Is it Worth it to Have an Intro?

I think the only intros that are "okay" are overlay intros that appear over the video for a brief 4-5 seconds and then fades out. Otherwise you're just throwing in the same 10 second intro every video, which makes people more likely to click away to another video.
 
I've never been much a fan of intros for pure Let's Players hence why I haven't delved into making one myself. I feel that outros are the key way to end a video as professionally as you can :)
 
I did have an intro before on my gaming channel, I thought it would help persuade the viewer that I'm someone worth subscribing to as I put in effort and good editing skills to produce the intro. But, now I realise that they're just kind of annoying and waste time, especially since I realised a lot of my viewers clicked off in less than a minute, I assume due to boredom. In answer to your question, I would either not have on, or play some really intense / funny moment at the very beginning for 5-10 seconds, then play a short intro, then continue on to the video. This allows you to grab the viewers attention immediately, and also show off your editing skills afterwards, also looking very professional! :D
 
I've been wondering the same thing friends. I run a gaming tip / game review channel and i've been wondering if I should keep my intro in my main episodic series (the reviews) or throw it away for good. I've fixed it up a bit, but an opinion on if i should keep it would be nice to get. It's on my Counter Strike: Global Offensive review video if anybody has enough time to check. Wondering if i need to trash it or keep it.

Thanks,

Tim from Gamer's Survival Guide
 
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I don't think they're necessary, if you want something at the start before getting straight into the video, maybe think about taking a clip from your video to put at the beginning as a "teaser." For example, in my "reading weird fanfiction" video, at the start I have some clips of my boyfriend reacting to the story.

If you have an intro that is too long, it just gives people more of a chance to click away in the first few seconds, which will affect your retention time
 
Intros are pointless on an online platform for one simple reason:

The people who find your video based on the title or the thumbnail and don't know you as a creator don't give a s**t about who made the video or what the channel is called. They only care about the video that (apparently) has the content they are looking for. If they think you make cool content they will subscribe to your channel and don't need a constant reminder about who they're watching.

The only exception to this could be effective use of branding. But you need an actual brand to make that viable. For example, Rocket Jump has this short 5 second intro brand at the start of their videos, which is fine because their brand extends far beyond YouTube at this point. It promotes their company as a whole, not just their YouTube channel. A lot of YouTubers who currently use intros, however, do not actually have a brand beyond their own name. And that doesn't qualify as a brand in this context. Of course an intro could also just be part of a show, for example Shoddycast and their Storyteller series. But that's not the type of intro we're talking about.

In summary, use intro's only if you have a brand that is worth promoting beyond just your own name and your YouTube channel, such as a website or real-life shows or performances. And whatever you do, never make an intro longer than 5 seconds (doesn't apply to professional shows, series or movie 'shorts'). There are channels out there that have 30 (!!!!!) second intros in front of generic gaming footage or a vlog and I would smack those people in the face if I could. Nothing drives away viewers quicker. Not even unskipable ads.
 
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