How to Add a Free YouTube Subscribe Button to Your Videos
I’m not going to lie to you, publishing videos on YouTube is a lot of work. I can’t imagine anything more frustrating than putting in all of that time and effort and no one subscribes to your channel.
As YouTube creators, we’ve all been there.
Adding a free YouTube subscribe button to your videos may be just the thing you need to start converting viewers into subscribers.
In this video, I head into the studio to show you how step by step.
Effective Use of a Call To Action
You’ve probably seen calls to action hundreds of times without realizing that’s what they were. Any time someone
asks you to do something, that is a call to action.
In online marketing, these calls to action drive sales, subscribers, and engagement.
How can you expect someone to do what you want if you don’t ask them?
This certainly applies to YouTube and that’s why you see almost all creators asking for that subscribe, like, share, and comment.
That simple ask may be all it takes to see the desired results from your hard work!
In this situation, we’re talking about adding a free YouTube subscribe button as a call to action.
Adding a Free YouTube Subscribe Button to Your Videos
YouTube makes this simple.
Log into your YouTube channel, and click Customization in the left navigation.
Click the Branding tab.
Scroll down until you see the Video watermark heading.
Since you probably don’t have a watermark uploaded like I do in this screenshot, the interface will look like this:
Add a free YouTube subscribe button by uploading your image here. Click UPLOAD, navigate to the desired image on your computer, and click Open.
Your image should comply with the 150×150 pixels size recommendation and can be in the following formats:
- PNG
- GIF (no animations)
- BMP
- JPG
Keep the file size at 1MB or less.
You also want to make sure that you have the right to use the image your upload here. You will need commercial rights to the image.
Once you’ve uploaded your image and set your time, don’t forget to click the Publish button in the top-right to save your changes.
NOTE: You can add pretty much any image that you want as long as it meets the criteria. When a viewer hovers their cursor over this watermark, a subscribe box pops up. That’s why I like to upload a graphic prompting viewers to subscribe in this space.
Regardless of the image you add here, keep in mind that this will be displayed in the lower-right corner of ALL of your videos at whatever time interval you choose. The three choices are:
- End of video – displays at the end of the video
- Custom start time – displays beginning at the time in the video you specify through to the end
- Entire video – displays for the entire video
This all plays into the strategy of your channel. You want to make sure that you are finding the right viewers for your content. When you do find them, you want to provide a very convenient avenue to keep them coming back for more. A simple free YouTube subscribe button can accomplish that.
Also worthy of note here is that this is only relevant for desktop viewers. The watermark is not visible on mobile or television.
Paid Options for YouTube Subscribe Buttons
That being said, if you like my button and want something similar, you can find it here – https://tubetemplates.com/collections/subscribe-buttons
I actually have a variety of these buttons available for purchase for less than $5 each.
I want to make this more affordable for you if you’re not able to create and upload your own image, so you can use the coupon code sub199 to get one of these for just $1.99.
If you don’t see one that fits your niche, let me know below, and I will add it!
How’d It Work Out For You?
Did you try out the free YouTube subscribe button or a paid one? Did you see an increase in subscribers by implementing that call to action?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Also, if you noticed, YouTube Studio has a complete set of tools to help you as a creator, and I have a video that covers how you can use all of these tools here – https://youtu.be/SKINBaJFYMA
YouTube is constantly updating these features, and it’s important for you to know what’s available to you as a video creator.
Please consider subscribing to my channel if you find my content helpful!
