even more about optimization and apply it to your channel, then join our Youtube MCN. Together we’ve been promoting channels from 30+ countries for over 10 years.

Analyze Timestamps in YouTube Analytics

How to squeeze even more value out of a YouTube timestamp link? Analyze timecodes in YouTube Analytics. This way you will understand which YouTube timestamp is the most popular among users. Maybe this will give you ideas for future videos.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

It seems that creating a YouTube timestamp link is quite simple. In fact, creators often encounter common mistakes. Here are a couple of them:

Spam with Timestamps
Often creators take “10-second chapters” too literally and make timestamps every 10 seconds. This can be annoying to viewers. In some formats (like FAQs) a large number of timecodes would be logical. In other cases, it’s best not to do this.

Clickbaity Timestamp names
Of course legally they won’t do anything to you for clickbait in the title of a YouTube timestamp. However, it’s a reputational risk. The more often you deceive the viewer, the less they will trust you.

Mistake in formatting
This point concerns specifying a YouTube timestamp link in the video description. If you don’t use the 0:00 view format for the timecode, it won’t work.

Long Timestamp name
Since timecodes are displayed on the panel when watching a video, longer titles will not be fully visible. Therefore, it is important not to go overboard with details, but to keep the titles short and to the point.

Frequently Asked Questions on YouTube Timestamp

In this block, we have collected questions about YouTube timestamps that you have probably asked too. Let’s get started!

How to Add Timestamps to YouTube Links?

In fact, creating a YouTube timestamp link is not difficult at all. There are a couple of methods. The first one is to add &t=XmXs to the video link, where you replace X with the desired time. The second option is to click the Share button under the video. There you can also choose the timestamp from which to start the link.

How to Send a YouTube Link with a Timestamp?

Funnily enough, this question follows from the first one. Copy the link above, obtained by any convenient method, and send it to the right user. It’s simple.

How Many Timestamps Can You Add to One Video?

There’s really no maximum timestamp amount that you can reach. But there is a minimum: the video must have at least 3 timestamps that are at least 10 seconds long. Only then YouTube will let you make timecodes.

Can You Add Timestamps to Published Videos?

Of course you can! You just need to open your videos in YouTube Studio, select the one you want and in the video description add timestamps with chapter title. This way viewers will be able to use video navigation in already published content as well.

Do Timestamps Help with Search Optimization?

Seriously? Definitely yes! By putting keywords in YouTube timestamp links by topic you are helping the video to move up in search terms. This way, viewers are more likely to get your videos recommended for related queries.

How to Remove Timestamps?

Do you think it’s impossible to remove unwanted YouTube timestamps from a published video? It’s actually not. Just go to YouTube Studio, find the desired video, click Edit Description and delete the unwanted fragment. Don’t forget to save the changes.

Conclusion

Hopefully now the topic of YouTube timestamps and how to add them has become clearer and easier for you. When you understand all the intricacies of content creation it’s time to think about earning money. For comfortable and safe business and monetization on YouTube try a special financial app for creators MC Pay. With us, any payment from any country will become not just a fairy tale, but a convenient reality.

By Veronica Kovalenko

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