Creating Chapters in YouTube and Covideo

Video chapters are an excellent way to organize and split up important subtopics within a video. Many people are familiar with creating chapters in YouTube, which viewers can use to easily skip to specific sections of the video. We’re excited to announce Covideo now supports chapters as well!

Chapters—whether used for YouTube, Covideo, or other video services—are a helpful way to make your videos more informational and user-friendly. In this blog, we’ll cover best practices for creating chapters in YouTube and Covideo, as well as some ideas to get started.

How to create chapters in YouTube

YouTube’s chapters feature is becoming extremely popular, and chances are, you’ve seen a creator using video chapters to organize the content of their video. Creating chapters in YouTube is also very simple, so even the most novice editors will be able to implement the tool quickly.

Manually adding chapters

According to YouTube’s help article, you can easily add chapters into videos you in your content library following the steps below:

1. Select Content from the left menu in YouTube Studio
2. Select the video you want to edit.
3. In the video description, create a list of timestamps and corresponding titles.
   • A video chapter must be a minimum of ten seconds.
   • The timestamp format should be [hh:mm:ss], starting at 00:00:00.
   • Your video must have at least three timestamps to use chapters.
4. Click save when you are happy with your edits.

Creating automatic chapters

You can also create chapters in a YouTube video automatically.

1. Select Content from the left menu of YouTube Studio.
2. Select the video you want to edit.
3. Under Show More, select “Allow automatic chapters.”
   • Allowing automatic chapters will be the default for all new uploads.
4. Click save when you are happy with your edits.

How to create chapters in Covideo

Adding your chapters in Covideo is similar to creating chapters in YouTube. You can easily add chapters from your video library to any of your uploads.

1. Select your Library on the Covideo app.
2. Select the video you want to edit.
3. On the left sidebar, click Chapters.
4. Select the orange “+ Add Chapter” button to begin adding chapters.
5. Update the timestamp in the left column and the title of each chapter in the right column.
6. As needed, add additional chapters.
   • Videos cannot have a single chapter, and each chapter has to be at least 10 second long.
7. Click the orange “Save Changes” button when you’re done to save.

Creating chapters in YouTube and Covideo: Best practices

Creating chapters in YouTube and Covideo is easy, but there are a few best practices you should keep in mind.

First off, chapters are best suited for longer content with clear subsections like training or instructional videos. The divisions should feel natural.

When you’re creating a long video, think ahead about how it might be divided and keep track of key timestamps so it’s easier to add those in on your platforms. Creating chapters in YouTube is done in the YouTube studio after uploading. In Covideo, you can add chapters from your library.

When to use YouTube vs. Covideo

Covideo is a unique video app designed specifically to create personalized messages. It is best for one-off videos communicate with a specific person, which is why sales teams love us! Many users also utilize our software to store and send automated videos, longer training videos, and creative, produced videos.

Covideo is not a video conferencing software, like Zoom, Teams, or Google Hangouts. Viewers can see a video at any time, anywhere, and respond at any time. This allows two parties to communicate back and forth, even if they are not available at the same time.

Though YouTube and Covideo share similarities related to the types of videos they can store, they can address different needs. (Fun fact: Covideo has been around longer than YouTube!)

Use YouTube when:

• You want your videos to be publicly visible and easily found by search engines.
• You want to take advantage of search engine optimization and the platform’s connection to Google.
• You want ratings, comments, and other reactions from your audience to be public in order to build an audience.
• You’re an individual using various social media platforms to build outreach.

Use Covideo when:

• You want to share, edit, and swap videos with your larger team.
• You want to focus on personalized messages that go to specific people, while combining in helpful long-form, automated, or premade videos.
• You want to customize the landing pages where your videos appear and fill them with brand designs or links.
• You want to allow people who receive your videos to reply with video, text comment, or leave emoji reactions—which you can review in the backend of your account.

The Takeaway: Creating chapters in YouTube and Covideo

With these tips, you can easily begin creating chapters in your YouTube and Covideo videos. Chapters are a great way to break up and organize longform content and expand the usefulness of your video library.

If you have questions about how to get started with Covideo or want more info on any of our features, talk with an expert today!