The Simple Trick to Improve Your YouTube Videos with B-Roll

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In this blog, I’m sharing how to use these tricks to improve your YouTube videos with B-roll. This is something I’ve incorporated into my YouTube videos recently and this has resulted in better audience retention and watch time. It’s something we can all do to improve our videos on YouTube!

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Improve YouTube Videos

Wanting to Improve Your YouTube Videos?

improving my youtube videos to avoid creating boring content and grow my youtube channel

If you’re the type of video content creator who actually wants to create videos that people enjoy watching, you don’t want to create boring content. We want people to watch our videos, get value out of our videos, and come back to watch more of our videos. We’re all working really hard to create our content and improve our YouTube videos. We want people to watch it, but we also have lives. We still want it to be easy, fun, and as effortless as possible to create our YouTube channel.

In this blog, I’m going to share with you my simple trick to improve your YouTube videos. This is something that you can implement right away without adding more time to your video creation workflow. You can also implement this to increase your watch time, which is going to increase your engagement. It’s going to grow your channel. YouTube is going to see your channel as a valuable channel for the people who are watching your video. As a content creator, we all want that because we want YouTube to share our content with the new people in the algorithm.

Related: My First 1000 YouTube Subscribers and What I Did Wrong

The Secret is B-Roll!

my secret to improve my youtube videos is using b-roll

Do you want to know my secret to improve my YouTube videos? The secret is B-roll. Yeah, it’s simply just an extra B-roll that you throw in over the top of your A-roll. Moreover, I have a couple of easy tips on how to incorporate B-roll into your video by just adding a tiny bit of extra time and steps to your workflow. I promise it’ll be worth it. You’ll grow as a content creator and people will actually enjoy watching your videos a little bit more.

using b-roll to keep your audience on watching your videos

Now, I used to think like a really lazy content creator. I just really wanted to press Record, and talk to the camera. I don’t have time to set up my camera in 15 different positions to do a montage of me making coffee or something. Who has time for that? However, that’s not the type of B-roll that I’m talking about. I’m talking about putting a little bit of extra care into the creation of your videos. In that way, you can actually help the viewer understand what you are saying and keep them watching your videos.

I mean, think about the most successful YouTube content creators that you know. Are their videos boring? In this blog, I want to share with you some simple ways to incorporate B-roll into your workflow. Hopefully, you’ll agree that the time and effort you put into creating your videos is worth improving the way those videos turn out.

Tip #1: Set The Stage

a b-roll of me setting up my camera and desk before shooting my content

First of all, one of the easiest ways to incorporate B-roll and improve your YouTube video is to set your stage. I have been doing this the last few months in most of my videos when I feel like not being lazy and I take the time to do it. When you’re getting your space ready to record, wherever it is, you record whatever it is that you are recording about. It doesn’t matter what your niche is or what type of videos you create, you can set the stage. You can also record a little bit of B-roll showing you getting ready to record.

a b-roll of me putting down my ipad and a cup of coffee in my table

You saw me at the beginning of this video, kind of clearing my desk off, getting my camera set up, turning on my light. When I shoot a video in my living room, a lot of times you see me put down a cup of coffee, put down my iPad, open up my iPad. It’s not really complicated. I don’t really have to think too hard about it. It doesn’t really require storyboarding. It’s really easy. It doesn’t add a whole lot of extra time to your workflow.

Related: Create Pro-Looking Videos with iMovie

Tip #2: Show What You Are Talking About

This tip is the super basic YouTube video creation tip to improve your YouTube videos. Anytime that you can show something that you are talking about, just do that. In my recent video, I have talked about my new camera, my new lens, and how I wanted something that was better for my live streaming. Then, while I was editing that video, I thought it would be funny if I had footage of me throwing my old Logitech webcam in the garbage.

an example of b-roll in my last youtube video

I didn’t plan that when I was shooting. I didn’t think about it when I was scripting. It was just something that kind of came up when I was editing. Like, there was just this perfect moment to just chuck that thing into the garbage. Then, I got out my phone and shot a little B-roll of me chucking the Logitech webcam into the garbage.

I didn’t actually throw it away. It was just for dramatic effect. But that’s an example of showing something that you are talking about. It doesn’t take a bunch of extra stuff. I shot that particular one with my phone because that was going to be the easiest thing. If it made some people laugh, then that means that that one little teeny tiny shot was effective.

showing what you're talking about using b-roll

Sometimes, it’s kind of obvious. If you’re going to do a craft tutorial you have to show what you are talking about. In your intro, when you’re kind of explaining what craft you’re going to do, that’s also a good place to insert some B-roll from the tutorial. With that, it kind of gives the people an expectation and will hopefully pique their interest so that they keep watching. That’s really the whole point of B-roll.

Tip #3: Using Stock B-Roll

Now, maybe adding some extra shots just to have some B-roll in your videos sounds like something you cannot work into your workflow. However, trust me, I hear you. You can use B-roll without having to actually shoot it yourself.

using stock b-roll

In the last few months or so, I have been sprinkling my YouTube videos with stock B-roll footage that I have been downloading from Artgrid. If you have an idea for something like somebody typing on a keyboard or surfing, you just search for it on Artgrid’s website and use it in your footage.

However, you do have to pay for a license, but this is a really quick and easy way to incorporate B-roll into your videos. Artgrid has supplied me with a year-long license to use their stock B-roll so I will be incorporating more B-roll into my videos over the next several months. You can also check out Artgrid for yourself using the link here. Just check and see if it’s something that you might be interested in to improve your YouTube videos.

Important Tip When Using Stock B-Roll

search for the mood that you're looking for

In addition, I have a really powerful tip that I would like to share when using a stock B-roll site like Artgrid. Instead of just searching for the exact type of footage that you’re looking to use, like a sunset or a beach or a person surfing or person typing, search for the mood or the emotion that you’re looking for. You can search for frustration or sadness or anger or something positive like happiness.

More Tips to Improve YouTube Video?

Now, one of the ways that I’ll be kind of working on growing as a content creator and improving my YouTube videos moving forward will be using my new camera to shoot at a higher frame rate so that I can shoot some slow motion B-roll. So if you’re all about that up-leveling and improving life as a content creator, I have created a video about my 5 upgrades that I have made to my gear this year. These are ideas for upgrades that you can make also. Check it out here on my YouTube channel!

Related: Video Editing for Beginners

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