This Glossary of terms is directly from YouTube’s Glossary page. These definitions can help you to understand any online video content terms that you may not already be familiar with. These terms are important to understand in the distribution process and expansion of your online audience.
Annotations Video Annotations are an uploader-controlled, dynamic overlay on videos that allows you to overlay text on a video and/or make parts of the video clickable. You can add, edit and delete annotations to your videos, controlling the text, placement, timing and link URLs. URLs can only be directed to YouTube.com.
Audience Retention The Audience Retention report (formerly known as Hot Spots in Insight) measures your video’s ability to retain its audience. It shows when viewers fast-forward, rewind or leave your video.
Avatar The square image on your channel page that represents your channel across the site.
Blog Outreach A strategy of sharing your videos with a targeted list of blogs, sites and/or online communities and influencers. This includes sending your video link and/or embed code to blog editors and others in the hopes that they embed or share the video with their audiences.
Blog Roll A list of blogs, sites, online communities and influencers relevant to a particular category or type of content. Used for blog outreach.
Bulletin A message that channel owners can send to their subscribers. Bulletins show up in subscribers’ feeds. Channel owners can attach videos to a bulletin.
Calls to Action (CTAs) These prompt the viewer to take an action.
Channel or Channel Page YouTube.com/CHANNELNAME. A channel is the public page for a user account on YouTube. It contains uploaded videos, playlists, liked videos, favorited videos, channel comments and general activity. Some creators manage or create content across multiple channels.
Comments These are written comments on videos, channels, playlists or in response to other comments. Comments may be posted either on the watch page or on a channel page.
Community Actions Any actions taken by a viewer on or around your channel and content. Includes likes, favorites, subscriptions and comments.
End-card or End-slate A graphic that creators include at the end of their videos. End-cards typically include specific Calls to Action to subscribe, watch more content, or visit a channel page. They may also contain credits for the video. Generally, end-cards prominently feature annotations.
Engagement Interaction between the creator and the audience, the viewer and the video, or the creator and the site. Can be measured by the number of interactions (comments, favorites, likes, or new subscriptions) per view.
Favorite(s) A user action that adds a video to their channel’s Favorites playlist. This action can also be broadcast to subscribers
Feed A stream of activity either for one channel (via the channel page feed) or for multiple channels (the homepage feed). Feed activities include uploads, updated playlists, video comments, channel comments, new subscriptions, bulletins, likes, favorites and sharing. Users control what feed activities they broadcast and, by subscribing to channels, what feed activities are broadcasted to them in their homepage feed.
Hangouts on Air Google+ Hangouts are a live video chatting feature, and they can be broadcast on your YouTube channel.
Hook Content that is meant to keep viewers interested in what happens next. Ideally, a video’s hook happens within the first 15 seconds.
Hosted Playlist A collection of videos linked by additional hosted videos. Hosted videos can act as intros, outros and/or interstitials. Hosted videos can contain an actual host (person) or creative branding that acts as a host.
Like(s) A user action that shows appreciation for a video. This action can be broadcast to subscribers in the feed.
Metadata The textual information that describes a video, channel or playlist. Video metadata includes title, tags and description. Playlist metadata includes title and description. Channel metadata includes a description.
Multi–channel network Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs) are entities that affiliate with multiple YouTube channels, often to offer assistance in areas such as product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetization/sales, and/or audience development.
Optimization An action that increases the potential success of a video, channel, playlist or content strategy.
Other Channels Module An optional module that allows the channel owner to feature other channels on their channel page.
Packaging Graphics and/or content that adds context to a video. Packaging can build your brand, connect your host with the audience, add relevant context to archived content, or add scripted/annotated Calls to Action.
Playlist A playlist is a collection of videos that can be viewed, shared and embedded like an individual video. You can create playlists using any videos on YouTube. Videos can be in multiple playlists. Uploaded videos and favorited videos are default playlists on your channel.
Pre-buzz Audience interest in a tent-pole event occurring in the days and weeks leading up to it.
Programming The practice and strategy of organizing videos, shows or channel content and activity into a daily, weekly or season-long schedule.
Recommendation Activity A strategy in which a channel likes, favorites or comments on a video in order to promote that video to their subscribers through the feed.
Series Playlist A playlist that locks the videos into one specific playlist. Meant for serial or episodic content that follows a narrative story arc, videos included in a series playlist cannot be added to other playlists on the channel.
Share Ability to distribute videos via social media, email or direct links. This action can be broadcast to subscribers.
Suggested Videos Video thumbnails that appear in the right-hand column of watch pages and the homepage, or the tiled thumbnails that appear when a video has finished playing.
Subscriber / Subscription By subscribing to a channel, users will see that channel’s activity in their homepage feed. Subscribers can also opt into email communication from subscribed channels on a per-upload and weekly digest basis.
Subscriber Box See Other Channels Module.
Tags Words or phrases used to describe the content of your videos. Added to videos at time of upload (see Metadata).
Teaser A short video that acts as a preview or trailer for longer content. Can be used to promote larger content initiatives or announcements.
Templates Different pre-set channel designs that can be used to highlight videos, playlists and other channels.
Tent-pole Programming and Publishing Content creation and publishing strategy that is meant to draft off of the popularity of large cultural events. Programming and publishing tent-pole content is meant to maximize audience.
Thumbnails The images selected to represent your videos or playlists on the site.
Traffic Source The referral source of a video view. The page, module or site that drove a viewer to a video.
Vlog A video-blog. A casual, conversational video format or genre featuring a person talking directly to camera.
Watch Page The page where the majority of video viewing happens. URLs with the format youtube.com/watch?v= are watch pages.
Watch-time The amount of time in aggregate that your viewers are watching your videos. Watch-time is estimated in Analytics.
YouTube Analytics A tool that provides information across various metrics for videos, channels and audience. Available in your user account.
