How to Timestamp YouTube Comments - The Complete Guide

Wondering how to timestamp YouTube comments? If so, you've come to the right place.

Timestamps make it easy to direct viewers to certain parts of videos. They can be created for any video whether it's yours or somebody else's. However, they can be confusing to use at first. With this said, once you know the correct process to follow, using them becomes easy.

In this article, you will learn:

How to Put a Timestamp in a YouTube Comment
YouTube Comment Timestamp Benefits

Read on and learn how to timestamp on YouTube and the benefits of doing so.

How to Put a Timestamp in a YouTube Comment

While it might be confusing at first, putting a timestamp in a comment on YouTube is an easy process. Once you do it once or twice, you'll get the hang of the process and will have no confusion in the future.

Here's how to put a timestamp in a YouTube comment:

1. Select the time you want to link to
2. Pause the video and take note of the time
3. Write the time in a comment
4. Publish your comment

Let's go over this process in more detail.

1. Select the Time You Want to Link To

To begin, you need to select the time you want to link to in your comment. So, watch or scroll through the video and find a moment you'd like to highlight in a comment. Your timestamp will bring people to the exact moment you link to so link to the beginning of the clip.

2. Pause the Video and Take Note of the Time

Once you have found the moment you'd like to direct people to, take note of the time. When you post your comment with your timestamp, this is the exact time you will use to direct people to your selected moment.

3. Write the Time in a Comment

After taking note of the time you'd like to link to, you're ready to start writing your comment. This process is simple- just write the time you'd like to direct viewers to in your comment. The timestamp format is hours:minutes:seconds (with no spaces).

4. Publish Your Comment

Now that you've placed your desired timestamp time in your comment, you're ready to post it. Chances are, you've posted comments on videos before, so this should be easy for you. Just click the blue comment button and your comment will be posted.

YouTube Comment Timestamp Benefits

Many people underestimate the benefits that timestamps can provide. By using this feature, you can help position your videos to perform better, as you can help viewers have a better experience while consuming your content.

YouTube comment timestamp benefits include:

1. Improved navigation
2. Increased retention
3. Better SEO

Let's go over these benefits in more detail.

1. Improved Navigation

Have you ever tried to show a certain part of a video to somebody, only to struggle to find the exact part you'd like to show them? With timestamps, this doesn't need to happen, as they eliminate the need to search for specific moments that occur during videos.

Timestamps allow users to be directed to a specific part of a video with the click of their mouse. Since this is the case, it's easy to see how navigating videos as a viewer would become much easier with this feature.

2. Increased Retention

Getting people to click on your videos is difficult, but getting them to stay watching your videos is even more difficult. This is an issue for creators, as audience retention is a metric that the YouTube algorithm values greatly.

Thanks to timestamps, you can retain viewers better on your videos. Now, you can direct viewers to key moments in your videos. This can help them bypass slower-paced moments and take them to the most engaging sections in videos.

3. Better SEO

If you've ever searched for something in Google, there's a good chance you've had a result show up featuring a YouTube video. The results page itself looks like it always has, but some changes have been made in recent years to how videos are shown.

Now, videos can be shown on Google with timestamps. Instead of a big video widget, there is now a smaller widget with clickable timestamps. Knowing this, it's easy to see how including timestamps in your video descriptions or comments could help your videos rank in Google.

Conclusion

You now know how to timestamp YouTube comments and the benefits of doing so. Use timestamps to help viewers navigate your videos better and to improve the odds of your videos ranking in Google.