Fun fact: YouTube is the second-most visited website in the world behind Google—YouTube'south parent company.

Fun suggestion: Your brand should have a presence there.

The opportunity to reach your audience on YouTube is massive. It'due south the near popular social platform amongst U.South. adults, and nearly 75% of Americans use the social video site, compared to the 69% who apply Facebook.

More than half of those users visit YouTube every single day. Wouldn't information technology be squeamish if they took a look at your content while they were there?

Luckily, creating a YouTube business relationship isn't difficult. Creating a successful YouTube channel is a footling more work… but don't worry, we've got you lot covered at that place, too.

Bonus: Download the complimentary 30-day program to grow your YouTube following fast , a daily workbook of challenges that volition help you kickstart your Youtube channel growth and track your success. Become real results subsequently one calendar month.

How to create a new YouTube channel in 5 elementary steps

Making a successful YouTube channel starts with making a YouTube channel. Here's how to build your account.

Stride 1: Create a Google business relationship

If you use Gmail, Google Maps, or Google Play, you probably already have a Google account… so skip ahead to the next footstep.

If you're starting from scratch, caput here to sign upwardly for a new Google account.

create Google account page

The proper noun and email accost won't be publicly linked to your brand, and so don't worry about keeping those on-bulletin. This is just your fundamental to become in the YouTube door.

Step ii: Create a YouTube account

With your Google account, you're automatically gear up upwards with a personal YouTube account. Just to utilise YouTube for your business, you lot'll want to set upward a Brand Account.

Just go to your YouTube business relationship page, click Create a Channel, so enter a name for your Make Business relationship. You're in!

When you create a YouTube Brand Business relationship, you can give multiple people admin access and customize the name and appearance to match your brand.

Another absurd matter about Brand Accounts: they allow you to access YouTube Analytics, which offers super helpful insight about who'due south watching your videos and what content is popular. (Acquire more in our post on how to use YouTube for marketing.)

YouTube account page create a channel

create a Brand Account

Stride three: Customize your YouTube channel

Fourth dimension to make this sweet new social media profile your ain.

In your channel dashboard, click Customize aqueduct. Go through the three tabs — Layout, Branding and Basic Info — to enter information that will help optimize your aqueduct for audience discovery.

channel customization layout branding and basic info

When filling out this data, apply descriptive keywords that will help your account announced in searches.

Keywords can include your aqueduct'southward topics, your industry, questions your content can respond or products featured.

Under Branding, you'll have the opportunity to upload your channel art and icons to requite your channel a unique look. I that, ideally, aligns with your overall brand and visually connects this YouTube account with your other social media platforms and spider web presence.

branding profile picture and banner image

We've got some templates for YouTube aqueduct fine art right here to get you started.

Step 4: Upload your first YouTube video

Well, this is exciting. Yous're on the cusp of becoming a YouTube content creator! I'chiliad not crying, you're crying.

To put your offset video out into the earth, hit the Create button in the meridian-right corner and follow the instructions.

upload YouTube video

Step v: Make your YouTube aqueduct discoverable

Like the sometime maxim goes: If you accept amazing content on YouTube but nobody sees it… what's the point?

To get views and subscribers, you'll want to optimize your channel and videos for discovery. We've got a consummate guide to promoting your YouTube channel if you want to dive in deep. In the concurrently, here'due south the 30-2d rundown:

Optimize video titles

Utilise concise, descriptive titles that include Google-friendly keywords. Titles are the first thing users see, merely they also help the search engine understand what your videos are about. So make certain all your titles are punchy and intriguing, but also clear and include keywords.

Optimize your YouTube description

It's of import to be clear, concise and descriptive here, also. Make sure to front-load your keywords and add links to other playlists.

Another good trick to use in video descriptions? Create a "table of contents" with timestamps to assistance viewers find what they're looking for.

For more specific tips, bank check out our complete guide to writing a winning YouTube description.

Add tags (in moderation)

While it can be tempting to load up this department with clickbaity tags, make sure to only include tags that are relevant to your content. Be honest, and cull quality over quantity. The goal is to reach viewers who are actually interested in content similar yours.

Tags also assistance YouTube's algorithm understand what your content is about. Make sure to add a category or two to assist the search engine put your videos in front of the right audience.

Cantankerous-promote

Add a link to your YouTube channel on your other social profiles, website and e-mail signature to let your existing fans know you're starting a video empire.

Understand the algorithm

If you lot haven't already, now is the fourth dimension to familiarize yourself with the YouTube algorithm. This AI determines not merely search results, just recommendations for the all-important "what's up adjacent" sidebar, too.

ix tips for starting a YouTube channel

1. Employ eye-communicable channel art and thumbnails

Your channel fine art and thumbnails are your billboards, so brand an impression!

An effective thumbnail is clear and accurate, and works in tandem with the video's title. But it also needs to stand up out.

eye-catching thumbnails

Thumbnails are the style viewers determine what to picket when they're skimming through search results. This means you don't but need to communicate what your video is about. You need to stand up out from the competition, also.

And a lot of the contest is… loud.

Evaluate what everyone else is doing, and endeavor to swerve. For example, cull a distinct colour palette, or go total-on minimalist to stand out in a sea of neon colors and Touch on font.

Experiment with our channel fine art templates here.

2. Cull the perfect aqueduct icon

A channel icon is like a logo for your YouTube presence. It should match your brand and complement your aqueduct imprint.

When picking an icon, follow YouTube's recommended image dimensions to avert whatsoever stretching. Preview your aqueduct on multiple devices to check everything looks good.

YouTuber J.J. McCullough uses a cartoon caricature of himself as his logo to represent both his art and his personality.

J.J. McCullough cartoon caricature channel icon

iii. Create playlists

Organizing and creating video playlists on YouTube is the all-time mode to go on your viewer on your page.

Non only do YouTube playlists organize your related content in one dandy-and-tidy list, they also auto-play. Once one video ends, the next begins… and then on. This minimizes the chances that a viewer will motility on to another channel.

Financial counsellor Max Mitchell, for instance, adds all of his TFSA videos to one playlist, so viewers can just sit back and learn about revenue enhancement-free savings accounts for hours on end.

Max Mitchell TFSA essentials playlist

4. Create a channel trailer

When someone commencement comes across your channel, a channel trailer is a way for them to go a sneak peek at your content. Better make information technology count.

Simply similar the Hollywood hotshots get you hooked to meet Avengers: Tokyo Migrate, yous tin can give your audience a sense of taste that leaves them wanting more than.

Assume the viewer is a perfect stranger, so introduce yourself and tell them exactly why they should subscribe. Go on it brusk, sweetness and snappy: permit 'em know what your content is like and when they tin can expect new uploads, like Yoga with Adriene does on her channel.

5. Create peachy content, consistently

This is going to sound very obvious, merely we're going to say information technology anyway: Viewers want to watch good videos.

But what makes a good YouTube video is a trivial different than, say, what makes a video that would wind a foreign moving picture festival.

According to Search Engine Journal, successful YouTube videos have attention-grabbing intros and great branding, background music, and clear sound.

Bonus: Download the free 30-twenty-four hours plan to abound your YouTube following fast , a daily workbook of challenges that will help you kickstart your Youtube channel growth and track your success. Get real results later one month.

Get the free guide right at present!

Calls to action are important likewise. Whether your goal is to bulldoze your audience to your website, increase your subscriber count or spark a conversation in the comments, the right CTA tin assist make that happen.

Like with all social media content, there's no perfect formula for a successful YouTube video. Some brands thrive with slick, highly produced content, while others proceeds traction by being raw, unfiltered and authentic.

Vanity Fair's YouTube aqueduct is an inspiring one. It goes beyond what you might read in the magazine'due south profiles and features videos of actors sharing everything they do in a twenty-four hours or taking a lie detector test.

Explore some ideas of engaging content from other social media platforms to inspire your experimentation.

6. Schedule your videos

Give your videos the best chance to make it large by posting them at the right fourth dimension: when people are online and gear up to watch them.

Your channel analytics will tell yous if in that location'southward a 24-hour interval of the week or specific time that tends to get high viewership or engagement.

Once you've got that intel, you lot can publish regularly inside this time frame, with the assist of scheduling tools like Hootsuite.

Learn more than about how to schedule YouTube videos.

7. Empathize your audience

Information technology'southward hard to make compelling content if you don't know who you're making it for, so make sure you've got a good sense of your audience persona before you swoop in.

Who are they? What exercise they like? (Why won't they call me?!)

Once you've got a few videos under your chugalug, see whether or not you lot're hit the marker by diving into your YouTube Analytics. Cold hard numbers volition tell y'all if, how and when your work of art is making an impact.

channel analytics overivew

viii. Experiment with YouTube advertising

If you lot're not getting the reach you desire with adept ol' fashioned organic content, information technology might be time to toss a few bucks behind a promo campaign.

YouTube ads are available in these 4 categories:

  • Skippable in-stream ads
  • Non-skippable in-stream ads (including bumper ads)
  • Video discovery ads (formerly known equally in-display ads)
  • Non-video ads (i.east., overlays and banners)

For more info on YouTube's advertizing formats and how to apply them, check out our detailed guide to YouTube advertising.

9. Ask viewers to subscribe

When someone subscribes to your channel (and hits that bell push button), they become an alert when you lot put a new video out into the world — so growing your subscriber base is the best mode to boost your organic reach.

There's a reason why "Don't forget to subscribe" is the sign-off of pick for YouTubers big and small.

Of class, growing your subscriber count is easier said than washed. For that reason, nosotros have a full guide on how to get more YouTube subscribers.

Once you hit i,000 subscribers and four,000 watch hours within the twelvemonth, you'll exist able to register as a YouTube partner and monetize your channel. Learn more about YouTube's Partner Program here.

channel monetization YouTube partner program

This is just the tip of the iceberg for creating a successful YouTube aqueduct. If you're interested in learning more, check out our web log post near how to go more views on YouTube, 23 smart ways to promote your YouTube channel, and how to become a YouTube marketing master.

With Hootsuite, you lot can easily upload, schedule, and promote your YouTube channel and videos across multiple social networks from ane dashboard. Attempt it free today.

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