YouTube announced that it’s rolling out a new feature called related links. The tool would be used to direct the audience from a creator’s Shorts to their livestream and other long-form content. Creator Liaison on YouTube, Rene Ritchie, posted the announcement on X.

According to YouTube, the new feature will allow creators to add and/or edit in Studio Desktop. Here, creators can also add any links to their videos on their channels, no matter if they’re Shorts, long-form videos or livestreams. The links can also be used to redirect viewers to creators’ merchandise. 

This feature comes after YouTube cracked down on spam links, removing the clickable social media icons. YouTube also made all links in Shorts’ comments, descriptions and the vertical live feed not clickable. It seems, to compensate for the removal of clickable social media icons, YouTube added the related links feature so creators have a safer space to place their links. 

The feature will have its traffic source in the future

This new feature got many YouTube creators excited. However, most of their questions involve analytics, which they hope will track the conversion from short-form to long-form and show the effectiveness of adding these links. According to Ritchie, “They’ll get their own traffic source in the nearish future.”

Overall, this feature could do a lot of good for creators. Aside from offering a safer space to place links, it could also be a great way to promote content through Shorts. Of all the types of content YouTube offers, Shorts rack up views the quickest. It’s a powerful exposure tool that could be made even more effective thanks to related links. For instance, if a creator releases a new video or a new line of merchandise, they can spread the word via a Short. We’re looking forward to seeing how creators put related links to use.