How to Make a YouTube Channel
YouTube is an excellent way to get
noticed on the internet and, in
some cases, you can even use it to
earn a living. To make a YouTube
channel, you'll need to set up the
channel using a Google account and
add channel art, a channel
description, and a channel name.
After creating your YouTube
channel, develop eye-catching
video content, and actively
maintain and promote your
channel to generate popularity.
Part One of Six:
Starting a Channel
Choose a good name for your
channel. Think of a name not
many people will use, but will
easily remember. If it's
inappropriate, you'll have a bad
image. You can choose to use your
real name if you'd like, or you can
make up a good one yourself. Just
remember once you've decided it
may take a while before you can
change that username again. For
example, if you decided on the
name "Ready Spaghetti" and then
realized it to be a bad choice you
might have to wait up to three
months to change that name. So
choose wisely.
Remember to make a cool
username and a catchy
channel name. You don't want it
to be like any other channel so be
creative and make a totally new
one that nobody but yourself coul
think of.
Be aware of potential
misunderstandings. For examp
the word "artistic" sounds a lot
"autistic," especially if you hav
British accent. Unless both wor
apply to you, you might want
choose something different.
Avoid saying "channel" in your
channel name. Just like "Star W
sounds cooler than "Star Wars:
Movie," it's better if you leave
the word "channel." For examp
"Brad's Math Channel" sounds l
professional than "Math with B
or "Brad the Math Man."
Try puns and rhymes. For exa
if your name is Jane Doe and y
an artist, you could name your
channel Jane Doe the Art Pro,
PicassDoe, or Doe Vinci.
Go to YouTube and log in wit
your Google account. Once yo
are logged in, you will see your
name or username at the top of th
left menu. Click this to access your
user page.
Add a profile picture. It's a
necessary piece of your
YouTube channel. Make sure it has
something to do with your chann
name to ensure it's not confused
with someone else's that looks
similar.
Add channel art. This is an
image that is seen at the top of
your channel page. YouTube will
show examples of how the image
will be displayed on the website, a
TV, or a mobile device. Try to put
the focus of the picture in the
middle; when your channel is
viewed on a mobile device, the
sides of the picture will be cut off.
You don't want to be left with half
your face!
Choose art that grabs viewers'
attention. It should be 2560 x
1440 pixels, and it must be
relevant to your channel's
message.
Include your channel's name o
message in the channel art. Thi
will help solidify your name in
viewer's mind.
Change your channel art regul
Unless you want to set a brand
image by keeping the same
picture, consider regularly
changing your channel art abo
what content you are releasin
your channel. For example, if y
are doing comedy sketches, ch
the channel art so that it relate
your current set of sketches.
You don't need Photoshop. GI
Picmonkey, Pixlr, and Krita are
examples of programs you can
to draw for free.
Don't steal art. Never take
someone else's work without
permission. Use free stock phot
or draw your own.
Describe your channel. Add a
brief description for your
channel to let the viewer know
what kind of content to expect. To
adjust the channel description, clic
the About tab in the main channel
window. From there click the “+
Channel description” button.
Use the description to include l
to your other websites, or to
update news about your chan
Discuss who appears in your vi
and link other related channels
Make sure your description ma
sense, because it is publicly visi
at all times. It should most like
be a brief description of you an
your channel.
Name your channel. Look at
your description and the
intended video content. Use this t
determine the name.
For example: if your videos are
about knitting beautiful hats, y
could call it: Proudly Knitted; T
Infinite Knitter; or Woolly
Mountains. And so forth.
Add some links. If you add link
to your social media from your
channel, make sure you have
created a separate account for eac
example, Facebook page, Twitter
account, Instagram account. But
remember, it's not always
recommended to do this.
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Part Two of Six:
Developing Content
Look at what's out there. The
first step to adding content is
deciding what you want to share
with the world. People use
YouTube for a huge variety of
things, from watching music
videos, laughing at comedy
sketches, learning with tutorial
videos, and much more. Think
about what you can bring to
audiences that they aren't getting
from anyone else.
Determine what your strength
are. If your friends keep telling
you that you're funny, consider
making comedy videos. If singing i
your thing, upload some videos of
you performing. The key is to
create content that will keep your
viewers coming back to see more.
Consider doing reviews.
Reviews are a great way to gai
viewers, especially if you are
reviewing something that people
will be searching for. People alwa
want to see good reviews before
making the decision to purchase a
product or service. There are a
variety of possible review topics,
including:
New albums
The latest gadgets
TV and movies
Video games
Books
Restaurants and other food
products
Businesses
Film as much as possible.
Constantly try to create more
content for your viewers. Not only
will a steady stream of content
keep your audience glued to your
channel, it will also help you
improve your craft as you continu
to develop your style.
Brush up on basic video-makin
techniques. If you're talking int
the camera, make sure that th
camera is steady and that you
speaking clearly and at a good
volume. You may have the fun
skit in the world, but nobody i
going to watch it if they can't
or see you properly.
If you are making a YouTube v
for a gaming channel, you will
need a recording software. The
are many recording software o
there, Bandicam being one of t
most popular.
With the Bandicam free trial, y
can make videos up to ten min
for free!
Practice editing your videos.
Cut out unneeded parts of the
video, and add music to keep the
viewer on your video. A well-edite
video will make a much stronger
impression on viewers than a
hastily thrown together creation.
Spend some time learning the ins
and outs of your video editing
software. Look up tutorials on ho
to perform basic editing functions.
There are a variety of free and
open source video editors avail
online. Many of these contain t
same features or similar featur
expensive professional editing
software. For beginners, feel fr
get acquainted with the free
software that comes with your
computer. For Macs, iMovie and
Windows, it's the Windows Mo
Maker. After you become
acquainted with these interfac
and the technology behind the
you can progress to more
complicated and more powerf
software.
If you use music, it will have to
Non-copyright music, or music
with permission of the maker.
Make your introductions
compelling. Most viewers will
determine a video's worth in the
first few seconds. Strive to make
your intros both entertaining and
informative. The longer viewers
watch your video, the higher
YouTube will rank your videos on
search results.
Show a teaser of clips from the
video that the viewer is about
watch.
Make sure that your personalit
front and center from the start
the video. Talk directly to the
audience. Introduce the video
personally, quickly discussing
to expect (don't give away you
twist if you have one!).
If you've built a brand, such as
name or a series that you are
creating, make sure that is dist
and professional looking at the
start of your video.
When making a nonfiction vid
such as a review or tutorial, m
sure that the purpose of the vi
is clear at the very beginning.
will keep viewers from looking
another, more informative vid
Capitalize on buzz. The media
constantly creates hype around
events throughout the year, in
virtually every field of interest.
These are referred to as “Tent-pol
events. Examine your programmin
and determine which events are
tent-pole events for your audience
Create videos leading up to the
event to capitalize on pre-even
searches. As anticipation grows
an event, more and more peop
will be searching for related
content.
Create videos during the event
cover it as it is happening. This
great for viewers that can't
otherwise experience the even
themselves.
Create follow-up videos after t
event. Use this time to summa
what happened and analyze a
information.
Interact with your viewers
throughout the process to kee
them coming back to your cha
During big events, increase the
amount of content you release
continue capitalizing on new
viewers. More content shows
viewers that you are
knowledgeable and passionate
about the event.
Tell a story. Every video, fiction
or nonfiction, essentially needs
to tell a story. There should be a
definitive beginning, middle, and
ending. This is as true for comedy
sketches as it is for a tutorial on
taking care of flowers.
Break up long videos into
segments that focus on differe
aspects of the larger issue that
video is addressing. This will m
the content more digestible fo
viewer.
Use annotations. These are
boxes of text that appear in
your video stream. Use them to
direct viewers to other videos,
channels, external websites and
more.
You can use annotations to eas
allow viewers to subscribe to y
channel.
Use annotations on old videos
link to updated content.
Annotations can act as a “table
contents” for long videos, allo
you to link to specific times in
video.
Throw a change-up every
once in a while. If you have
made a name for yourself making
skits, spend an episode talking
directly with the audience,
answering popular questions from
the comments and discussing the
process of your creativity. This
behind-the-scenes look will create
a stronger bond with your
audience and make them feel like
they have an impact on your work
Post as often as possible.
Although it's great to post
every hour, not everyone is that
enticed to post that often. You ma
want to upload a new video daily
or every other day.
Use some good recording
software such as FRAPS and
Xsplit. But if you can't afford those
you can try Bandicam, until you
have earned enough capital.
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Part Three of Six:
Uploading Videos
Upload your videos. Log in to
YouTube and click the Videos
tab in your User page. From here,
click the “+ Upload a video” butto
to start uploading your content.
Click the “Select files to upload”
button to browse for video files, o
drag them into the window.
YouTube will begin converting an
uploading the video.
If you want to control who
watches the video, click the Pri
drop-down menu and select
Private. You can then add the
YouTube usernames or email
addresses of the people who y
want to be able to view the fil
You can send up to 50 private
invitations per video.
If you want to upload videos t
are longer than 15 minutes, yo
will need to verify your accoun
with Google.
Give your video a name. You
can't upload something if you
can't give it a name! The titles of
your videos are the trigger to
earning views, likes, comments,
and even subscriptions at times.
Come up with creative tags.
Tagging your videos will help
make it show up when viewers
search for content. Make sure that
your tags apply to your video, but
also make sure that you aren't
using the same tags as everyone
else in your genre.
Try to narrow down your appe
a few keywords when coming
with tags. For example, instea
tagging your video as “singing
narrow it down to the style: “b
singing”, “country singing”,
“freestyle rapping”, etc.
You can tag videos any way th
you think people will search fo
Your tags should thoroughly
describe the content of your vi
Use a mixture of broad and sp
tags. For example, if you are
making a short comedy film ab
ninjas, use the tags “short film
“ninjas”, “funny”, “martial arts”
“action”, “fighting”, “silly”, etc.
You can use tags to create “set
videos. Create a unique tag an
then apply it to each video tha
you want to keep together. Thi
will lead to more clicks throug
your related videos.
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Part Four of Six:
Channel Maintenance
Keep a schedule. When
recording, make sure you keep
schedule of what day you need to
record so that you don't pressure
yourself with recording every day.
Keep adding videos. If you
want to have a successful
channel, you will need a steady
stream of content. Try to update
your channel every couple of
weeks. Let your viewers know if
you are going to be taking an
extended break, and when you'll b
back.
Setting a consistent release
schedule can help build a
following. Think of it like a TV
show; everyone looks forward
new episode of their favorite s
and they know exactly when it
be coming. Try to update week
or every other week.
Interact with the viewers. Try
to respond to comments when
you have time. This will create a
stronger bond between you and
your viewers. Viewers that feel tha
the content creator cares about
them will be more inclined to
return and watch more content, as
well as tell others about it.
Spend a few hours after uploa
a video responding to the
comments that viewers make
about it. These viewers are yo
most die-hard fans because th
are the ones eagerly anticipati
the release of new content and
brave enough to comment on i
Treat them with respect, and y
will see their numbers grow.
Moderate the comments on yo
page as much as possible. Whil
reading nasty comments can b
funny, they detract from your
channel and drive viewers awa
Remove comments that would
offend others and report abusi
users. This will help create a
friendlier environment for you
regular viewers.
Pose questions to your viewer
to keep the questions simple, s
as Yes/No questions or “Voting
questions. This will keep negat
feedback down and promote g
discussion amongst your view
Bring back old videos. If you
have older content that your
newer viewers probably haven't
seen, stick it in your feed so that
everyone sees it on the front of
your channel page. This can give
your old videos some increased
traffic.
Keep watching other channels
You should be spending as
much time as possible logged into
YouTube, even when you're not
actively maintaining your channel.
You should be watching other's
videos, interacting with other user
and browsing for like-minded
content.
Link to other user's content th
you feel complements your ow
This will help your channel sho
up on searches as related view
Try to maintain a schedule for
adding other links to other vid
Curate your linked and liked vi
on days that you are not uploa
your own videos. This will help
break up the wait between yo
videos, keeping your viewers
active on your channel.
When liking other videos, mak
sure that they are videos that
feel will appeal to the widest
audience of your viewers as
possible. You don't want to tur
away your audience because n
one likes the video you liked.
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Part Five of Six:
Promotion
Review your comments on
past videos. Once you upload
something, there's a bit of a chanc
that your video will get views, an
sometimes people like to leave
their thoughts about the video yo
uploaded down in the comments
section. So, it's a good idea to
always keep check of your videos.
Feature your viewers' videos.
Try to incorporate viewer
commentary and creations into
your videos. Post submission
guidelines such as requiring a
subscription to your channel.
Collaborate with other conten
creators. Forge relationships
with other creators in the same
field as yourself. Cross-promote
each other's channels to boost
viewership. Do guest spots on
another person's videos, and invit
others to guest start in yours.
Make sure that your viewers ca
easily reach the channels that
are collaborating with. You wa
them to be spending their tim
delving into the content that y
community has created.
Use social media to get your
name out. Link videos and
playlists from your channels into
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,
as well as other social media
outlets. Encourage your friends,
both online and offline, to pass
your links on to others.
Avoid spamming your social m
networks with links to your
channels. A friendly reminder n
and then is good, but almost n
one reacts positively to being
hammered with links.
Tell your viewers and friends
to spread the word. Don't forc
it down their throats, but suggest
that viewers share your videos if
they like them. These messages ar
best saved for the end of the vide
after the important content has
been viewed. Remind your viewer
to “like” your videos.
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Part Six of Six:
Protecting Your Videos
Visualize this scenario, you're
popular in the community,
everyone likes your videos until
someone re-uploads your videos
in their channel and calls it their
own. That's bad. If you somehow
feel that when you're popular
enough and people are re-
uploading your content, search on
YouTube the name of your videos
to see if someone re-uploaded
them without your consent.
Warn the re-uploader. If you
found your videos in someone
else's channel, warn them. No nee
for conflict, unless they don't stop
doing that then you can report
them to YouTube.