10 Tips to Get Better at Editing YouTube Videos

If it feels like editing takes you forever to get done, this video is for you. Because I'm going to share with you 10 of my top tips to edit videos faster. Yeah, I'm talking about editing your videos in two hours or less. I've been editing videos for five years now, and I finally have a process in place where I edit my videos better and faster. And that's what I'm sharing with you here in this video. Hey, welcome back. If you are new here, my name is Trena and I'm a YouTube strategist.

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And this channel is for online business owners, entrepreneurs, and content creators who want to grow their business organically through online video. And editing videos always seems to be the hardest part for business owners, entrepreneurs, and content creators when it comes to video content. So, like I said, I've been editing videos for over five years. And more recently, I've had a client who, like me, is a mom and a busy business owner that sometimes she can't get her videos to me till the day they need to be edited. And so I've really created this process to be able to turn around her video in two hours. Yes, that screenshot of a timer. I literally timed how long it took me to edit her video from start to finish. So let me tell you some of the best things you can do to cut your editing time down to two hours or less. First, you need a script. You need a game plan going into your video content. Otherwise you're going to be sitting here filming videos for a very long time. So what happens is this is your raw footage and you have to go through this entirely long raw footage of 30, 40, maybe 50 minutes long. But when you have a game plan in place and you know exactly what you need to say to get in a video, that can really start to cut your raw footage down so you have less to edit. So step number one is to definitely have a script to stay on track. Second tip is to have reusable assets. What I mean is having things that you use in every single video, like name callouts or animations like this so that you don't have to create this for every single video. You just copy and paste from video to video. It makes things go a lot faster. I actually just did a video on how you can create your own animation so you can start using these in every single video. I'll link it right up here and down in the description box as well. Step number three is to create your own branded title screens. Now, you do have some options in your editing Software I use Final Cut Pro, so I've got options like this. And Imovie has very limited options as well. But you could use a software like Canva, create your own title screen. So every time you create a new video, all you have to do is duplicate that title screen and just change out the text that keeps your video branded so people, when they watch it, know it's your video. And all you have to do is change out the text. So again, you're not recreating the wheel for every single video that you edit, and you're adding these extra pieces to really make your video stand out and look professional. Next tip is creating your end card. So you want to really add in an end card on your video like this, so that when you add your end screen in YouTube that people can click on, you're not putting that end screen over your face. And you're also letting them know with text on your end card to click and watch this video or watch some more content. So again, I use Canva for this. Canva has a lot of great graphic options, and I literally use it for just about everything in my business. And I do have a video. I will link down below as well on how to add end screens to your video. And again, once you create one, you just use that on every single video. So seriously, look at every single one of my videos. We have the same end card. Next, let's talk about music. Because I get asked a lot how to find the right music and how to use music. But the biggest mistake you're gonna make to really streamlining your editing process and making it a lot quicker is just pick like two to three songs. What can happen is you start to go down a rabbit hole of music every single video, and you really waste a lot of time right here. So pick about two to three, maybe four songs that. And just cycle through them on your videos. Seriously, nobody's going to notice. And once you have this nailed down, you know exactly what song you're going to use that you like to. Again, just make editing a lot quicker for you. All right, now let's get into the actual editing process. So the next tip that I have for you is when you import your RAW footage to your editing software, the first thing that you should do to start saving time is just go through and start cutting up that RAW footage.

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So cutting out mistakes, adding jump cuts. Just focus on getting that RAW footage to a point that is good to go. And then we're going to move into that next step, which is adding all the extras. But the first thing you really need to do, phase one in editing should be editing that raw footage, getting out those mistakes, those ums that I just had. That's your first step. The next tip that I have for you is creating what I like to call a B roll library. So me speaking to you right now is called a roll.

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But when I add video over top of me talking, this is called B roll. And this actually keeps your viewer engaged. It keeps them from getting bored, and it allows you to tell people something by showing them instead of just telling them with this talking head. So one thing that I and a client of mine done as we create a B roll library folder in Google Drive, these are things that we tend to do all the time in our videos that we can use over and over again.

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So for her, she has working on her planner, typing on her desk. I also have similar B roll footages of, well, in a library. So I can use these clips over and over again. Yes, Just because you use them once doesn't mean they're done. But it gives your video more personality, it gives your video more of a storytelling element, and it keeps your viewer more engaged. The next tip that I have is learn your software's shortcut keys. This is so huge because when you're doing something over and over again, if you just have shortcut keys and it goes so much quicker than moving your mouse around. Been there, done that. And when I realized the shortcut keys in Final Cut Pro, my life was literally changed. So just Go Google or YouTube shortcut keys for Final Cut Pro, or shortcut keys for Imovie, or shortcut keys for Camtasia and print out these keys to have them nearby when you are editing. This is going to save you so much time you would not even believe. This next tip is one that I've tried, but it hasn't worked for me. But so many other people that I talk to live by this tip, and it's editing back. What I mean by that is when you input your raw footage, you start at the end of your video and work to the beginning. Because usually your last take is your best take. When you edit from backwards, you're getting your best take, and then you just have to cut out the worst. And then you get your best take and you cut out the worst. I've heard from so many people that editing backwards has saved them so much time. But again, this may work for you, it may not. It didn't work for me specifically, but I did want to throw it out There because like I said, I've heard so many success stories of people saving time when they edit from backwards to beginning, end to beginning. The next tip has to do with a slow computer and slow uploading and exporting and all of that stuff. You've got to get yourself a hard drive. Video files are huge and they are literally going to kill your computer if you aren't able to keep things on a hard drive. So for me, I keep all of my clients final videos and my final videos saved on an external hard drive and then I delete pretty much everything else off of my computer.

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You're also going to want to find ways to figure out how your editing software is saving files. So in Final Cut Pro I know they save rendered files, which again eats up a lot of space, which slows things down. My computer will start to get like that little circle where I'm waiting to edit faster than my computer thinks. So by having a external hard drive, it's really going to save your computer's brain, so to speak, and allow you to edit faster if you keep your computer cleaned up. Now, if you want to learn how to edit exactly like me, from importing your footage to how I find GIFs, to how I create all my B roll, everything from start to finish, I am opening the doors to my brand new course called Editing for Conversions. I'm going to drop a link below for you to get on that list as soon as the doors open to the public. Not only is this course going to tell you exactly how to edit your YouTube videos, it's going to tell you how to edit IGTV videos, how to edit Facebook videos, how to edit Instagram Stor. So it's really going to be this hub for you to edit video content to allow you to use more video content using the software Final Cut Pro. And don't worry if you don't have Final Cut Pro yet. I'm also going to provide you a link to try Final Cut Pro for 90 days for free so you can test it out. Start saving your money to buy Final Cut Pro, which is $300 after your 90 days. So if you're excited and you want to be the first to know when the doors open, click the link on your screen right now or down in the description box to get the list now. And if you want a little taste of what it's going to look like inside of Editing for Conversions, watch the video that's on your screen right now where I show you exactly how to create your own customized animations for your videos using Canva. This is just a taste of how I teach and the things that I'm going to teach inside of editing for conversions. So click on that video on your screen right now and check it out.