Considering setting up a YouTube channel? Well, here’s what you need to know.
1. The basics of creating your YouTube channel.
YouTube allows you to directly sign in if you have a Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, you can go to YouTube and click on “sign up” to create your YouTube business account.
Once you log in to your YouTube account, make sure you fill out the required details, such as name, cover photo, etc.
Profile name
Consider your profile name as the heart of your account. Your audience will know you by your channel name. It is better not to change the account name frequently. Make sure you choose a name that is relevant for your channel and you don’t need to change it as your channel grows.
It’s wise to create a name that’s catchy and describes your channel at the same time. Try to keep the name short so that people don’t forget it easily.
Cover picture
Apart from a catchy name, you should also select a relevant and attractive cover picture. This should draw the attention of your viewers instantly.
About section
The ‘About’ section will give a brief idea of your channel to your viewers. Don’t write a long introduction. Keep it short, yet make sure that the message creates a good impression on your target audience. In addition to describing your channel, you can also provide your business and contact details if you want.
2. Do your research.
If you are not sure about the content you want to make for your YouTube channel, it is better to do some research. Figure out what type of content your target audience would like to see before you start creating something.
Even if you are a new YouTuber, you can get ideas about the type of content to make from other platforms. In fact, your website can provide information about the types of customers you deal with and their preferences.
Various social media websites can also become your go-to platforms to get insights about your target audience and their preferences so that you can create content accordingly.
3. Plan your content and upload it.
Creating content for YouTube requires a lot of planning and proper execution of those plans. If you want your viewers to stay hooked to your channel, make sure you select the right type of videos.
YouTubers usually plan way ahead of time and also have a content calendar that allows them to post regularly. You can follow this strategy so that you don’t run out of ideas to create videos for your channel and avoid last-minute obstacles before uploading your videos.
The type of content you want to create depends on two things: your business and its target audience.
For example, if you have a product-based company, you may find success if you make tutorial videos for those products. On the other hand, if you have a service-based company, you can be creative with your content and present various situations why your audience may require your services.
Finding your target niche is crucial if you want to see your YouTube channel grow. Keep your audience and your business’s purpose in mind when you create content. Make a list of topics that you think align with your business idea. If it’s a bicycle review channel, then perhaps go down the safety route, or review items to upgrade the e-bike model. That should help in creating videos that get the message across to your audience.
4. Optimize the titles and descriptions of your video.
YouTube is much more than a video-sharing platform; it is also the biggest video search engine in the world. Like other search engines, YouTube also works according to the basic rules of SEO.
If you want your YouTube channel to appear on the search results, you should optimize your videos’ descriptions and titles with keywords that are most likely to match those search results.
Try to keep your titles short and don’t forget to include primary keywords in them. The titles need to be catchy, yet relevant to your video’s content.
Apart from the titles, it’s also wise to optimize the video descriptions. Use both primary and secondary keywords in these descriptions since you have a higher character limit to work with.
A few more ways to optimize video descriptions are:
The description should accurately describe the video’s content so that it attracts more views.
Don’t make the description too detailed. It may lead viewers to lose interest in the video.
Using long-tail keywords is more likely to work because people usually search with long search phrases to find relevant videos.
Don’t forget to add relevant hashtags in the descriptions as they improve your channel’s SEO by categorizing the videos properly.
Try to write short sentences and paragraphs to make the descriptions mobile-friendly and easy to read.
You can tag other people in your videos’ descriptions by adding their channel’s URL if you want.
It is also possible to drive YouTube traffic to your website if you include your website’s URL in the video’s description.
5. Integrate with your website and social media accounts.
You need to make the most of your social media accounts to achieve bigger marketing goals, such as increasing traffic and driving sales. Merely getting subscribers by making videos shouldn’t be the end of your business plan.
As already mentioned, you can drive YouTube traffic to your website by including your site’s link. You should also find other creative ways to direct the viewers and subscribers to your website.
Add your website’s and other social media accounts’ links in the ‘About’ section. Apart from that, you can add links to various products and services in the descriptions of videos that are relevant to them.
Go a step further and embed your social media accounts’ links in your cover image.
If you have a CTA at the end of your video, you can add your company’s website link there.
Apart from your website’s link, you can add the links of relevant products and social media account links. You can buy YouTube views from SocialPlus which will in turn increase your organic traffic.
6. Cross-promote your channel on other platforms.
Promoting your channel plays a crucial role in making your audiences aware of your videos. That would help gain more views and subscribers.
Optimizing your channel’s SEO isn’t the only way to improve its discoverability. You should also spend time promoting the channel properly so that your target audience can appreciate the videos that you have created.
One of the best ways to promote your channel is by leveraging the power and reach of other platforms. For example, you can post the teaser of your upcoming video on your Instagram story or your company’s social media page to get more views and increase the overall reach of your channel.
Cross-promoting your videos on other channels would eventually increase your subscribers that may visit your website from your videos’ descriptions.
7. Analyze and improve.
You should constantly keep analyzing your performance to get an idea of where you need to pay more attention while creating the videos. YouTube provides a built-in analytics tool that gives various details about how your videos have performed over time.
It is essential to get an understanding of the type of videos that your audience wants to see, their interests, and key demographics. The built-in analytics tool also provides information about the search phrases that led viewers to land on your videos. This information is crucial if you want to fine-tune your SEO strategy.
The best way to improve your videos and see your channel grow is to keep analyzing your performance and monitoring your audiences’ preferences. Running a successful YouTube channel requires time, effort, and patience. You need to constantly keep improving your YouTube SEO strategies to ensure that your videos keep popping up whenever people search with related keywords.
