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Pre-upload checklist
Review your final short video for opening clarity, captions, pacing, payoff, permissions, platform placement, and a working next step before publishing.
Review the final exported file on a phone, then check the publishing preview. Confirm the video makes an understandable promise, delivers it, remains readable with platform controls, and points to a next step that actually works. Record unresolved issues instead of turning them into a made-up performance score.
This checklist checks a deliverable. It cannot certify recommendation eligibility, forecast reach, or establish that an edit will improve retention. It is useful because it catches specific problems you can still change before publishing.
Record the file name, export version, intended platform, intended audience, and desired response. "A first-time customer understands how to compare two invoices" is easier to review than "make a good demo." For an entertainment clip, the desired response might simply be understanding and enjoying the scene; every video does not need a sales CTA.
Make sure you are reviewing the same export you intend to upload. A corrected timeline is not evidence that the old file in your uploads folder contains the correction.
Use Ready, Revise, Not applicable, or Unknown, with a note for anything unresolved. These are workflow labels, not ranking probabilities.
Pause the first frame. Play the opening once normally. Can an unfamiliar viewer identify the subject and understand what they are being invited to watch?
Do not require an effect, a cut, or a full answer in every opening. A clear demonstration can start quietly. If you need a more detailed review, use the hook check before posting.
Play the full export with sound and read the captions. Check names, numbers, product terms, speaker changes, and any relevant sounds. Then mute the export to find information that becomes unavailable.
Accessibility captions should track the audio. A separate editorial headline may introduce the task before speech begins, but it should not masquerade as an early transcript. W3C's caption guidance explains the synchronized role of captions; the caption timing checklist turns that into an editing pass.
Confirm:
YouTube warns that automatic captions can contain errors, so "captions generated" and "captions checked" should be separate delivery states.
For essential information carried only by the picture, use the short-video accessibility review to plan spoken description, supporting transcripts, readable graphics, and delivery checks.
Mark moments that repeat, introduce an unexplained detail, or make a promised result harder to follow. Rewatch the surrounding passage before cutting it. A pause can give a viewer time to read a chart, understand a step, or enjoy a reaction.
For each proposed cut, write what becomes clearer and what could be lost. If shortening a sentence removes a qualification or changes a guest's meaning, use another edit. If an important result is off screen while the narrator describes it, consider showing it at that moment.
The ending should deliver the promise or clearly explain its limits. It should not quietly substitute a different answer. Use the weak-second worksheet for a timestamped review of a confusing or repetitive interval.
Open the intended platform's publishing preview without publishing. Inspect its current interface rather than assuming a fixed universal safe zone.
Check the top and bottom overlays, side controls, caption area, profile information, and any crop used in another placement. Text readable in a clean export can be obscured in the feed. Keep important details away from controls or prepare a separate version when the placement needs it.
Preview any cover or profile-grid crop available to you. Choose a cover that accurately identifies the content. A suitable cover does not replace reviewing the first playing frame.
Do not claim that one resolution, duration, or text position fits every organic, advertising, and cross-posting placement. Check the requirements for the particular upload you are preparing.
If important detail looks soft, use the four-stage blur diagnosis to compare the source, timeline, local export, and platform playback before changing settings.
Confirm that the person responsible for the post has reviewed:
This is a record of what needs checking, not a legal determination. Mark unclear ownership or approval Unknown and route it to the responsible person. An available audio track or downloaded clip is not, by itself, evidence of permission for every use.
If the video asks for an action, perform it from the relevant viewer interface. Can a viewer find the promised destination, understand its relationship to the clip, and complete the intended step?
This matters especially for platform-specific linking. YouTube states that URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are not clickable. Do not write a CTA that assumes those links behave like a clickable website button. Check the supported route you actually intend to use.
For a product video, the demo and destination worksheet helps separate an unclear video from a broken or mismatched next step. If no next action is part of the video's purpose, mark this item Not applicable.
| Item | Record before publishing |
|---|---|
| Reviewed export | File name, version, reviewer, and date |
| Purpose | Audience and intended response |
| Ready checks | Opening, captions/audio, progression/payoff, placement, claims/permissions, next action |
| Unresolved items | Timestamp or field, owner, and required decision |
| Approved changes | What changed and what was deliberately preserved |
Fix the item that prevents understanding or accurate delivery first, then replay the resulting export. Avoid adding effects simply to make a checklist look complete.
If the opening remains hard to judge, use the free opening self-test to record a more specific observation. Keep the final release note with the published file so later results can be compared with what you actually posted.