Before uploading a video to YouTube, you need to create your channel. It can be personal or corporate, depending on your goals. Creating a channel is very simple: to do this, you need to log in to YouTube using your account, go to the “My Channel” menu and click the “Create” button. Now you have your channel!
By analogy, your channel is a YouTube site, a channel section is a site section, and a video page is a site page. Based on this, the channel needs to be optimized so that it promotes well. The easiest thing to do is set a channel icon, background image, add a description, and link to your site.
The channel icon will be displayed next to your YouTube and Google videos. The image should be perceived well when compressed to 98 * 98 pixels. The original recommended image resolution is 800×800 pixels.
At the top of the screen, you can set a background image. The recommended size is at least 2560×1440 pixels. There is a nuance here: not every device will show the entire cover. But the 1546×423 pixel area in the center is displayed correctly almost everywhere, so this is where you put the key visual information.
The job of the background is to help the user understand what your channel is about, not just to decorate it. When creating an image, you can use your key advantages, principles, slogan, logo, and thematic pictures. Keep in mind that potential subscribers will check the background image, so make sure it’s professionally done. You can get loyal YouTube subscribers by implementing every basic stuff of the platform.
Channel descriptions must not exceed 1000 characters. Here you can use the most important key phrases, links to your resources. The task of the description is to orient the user, tell him what you are doing, why the channel was created, according to what schedule the video will be released.
Another element of channel branding is video badges. They grab the attention of users and make your videos stand out. You can use a single style for all icons, or a different style for each section. You can add badges if your account is verified. Images can be selected from the automatically created ones or you can upload your own. The resolution must be 1280×720 (at least 640 pixels wide).
Also add the channel logo, which will be displayed in the lower right corner of the video. It is an element not only of branding, but also of copyright protection. If a user clicks on your logo, they will automatically subscribe to the channel. A translucent PNG image is suitable for the logo – the main thing is that it does not blend with the background of the video, but rather has a contrast.
A kind of internal linking is possible on YouTube thanks to the use of hints and annotations . They allow you to advertise products, sites, add interesting links, polls, etc. They appear when you click on the round icon with the letter “i” in the upper right corner.
The last thing to do is add a channel trailer . In fact, this is your business card on the channel, this is the first video that the user will see. It doesn’t have to be long. Your task is to attract attention in the first 7-8 seconds in order to keep the visitor.
Channel promotion
So, your channel is ready to promote. How do you make it popular? Obviously, you need high-quality video material first. Most Popular Video Formats: Reviews, Walkthroughs, Interviews, Success Stories, Entertainment & Creative Videos. On YouTube, you can still promote an interesting channel naturally. People are more willing to share videos than posts on websites. Therefore, the basis of the channel’s success is, in fact, content.
There are many factors that affect the visibility of a video on YouTube and search engines.
The main ones are:
- number of views;
- the number and ratio of likes and dislikes;
- duration of video viewing.
Minor:
- the volume of the incoming link mass to the video page;
- number of video postings on third-party sites;
- the number of video sharing on social networks.
