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How to share promo codes on YouTube

Reviewed by the usecode.sh team on

YouTube splits in two. In long-form, description and pinned-comment links are clickable, so a code plus link block works directly. In Shorts, YouTube made links in descriptions and comments non-clickable to fight spam, so the code itself and one channel-profile link do all the work. A stable code page serves both halves with the same URL.

What you will end up with

Two working setups rather than one: clickable code-and-link blocks in long-form, and a code that survives Shorts, where YouTube made links non-clickable.

Step by step

  1. Long-form: maintain a description block and pin a comment

    Brand, code, link, one line each. Pin a comment repeating the current top offer. Old videos keep converting for years, so point their links at cards you can update rather than raw campaign URLs that die.

  2. Shorts: say it, show it, and use the profile link

    URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are non-clickable by policy, so your channel's first profile link should be the page holding every code. It is the only tap a Shorts viewer gets.

  3. Maintain codes in one place

    When a code changes, edit the card on your page once instead of re-editing descriptions across fifty videos. This is the entire reason to point old descriptions at a card rather than a campaign URL.

Where links actually work on YouTube

  • Long-form description

    Clickable?
    Yes, with advanced-features access
    Use for codes
    Code as text next to its link, one pair per brand

  • Long-form pinned comment

    Clickable?
    Yes
    Use for codes
    Repeat the top code so latecomers see it without opening the description

  • Shorts description and comments

    Clickable?
    No, non-clickable by policy since August 2023
    Use for codes
    Code as text plus spoken; the link cannot help you here

  • Channel profile links

    Clickable?
    Yes, up to 14, first one shown by the Subscribe button
    Use for codes
    Your code page as the first link

Reading the numbers

YouTube analytics show clicks on description links but nothing about code usage, and Shorts give you no link data at all. Copies on your code page are the missing column: a Short that spikes copies with zero clicks is working exactly as Shorts are supposed to, and without copy counting it would look like a dud. Reporting that to a brand credibly is covered in how to report code engagement.

What goes wrong

  • Treating Shorts like long-form. Links there are dead, so a Shorts strategy that depends on a description link produces nothing.
  • Hardcoding campaign URLs into evergreen descriptions. The video outlives the campaign, and you cannot realistically edit fifty descriptions when the deal changes.
  • Leaving the code out of the spoken audio. A viewer watching on a TV cannot read a description at all.

How to tell it worked

YouTube reports clicks on description links and nothing about Shorts. A Short that spikes copies with zero clicks is working exactly as Shorts are meant to, and without copy counting it would look like a failure.

Related guides

Build your YouTube code page

One link for descriptions and Shorts alike, edited once when a code changes.

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