Easier Ways to Join Colors and Granny Squares Together When Crocheting

So when I was in 

college my sister taught me how to crochet.  She tried teaching me a fancy granny square pattern that had double and triple crochets.  At first it was frustrating and I just wanted to give up and eventually did.  I took a break from it then thought to myself I had bought this hook and yarn I can't let it go to waste.  So I looked up online the pattern for a simple granny square like you see in the video below.  Two things that I find annoying when crocheting granny squares are:

1. Changing colors and tying off 

2. Joining granny squares together.

CHANGING COLORS AND TYING OFF 

What I found the most annoying is all the loss ends of yarn you had to tuck in when changing colors and you would end one color end and then have to attaching another and not always seamlessly.  Yesterday when looking for a easier way to combine granny squares for a prayer shawl I am working on I came across the following You Tube video below.  I at first started watching the video to refresh myself on how to make a basic granny square, but as I watched I was intrigued on how she joined two colors together and tried it and it is so much easier and not as messy of ends to tuck and cut.  

JOINING GRANNY SQUARES TOGETHER

I had never really been taught how to join granny squares together.  I either sewed them together with yarn or single crocheted them together. However, I never really liked how they looked.  So yesterday I decided to do some research and actually found several different ways to join granny squares together.  I learned that you could join 2 squares together using a double crochet method like I use in my pattern so it appears seamless or you can attach as you go like the following You Tube video demonstrates.  It is so much easier and cleaner.

My First Attempt at Joining with using Double Crochet Method.
Not the one shown in the video however same idea.