When you are reading this post, probably, I don’t need to tell you that video content accounts for more than 74% of all online traffic, or that over 5 billion YouTube videos are watched every single day.
You know YouTube is an important content tool already, and you are ready to begin leveraging video for your own business. Sp, We are here to help you know how to do it.
This post will cover everything you should find out about how to create a channel on Youtube, so you can begin uploading your own videos and increasing your audience today.
1. Register a Google account (if you do not have one already).
To watch, share, create, and comment on YouTube content, you will need a Google account.
If You Don’t Already Have a Google Account
Go to youtube.com and click on “sign-in” at the top right corner. From there, you will be taken to a Google sign-in page. Click on “more options”:
Then, click on “create account”:
From there, you will be asked to observe a couple of steps to create a Google account. As soon as you have accomplished them, proceed with the steps under.
If You Do Already Have a Google Account
Go to youtube.com and click “sign-in” at the top right corner. From there, you will be taken to the same Google sign-in page above. When you have multiple Google accounts, make sure to choose the one you want to be associated with the YouTube channel.
2. Create a new YouTube channel using your Google account.
When you are set up with and signed into your Google account, it is time to make a channel. Back at youtube.com, click on your user icon at the right corner. This represents both your Google account and your YouTube account (as YouTube is owned by Google). You will see a drop-down menu, where you will want to click on “settings.”
From there, you will be taken to your account overview. Under “additional features,” click on “create a new channel.”
Step one is to create a Brand Account. It could be whatever name you want, and does not have to be the same name that you used to make your Google account — however, we highly recommend that it reflects the brand the YouTube Channel will represent.
After you enter the Brand Account name, you may be asked to verify the account through text message or voice call. If that occurs, enter the code you receive from the option you select.
Once you have verified your Brand Account, you will be taken to the dashboard for your channel. Now, it is time to begin customizing it.
3. Optimize your channel for discoverability.
We will begin with the fundamental details about your channel. From your channel dashboard, click on “customize channel.”
After you click on “customize channel,” you will be taken to your basic channel page, where you will see a cogwheel on the right, as shown below.
Click on this cogwheel icon, then click on the part that says “advanced settings.”
Here is where you will enter some basic details about your channel, like the country where it is based, as well keywords that help it people uncover your channel once they enter search terms that describe what videos they are looking for. These keywords could include what your channel is about, the issues it helps solve, the people and products featured, your industry, and more.
From the page shown above, you could then choose whether or not you want to appear as a recommended channel on other account pages. It is also within these settings that you could link a Google Adverts account, add a Google Analytics property tracking ID, and make various advertising selections for your channel when you are ready to promote certain videos across the YouTube platform.
4. Add links and descriptive details to your channel.
There are 2 parts of customization for a new YouTube channel: descriptive details, and visuals. Descriptive details tell your channel visitors (and, eventually, subscribers) what goal your channel serves and the kind of video content they should expect to see published by you. Let’s add these details now.
To describe your YouTube channel for your viewers, you will need to add a channel description and links to other webpages associated with your brand. Back on your channel customization dashboard, click on the “About” tab.
There, you will be asked to fill in such details as a channel description — which you could optimize with keywords for more discoverability — as well as contact info and links to your site and social media channels.
Up to 5 links could overlay your channel art, that means that the banner on your profile page will include icons for the links you select to overlay on this list. To add these links, navigate to the About section of your YouTube channel and click “+ Links.” This button will reveal a space where you could add branded links directing users to various sites and social networks where they could learn about and consume more content from you. See what this space looks like below, and how a business may add links to its Fb, Twitter, and personal site.
For instance, when you wanted to overlay your banner with a link to your Fb Page, it may look like this as a result:
Your channel art is part of your channel’s customization, which we will move onto next.