How to Create a YouTube Channel to Grow Your Brand and ...

It might seem harder to learn how to create a YouTube channel than it is to get started with some of the other social networks. But it doesn't have to be. Skiptocontent ItmightseemhardertolearnhowtocreateaYouTubechannelthanitistogetstartedwithsomeoftheothersocialnetworks.Butitdoesn’thavetobe. Funfact:YouTubeisthesecond-mostvisitedwebsiteintheworldbehindGoogle—YouTube’sparentcompany. Funsuggestion:Yourbrandshouldhaveapresencethere. TheopportunitytoreachyouraudienceonYouTubeismassive.It’sthemostpopularsocialplatformamongU.S.adults,andnearly75%ofAmericansusethesocialvideosite,comparedtothe69%whouseFacebook. MorethanhalfofthoseusersvisitYouTubeeverysingleday.Wouldn’titbeniceiftheytookalookatyourcontentwhiletheywerethere? Luckily,creatingaYouTubeaccountisn’tdifficult.CreatingasuccessfulYouTubechannelisalittlemorework…butdon’tworry,we’vegotyoucoveredthere,too. TableofContents HowtocreateanewYouTubechannelin5simplesteps 9tipsforstartingaYouTubechannel Bonus:Downloadthefree30-dayplantogrowyourYouTubefollowingfast,adailyworkbookofchallengesthatwillhelpyoukickstartyourYoutubechannelgrowthandtrackyoursuccess.Getrealresultsafteronemonth. HowtocreateanewYouTubechannelin5simplesteps MakingasuccessfulYouTubechannelstartswithmakingaYouTubechannel.Here’showtobuildyouraccount. Step1:CreateaGoogleaccount IfyouuseGmail,GoogleMaps,orGooglePlay,youprobablyalreadyhaveaGoogleaccount…soskipaheadtothenextstep. Ifyou’restartingfromscratch,headheretosignupforanewGoogleaccount. Thenameandemailaddresswon’tbepubliclylinkedtoyourbrand,sodon’tworryaboutkeepingthoseon-message.ThisisjustyourkeytogetintheYouTubedoor. Step2:CreateaYouTubeaccount WithyourGoogleaccount,you’reautomaticallysetupwithapersonalYouTubeaccount.ButtouseYouTubeforyourbusiness,you’llwanttosetupaBrandAccount. JustgotoyourYouTubeaccountpage,clickCreateaChannel,andthenenteranameforyourBrandAccount.You’rein! WhenyoucreateaYouTubeBrandAccount,youcangivemultiplepeopleadminaccessandcustomizethenameandappearancetomatchyourbrand. AnothercoolthingaboutBrandAccounts:theyallowyoutoaccessYouTubeAnalytics,whichofferssuperhelpfulinsightaboutwho’swatchingyourvideosandwhatcontentispopular.(LearnmoreinourpostonhowtouseYouTubeformarketing.) Step3:CustomizeyourYouTubechannel Timetomakethissweetnewsocialmediaprofileyourown. Inyourchanneldashboard,clickCustomizechannel.Gothroughthethreetabs—Layout,BrandingandBasicInfo—toenterinformationthatwillhelpoptimizeyourchannelforaudiencediscovery. Whenfillingoutthisinformation,usedescriptivekeywordsthatwillhelpyouraccountappearinsearches. Keywordscanincludeyourchannel’stopics,yourindustry,questionsyourcontentcananswerorproductsfeatured. UnderBranding,you’llhavetheopportunitytouploadyourchannelartandiconstogiveyourchannelauniquelook.Onethat,ideally,alignswithyouroverallbrandandvisuallyconnectsthisYouTubeaccountwithyourothersocialmediaplatformsandwebpresence. We’vegotsometemplatesforYouTubechannelartrightheretogetyoustarted. Step4:UploadyourfirstYouTubevideo Well,thisisexciting.You’reonthecuspofbecomingaYouTubecontentcreator!I’mnotcrying,you’recrying. Toputyourfirstvideooutintotheworld,hittheCreatebuttoninthetop-rightcornerandfollowtheinstructions. Step5:MakeyourYouTubechanneldiscoverable Liketheoldsayinggoes:IfyouhaveamazingcontentonYouTubebutnobodyseesit…what’sthepoint? Togetviewsandsubscribers,you’llwanttooptimizeyourchannelandvideosfordiscovery.We’vegotacompleteguidetopromotingyourYouTubechannelifyouwanttodiveindeep.Inthemeantime,here’sthe30-secondrundown: Optimizevideotitles Useconcise,descriptivetitlesthatincludeGoogle-friendlykeywords.Titlesarethefirstthinguserssee,buttheyalsohelpthesearchengineunderstandwhatyourvideosareabout.Somakesureallyourtitlesarepunchyandintriguing,butalsoclearandincludekeywords. OptimizeyourYouTubedescription It’simportanttobeclear,conciseanddescriptivehere,too.Makesuretofront-loadyourkeywordsandaddlinkstootherplaylists. Anothergoodtricktouseinvideodescriptions?Createa“tableofcontents”withtimestampstohelpviewersfindwhatthey’relookingfor. Formorespecifictips,checkoutourcompleteguidetowritingawinningYouTubedescription. Addtags(inmoderation) Whileitcanbetemptingtoloadupthissectionwithclickbaitytags,makesuretoonlyincludetagsthatarerelevanttoyourcontent.Behonest,andchoosequalityoverquantity.Thegoalistoreachviewerswhoareactuallyinterestedincontentlikeyours. TagsalsohelpYouTube’salgorithmunderstandwhatyourcontentisabout.Makesuretoaddacategoryortwotohelpthesearchengineputyourvideosinfrontoftherightaudience. Cross-promote AddalinktoyourYouTubechannelonyourothersocialprofiles,websiteandemailsignaturetoletyourexistingfansknowyou’restartingavideoempire. Understandthealgorithm Ifyouhaven’talready,nowisthetimetofamiliarizeyourselfwiththeYouTubealgorithm.ThisAIdeterminesnotjustsearchresults,butrecommendationsfortheall-important“what’supnext”sidebar,too. 9tipsforstartingaYouTubechannel 1.Useeye-catchingchannelartandthumbnails Yourchannelartandthumbnailsareyourbillboards,somakeanimpression! Aneffectivethumbnailisclearandaccurate,andworksintandemwiththevideo’stitle.Butitalsoneedstostandout. Thumbnailsarethewayviewersdecidewhattowatchwhenthey’reskimmingthroughsearchresults.Thismeansyoudon’tjustneedtocommunicatewhatyourvideoisabout.Youneedtostandoutfromthecompetition,too. Andalotofthecompetitionis…loud. Evaluatewhateveryoneelseisdoing,andtrytoswerve.Forexample,chooseadistinctcolorpalette,orgofull-onminimalisttostandoutinaseaofneoncolorsandImpactfont. Experimentwithourchannelarttemplateshere. 2.Choosetheperfectchannelicon AchanneliconislikealogoforyourYouTubepresence.Itshouldmatchyourbrandandcomplementyourchannelbanner. Whenpickinganicon,followYouTube’srecommendedimagedimensionstoavoidanystretching.Previewyourchannelonmultipledevicestocheckeverythinglooksgood. YouTuberJ.J.McCulloughusesacartooncaricatureofhimselfashislogotorepresentbothhisartandhispersonality. 3.Createplaylists OrganizingandcreatingvideoplaylistsonYouTubeisthebestwaytokeepyourvieweronyourpage. NotonlydoYouTubeplaylistsorganizeyourrelatedcontentinoneneat-and-tidylist,theyalsoauto-play.Onceonevideoends,thenextbegins…andsoon.Thisminimizesthechancesthataviewerwillmoveontoanotherchannel. FinancialcounsellorMaxMitchell,forinstance,addsallofhisTFSAvideostooneplaylist,soviewerscanjustsitbackandlearnabouttax-freesavingsaccountsforhoursonend. 4.Createachanneltrailer Whensomeonefirstcomesacrossyourchannel,achanneltrailerisawayforthemtogetasneakpeekatyourcontent.Bettermakeitcount. JustliketheHollywoodhotshotsgetyouhookedtoseeAvengers:TokyoDrift,youcangiveyouraudienceatastethatleavesthemwantingmore. Assumetheviewerisaperfectstranger,sointroduceyourselfandtellthemexactlywhytheyshouldsubscribe.Keepitshort,sweetandsnappy:let‘emknowwhatyourcontentislikeandwhentheycanexpectnewuploads,likeYogawithAdrienedoesonherchannel. 5.Creategreatcontent,consistently Thisisgoingtosoundveryobvious,butwe’regoingtosayitanyway:Viewerswanttowatchgoodvideos. ButwhatmakesagoodYouTubevideoisalittledifferentthan,say,whatmakesavideothatwouldwindaforeignfilmfestival. AccordingtoSearchEngineJournal,successfulYouTubevideoshaveattention-grabbingintrosandgreatbranding,backgroundmusic,andclearaudio. Bonus:Downloadthefree30-dayplantogrowyourYouTubefollowingfast,adailyworkbookofchallengesthatwillhelpyoukickstartyourYoutubechannelgrowthandtrackyoursuccess.Getrealresultsafteronemonth. Getthefreeguiderightnow! Callstoactionareimportanttoo.Whetheryourgoalistodriveyouraudiencetoyourwebsite,increaseyoursubscribercountorsparkaconversationinthecomments,therightCTAcanhelpmakethathappen. Likewithallsocialmediacontent,there’snoperfectformulaforasuccessfulYouTubevideo.Somebrandsthrivewithslick,highlyproducedcontent,whileothersgaintractionbybeingraw,unfilteredandauthentic. VanityFair’sYouTubechannelisaninspiringone.Itgoesbeyondwhatyoumightreadinthemagazine’sprofilesandfeaturesvideosofactorssharingeverythingtheydoinadayortakingaliedetectortest. Exploresomeideasofengagingcontentfromothersocialmediaplatformstoinspireyourexperimentation. 6.Scheduleyourvideos Giveyourvideosthebestchancetomakeitbigbypostingthemattherighttime:whenpeopleareonlineandreadytowatchthem. Yourchannelanalyticswilltellyouifthere’sadayoftheweekorspecifictimethattendstogethighviewershiporengagement. Onceyou’vegotthatintel,youcanpublishregularlywithinthistimeframe,withthehelpofschedulingtoolslikeHootsuite. LearnmoreabouthowtoscheduleYouTubevideos. 7.Understandyouraudience It’shardtomakecompellingcontentifyoudon’tknowwhoyou’remakingitfor,somakesureyou’vegotagoodsenseofyouraudiencepersonabeforeyoudivein. Whoarethey?Whatdotheylike?(Whywon’ttheycallme?!) Onceyou’vegotafewvideosunderyourbelt,seewhetherornotyou’rehittingthemarkbydivingintoyourYouTubeAnalytics.Coldhardnumberswilltellyouif,howandwhenyourworkofartismakinganimpact. 8.ExperimentwithYouTubeadvertising Ifyou’renotgettingthereachyouwantwithgoodol’fashionedorganiccontent,itmightbetimetotossafewbucksbehindapromocampaign. YouTubeadsareavailableinthesefourcategories: Skippablein-streamads Non-skippablein-streamads(includingbumperads) Videodiscoveryads(formerlyknownasin-displayads) Non-videoads(i.e.,overlaysandbanners) FormoreinfoonYouTube’sadformatsandhowtousethem,checkoutourdetailedguidetoYouTubeadvertising. 9.Askviewerstosubscribe Whensomeonesubscribestoyourchannel(andhitsthatbellbutton),theygetanalertwhenyouputanewvideooutintotheworld—sogrowingyoursubscriberbaseisthebestwaytoboostyourorganicreach. There’sareasonwhy“Don’tforgettosubscribe”isthesign-offofchoiceforYouTubersbigandsmall. Ofcourse,growingyoursubscribercountiseasiersaidthandone.Forthatreason,wehaveafullguideonhowtogetmoreYouTubesubscribers. Onceyouhit1,000subscribersand4,000watchhourswithintheyear,you’llbeabletoregisterasaYouTubepartnerandmonetizeyourchannel.LearnmoreaboutYouTube’sPartnerProgrammehere. ThisisjustthetipoftheicebergforcreatingasuccessfulYouTubechannel.Ifyou’reinterestedinlearningmore,checkoutourblogpostabouthowtogetmoreviewsonYouTube,23smartwaystopromoteyourYouTubechannel,andhowtobecomeaYouTubemarketingmaster. WithHootsuite,youcaneasilyupload,schedule,andpromoteyourYouTubechannelandvideosacrossmultiplesocialnetworksfromonedashboard.Tryitfreetoday. GetStarted GrowyourYouTubechannelfastwithHootsuite.Easilymoderatecomments,schedulevideo,andpublishtoFacebook,Instagram,andTwitter. TryitforFree RelatedArticles Followthis10-stepguidetocreateawinningYouTubemarketingstrategyandtakeyourYouTubepresencetonewheightsin2022. HerearethemostimportantYouTubestatisticsmarketersshouldknowfor2022.Someofthemaresurprising! LookingtoincreaseyourYouTubevideoviews?Stepone:findoutwhat’snewwiththeYouTubealgorithmandhowitranksyourcontent. IfyouwanttogetmoreviewsonYouTube,youneedtorespondtoviewercomments,createvideoplaylists,designattention-grabbingthumbnailsandmore. ShowComments x Sorryforgettinginyourface,but... Wehaveaspecialtreatforyou.Schedulesocialposts,getreports,andhandleallyourcommentsandDMsinoneplace. TryHootsuiteforfreefor60days.(That’s30daysmorethanpeoplewhodon’treadpopupsget.) StartYourFree60-DayTrial Offerexpiresin04m 20s Norisk,allreward.Cancelanytimewithin60days TryitforFree TryitforFree ThankYou