The first link on your YouTube channel gets the best spot, because it's the only link shown in your channel's profile section near the Subscribe button. You add links in YouTube Studio under Customisation, then Profile, then Links, up to 14 in total, and the other 13 wait behind a 'more links' list that viewers have to open.
Those details come from YouTube Help, read on 29 October 2026 in its computer, Android and iPhone versions. Digily Link, which we mention as one option for that first link, is our product.
Choosing the first link on your YouTube channel
Put first the page you most want a viewer to reach after one video. YouTube's computer instructions say the first link is 'prominently displayed in the profile section near the subscribe button', and the app instructions place it above the button. The rest show only 'when your audience clicks to see more links'.
So decide the job before you type anything. A café in Brighton filming its bakes probably wants table bookings. A band from Manchester in release week wants the new single. A plumber who posts repair videos wants the quote form. If you genuinely need several destinations side by side, make the first link a single page that lists them all and use the other slots for individual profiles.
Some older guides still say the first five links sit on the channel banner. The current help page doesn't mention banner links at all, so plan around one visible link.
Adding channel links in YouTube Studio on a computer
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- In the left menu, select Customisation, then Profile.
- Under Links, click Add link.
- Enter a title, such as 'Book a table' or 'Get a quote', and the full web address.
- Add the rest, starting with the one you chose above.
- Click Publish. The channel doesn't change until you do.
Can you add YouTube channel links from your phone?
Yes, in the YouTube Studio app rather than the main YouTube app. YouTube Help gives the same steps for Android and iPhone and iPad.
- Open the YouTube Studio app and tap your profile picture at the top right.
- Next to your channel description, tap Edit.
- Under Links, tap Edit, then Add, and enter the title and web address.
- Tap Done, then Save.
If you mostly post Shorts, where can viewers tap a link?
On your channel, not under the Short. YouTube makes web addresses in Shorts descriptions and Shorts comments non-clickable to reduce spam and scams, according to its page on sharing links with your audiences (read 29 October 2026).
| Where the link is | Can viewers tap it? |
|---|---|
| Channel profile links | Yes, up to 14 |
| Long video descriptions and comments | Yes, but adding clickable external links needs access to advanced features on your channel |
| Web addresses typed into Shorts descriptions and Shorts comments | No |
| Brand deal links and YouTube Shopping affiliate links | Yes |
Unless you use brand deals or YouTube Shopping, the first channel link is the main way a Shorts viewer can tap through to your own site. Saying 'link on my channel' at the end of a Short points viewers to it.
To see whether your channel has advanced features, open YouTube Studio on a computer and go to Settings, then Channel, then Feature eligibility. YouTube's feature access page says established channels usually qualify through their history, and that you can also verify with ID or a video, which isn't available to every creator.
Which links does YouTube allow on a channel?
Any ordinary website, shop, booking system or social profile, up to 14 of them, as long as each follows YouTube's external links policy. That policy bans links to things such as malware, phishing pages, pornography and sites selling goods covered by YouTube's regulated goods guidelines. It applies to channel links as well as to videos, comments and live streams.
How to count taps from your YouTube channel
Give YouTube its own short link and use it nowhere else, so its open count gives you a fair estimate of taps from YouTube. It counts opens rather than people, and if someone copies the link and posts it elsewhere, those opens land in the same count. On Digily Link the free plan includes 50 short links and keeps detailed click statistics for 30 days (plan settings checked 29 October 2026). For finer tracking in Google Analytics, add campaign tags as in our UTM parameters example.
The same idea works for the first link itself. A Digily bio link page can sit in that slot, carry a YouTube video or your latest uploads alongside your other links, and be edited without going back into YouTube Studio. The free plan includes 5 bio link pages. Our guide to what a link in bio is explains the idea, and our YouTube link shortener guide covers short links for individual videos that can open in the YouTube app when it's installed.
Why are my YouTube channel links not showing?
When channel links don't show, check first that they were published and that the one you expect is first in the list.
- Not published. On a computer, click Publish. In the Studio app, tap Done and then Save.
- Not first. Only the first link appears in the profile section. Open the more links list to see the others.
- Incomplete address. Paste the full link, including https://, and open it once from your channel.
- Against the external links policy, in which case YouTube may remove it.
To see the channel as a viewer does, open it in a private browser window where you aren't signed in.
If your channel needs more than one destination, make your first YouTube link a page that holds all your links on Digily Link, then put it at the top of the list in YouTube Studio.
