Video chapters are a simple but powerful way to make your product videos more effective, engaging, and user-friendly. By breaking your video into clearly labeled sections, you give viewers an easy way to navigate directly to the content they care about most.

Example of chapters for a product video.

For product videos, this can be really important. Customers often want to see specific features, installation steps, or use cases without having to watch the entire video. Chapters allows them to find what they are after easily. Imagine a five-minute product demo with chapters like “Key Features,” “How It Works,” and “Troubleshooting.” A potential buyer can jump straight to what matters most, increasing satisfaction and reducing frustration.

Chapters also make your content more professional and trustworthy. They show you understand your audience and respect their time. Instead of forcing viewers to scrub through the timeline blindly, you’re giving them a guided, on-demand experience. This is especially important for technical products, where clarity and ease of use can strongly influence purchase decisions.

From a marketing perspective, chapters can improve engagement metrics. Viewers are more likely to watch longer when they can skip around easily, reducing drop-off rates. Many platforms, including YouTube, also reward structured videos with better search visibility, making your content easier to find.

Finally, chapters help with accessibility and training. Employees, partners, or customers learning about your product can revisit specific sections as needed, supporting self-paced learning and reducing the need for repeat support inquiries.

Adding chapters is a low-effort, high-impact improvement for any product video. By making your content easier to navigate, you deliver a better experience, build trust, and increase the likelihood that viewers will take the next step toward purchase.

So, how do you do it?

I thought you’d never ask. It’s actually quite simple, depending on your preferred platform. The major platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, etc., provide a straightforward way to do this as part of the upload process.

If you want to host the video on your website, you’ll need to provide a sidecar file, if your player doesn’t natively support chapters. If you search online, you’ll find that making a sidecar is a very easy process.

Final Thoughts

With everyone vying for attention and the prevalence of videos for almost everything you can imagine, it’s crucial to stand out. Chaptered videos, especially for products, offer significant advantages. They act more more like manuals, allowing users to select specific sections that align with their needs. While a collection of numerous small videos may seem appealing, they can be more challenging to maintain and may confuse users. Playlists are an alternative, but there’s nothing quite like the sleekness of chaptered videos.

~ The End ~

Further Reading That Might Help:

• YouTube Help – Video Chapters
  Official YouTube support page explaining how to add manual and automatic chapters.
• Wistia – How to Add Chapters to YouTube Videos
  A clear guide on both manual timestamps and YouTube’s auto-chapter feature, plus best practices.
• Hurrdat Marketing – YouTube Chapters: What They Are & How to Add Them
  Explains benefits for SEO and viewer engagement, with step-by-step instructions.
• TubeBuddy – How to Add Chapters on YouTube Videos and Why You Should
  Covers advantages for SEO, improved watch time, and a practical tutorial.
• Reddit /r/NewTubers – Are YouTube Chapters Helpful or a Hindrance?
  A community discussion of real-world creator experiences with using chapters.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• • • • Was this post useful to you?
      • Did the stories help clarify the message?
      • What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior, not just knowledge.

We recently answered some questions for a discussion panel. Rather than waste the effort that we put into them, we thought we might post them here. There are five of them and they all focus on the strategic use of eLearning. Feel free to comment if you disagree with anything we say.

Pickup one of our free eLearning Guides – “Elevate Your Onboarding.”

Question: We’ve struggled to standardize onboarding for different roles across our five facilities. What are some of the best practices you’ve seen for creating high-impact onboarding experiences in complex operational environments?

Our Answer: This is a common challenge for many organizations, particularly those operating across multiple sites. There’s often a tension between giving every new hire a clear understanding of how the organization functions as a whole and efficiently onboarding experienced professionals who primarily need alignment with your specific technologies, processes, and culture.

Many onboarding programs swing too far in one direction, either overwhelming most new employees with too much information (the “firehose” approach) or under-serving highly skilled hires with content they already know. This often results in a bloated, fragmented system that’s hard to maintain and scale.

Here are eight best practices that we’ve seen work well in complex operational environments:

1. Understand and Document the Business Needs and Personnel Landscape

It’s easy to get lost without a map. Spend time looking at the big picture, including employee retention and turnover, internal versus external promotions, and existing survey data for current onboarding (if you’re collecting them). Look for trends and opportunities.

2. Modular Onboarding Design

Create a core onboarding curriculum that applies to everyone. It should cover the company mission, values, safety protocols, and organizational structure. Then layer on role-specific or site-specific modules tailored to function, facility, and level of experience. This keeps it scalable without becoming one-size-fits-all.

3. Preboarding to Build Momentum

Use the time between offer acceptance and day one to begin onboarding. This can include digital welcome kits, video messages from leadership, and introductory resources. It eases the transition and frees up time for higher-impact learning once they’re onsite.

4. Mentorship and Buddy Systems

Pair new hires with a peer or mentor during their first 30–60 days to accelerate cultural integration and provide real-time support for navigating tools, processes, and expectations specific to their role or facility.

5. Onboarding Scorecards and Milestones

Clearly define onboarding goals for each role and monitor progress using 30-, 60-, and 90-day scorecards. These help managers and new hires stay aligned while allowing for feedback and adjustment during the ramp-up period.

6. Leverage Technology for Consistency

Use an onboarding platform or learning management system (LMS) to deliver standardized content and track completion. This ensures consistency across locations while allowing for local adaptation.

7. Solicit Feedback and Continuously Improve

Conduct short surveys or debriefs with new hires at the end of their onboarding period. What worked well? What was missing? Use this feedback to continually refine and improve the experience.

Final Thoughts

The key to successful onboarding is balancing consistency with flexibility. A well-designed onboarding framework should ensure every employee feels welcomed, equipped, and connected without overwhelming them or wasting their time. Start with a strong foundation, then adapt smartly to the needs of the role and location.

~ The End ~

Further Reading That Might Help:

• Four things that make onboarding actually work for new employees.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• • • • Was this post useful to you?
      • Did the stories help clarify the message?
      • What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior, not just knowledge.

This post is the last in this series. If you missed the rest please see the links at the bottom of this page. After breaking down the pros and cons of using a web-base self-service approach over an LMS for training, it’s time to draw a conclusion.

Typical use cases for an API based data collection system can be divided into two separate streams:

First, it is very common to encounter organizations with clear training or planning needs that they cannot meet because they either lack a learning management system (LMS) entirely or cannot reliably schedule its use within the organization.

Second, in any fast-paced industry, it is typical to have client-facing training materials that form part of the client interaction. To ensure client success, customers often need to understand a product, process, or regulation, which requires them to complete some form of training. Enforced training is notoriously unpopular. The ability to offer self-serve, on-demand training that captures the required learner data directly from the website is therefore very appealing.

This approach is not an off-the-wall, untested idea. It is something we have implemented successfully for several large organizations to deliver on-demand training to hundreds of thousands of users. It is also substantially more cost-effective than deploying a full LMS and requires far less time and effort to set up and maintain.

Of course, some highly regulated industries cannot use this kind of approach and need the added security and compliance features of an enterprise-grade LMS. However, for most organizations, outward-facing training typically involves content that is neither proprietary nor heavily regulated.

At the end of the day, it comes down to whether you need easy-access, on-demand, web-based training or an enterprise-level LMS with all of its advanced features.

The ideal organization for this form of training delivery is one with a limited budget, limited access to an LMS, and limited resources. Despite these constraints, they still need to collect data about the learner’s experience, assessments, and completion details.

If that sounds like you, then this might be the right solution. The combination of ease of use for the learner and the rich data available to the provider makes for a compelling package, especially when you consider the cost savings.

If you decide to try it, let us know. We would be happy to help or just hear about your experience.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• • • • Was this post useful to you?
      • Did the stories help clarify the message?
      • What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior, not just knowledge.

This post is about the pros and cons of using a web-based emitter and API rather than a regular LMS. We’ve tried to fair, but ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if any of this works for you.

“Alright then, break it down for me.”

Here’s a list of the pros and cons for the web-based modules:

“Wait a moment, those last three cons sound like we will need some technical help.”

Yes, that’s true! But actually, it’s quite a small ask. Once you’ve established an API, you can use it for any of your courses (i.e. it’s a one-time investment). The total time needed by someone developing a simple API is modest when compared to the monthly cost of an LMS. The set up time is usually no more than a couple of days.

However, if you’re looking to connect this API to your enterprise systems, then that raises a whole bunch of other issues to do with security, data, consistency, etc.

We don’t recommend taking that approach as this is intended to be a quick and simple solution that creates a significant amount of useful data which could be easily manipulated with a spreadsheet or other report software, not a replacement for an enterprise LMS.

OK, now let’s look at the LMS option:

Conclusion:
Obviously, no one size fits all! What is true, however, is that many projects fail to get off the ground because of the potential investment needed to set up and run an LMS. If you find yourself in that situation, then this approach might prove to be a scalable, effective and cost-efficient way to gather data about the efficacy and performance of your training modules. If you need compliance and a record of the learners’ activities, that is the only way outside of an LMS/LRS to achieve that.

Most importantly, it creates an opportunity for learners to self-service and use just the training that they need without engaging with a potentially intimidating LMS.

Read part six for a final conclusion.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• • • • Was this post useful to you?
      • Did the stories help clarify the message?
      • What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior, not just knowledge.

In part one of this series, we described a way of using SCORM modules on a regular website without losing the valuable data that is generated from an LMS. In this post: Part 2 of 6 will review a comparison of the data available from a typical SCORM module housed in an LMS compared to a simple website emitter.

A SCORM-compliant eLearning module can provide a range of useful data to help track learner progress and performance.

This data is typically reported back to a Learning Management System (LMS), allowing administrators to monitor engagement, identify trends, and support learners as needed.

OK, so how does our low-cost alternative stack up? Remarkably well. You can capture everything you’d expect from a SCORM module plus anything else you feel like adding. We typically support all of the events and verbs used by a learning record system, which gives you a huge amount of data if you want to know about almost every aspect of the learner’s journey.

If you use a simple data-emitter and an http: backend, just like an LMS, you can get more basic information and as much custom data as you want:

And so on – in fact here’s the current information we can capture:

Not a bad list huh? And think about having the opportunity to make easy to access, on demand training, that still provides a significant amount of valuable data about the user’s learning experience.

Ok you’re thinking – “What’s the catch –  how hard is it to do this?”

In the next part of the series, we will take a look at the basics of implementation, the considerations and any challenges you might face in choosing to use an API instead of an LMS.

Did you miss Part 1? You can find it here – “Why You Might Not Need an LMS After All”

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• Was this post useful to you?
• Did the stories help clarify the message?
• What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior, not just knowledge.

The advent of simple ways to leverage SCORM without an LMS!

Part 1 of 6

Introduction:

Have you ever tried moving a wardrobe up a staircase that’s just a bit too narrow? That awkward, frustrating struggle? That’s what using a full Learning Management System (LMS) can feel like when all you really need is to deliver a few effective training modules or you are adopting self-service training to a wide audience but still need stats.

Most people default to an LMS because it’s what the industry tells them they need. But here’s something few talk about: you can deliver rich, trackable, professional training experiences without ever touching an LMS. It starts with something called SCORM.

SCORM is a technical format that packages learning content along with quizzes, interactions, and tracking logic. It’s kind of like a pre-made training box, ready to deliver and measure learning outcomes. Normally, SCORM gets uploaded into an LMS. But it doesn’t have to be. You can host SCORM files on the web and let people access them directly—no big system needed.

It’s a different kind of power. When you go without an LMS, you save more than money. You save time. You bypass the endless admin. You focus on what matters: the learning itself. And yes, cost is a huge factor too. LMS platforms often charge per user, per month, and those fees add up quickly, especially for growing teams. But with web-based SCORM delivery, you can serve unlimited users at a fraction of the cost, especially if you’re managing your own hosting or using a lightweight SCORM player.

The Solution:

Now you might be wondering if you’ll lose tracking and analytics. Not at all. SCORM itself is designed to track completions, quiz results, and session data. Simple data emitters that are part of your courses and an API endpoint, give you clean dashboards and reports, so you still know who took the training and how they performed. The only thing you’re leaving behind is the bloated interface and setup time and cost of a full LMS.

Another unexpected bonus is creative control. LMS platforms often force you into their structure, branding, and user experience. But when you host your SCORM content directly, you can make the learning feel like a true part of your brand. Change the look, tweak the flow, or embed it right into your own website. The course becomes yours in every way.

Now, is this approach for everyone? Maybe not. If you’re a large enterprise needing to manage thousands of courses, compliance certifications, and tightly defined learning paths, a full LMS still makes sense. But if you’re a smaller organization, or if your goal is to quickly deliver a handful of high-quality, trackable courses, you might be better off skipping the heavy machinery.

Is it technically difficult to implement? Definitely not. You add the emitter to your modules, set up a simple API on your web or another server and you’re ready to go.

So let me ask you this. Are you paying for features you don’t use? Are your learners frustrated with the process before they even get to the content? Are you tired of hitting walls every time you want to change something simple?

If any of that sounds familiar, maybe it’s time to step back and rethink what learning delivery could look like. Maybe it’s time to stop forcing the wardrobe up the stairs and find a doorway that actually fits.

I’d love to know what you’re using now. Does it work? What gets in the way? And would a more direct, lightweight approach make your job easier.

In the next blog in this series we will look at the data analysis in more detail.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• Was this post useful to you?
• Did the stories help clarify the message?
• What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior,  not just knowledge.

In today’s fast-paced world, attention is a scarce commodity. As eLearning professionals, we are continually challenged to design experiences that align with how people actually learn and live. One approach that has consistently shown value is delivering content in short, focused bursts rather than in long, exhaustive courses.

Short bursts of learning, often called microlearning, cater to the reality that learners have limited time and fluctuating attention spans. Instead of requiring learners to carve out hours to sit through extensive modules, brief sessions allow them to absorb key concepts quickly and efficiently. This makes learning more accessible and less daunting, increasing the likelihood that people will engage regularly and retain information over time.

There is also cognitive science behind this approach. Research has shown that spaced repetition and bite-sized content promote better retention and understanding than large volumes of information presented all at once. When learners can revisit material in manageable chunks, it reduces cognitive overload and allows them to build knowledge incrementally and more meaningfully.

Additionally, short learning sessions fit seamlessly into the flow of daily work. They offer just-in-time solutions to real-world problems, empowering employees to apply what they’ve learned immediately. This immediacy enhances both relevance and motivation, fostering a more active learning culture.

As eLearning continues to evolve, the shift towards concise, purpose-driven content is not just a trend but a strategic response to how modern learners thrive. By embracing short bursts of learning, we meet our audiences where they are and help them achieve lasting, impactful growth.

Before You Go, A Quick Feedback Loop

I’ll practice what I preach:

• Was this post useful to you?
• Did the stories help clarify the message?
• What parts felt unclear or too abstract?

Reply with your thoughts — or better yet, tell me one small change you made after looking at your own assessment data. Because when we listen, we learn. And when we learn, we create eLearning that actually changes behavior,  not just knowledge.