YouTube is the slowest platform to start and the best one long-term: Shorts keep getting recommended months after posting, and YouTube viewers click through to descriptions at a much higher rate than TikTok viewers ever hit a bio link.
The series format
One good session is not one Short. It is a series.
- Part 1: the setup and your plan. End exactly at the moment you commit to a decision. "I just told the AI I am robbing the vault myself. Part 2 is what it did about it."
- Part 2 onward: one story beat per Short, each ending on the next cliffhanger.
- Finale: the ending, win or lose, plus the CTA: "This whole run is one game. Link in the description if you want your own."
Series train viewers to subscribe, and the algorithm chains parts together automatically once a viewer watches two.
Titles and packaging
- Titles are searchable on YouTube, unlike TikTok. Write them as questions or claims people search: "Can you talk an AI dungeon master out of killing you?"
- First frame text and title should not repeat each other; the pair together is the pitch.
- End cards: a still of the game's cover art from your materials library with the title of the next part.
Where the link goes
- Your referral link goes in every video description, first line, with a five-word pitch.
- Pin a comment on each Short with the link as well; pinned comments are clickable and survive.
- Once eligible, add the link to your channel header and About page.
Cadence and patience
- 3 Shorts a week is sustainable and enough. YouTube rewards consistency over bursts.
- Expect the first 20 Shorts to do little. YouTube's recommendation engine is slow to trust new channels and generous once it does. The back catalog keeps working for you either way.
- Check your dashboard weekly and note which series drove signups; make more of exactly that.
Caption and description starting points are in your materials library.