Building a Successful YouTube Channel

If you’re reading this and are already uploading videos regularly to your YouTube channel, give yourself a pat on the back.

As someone who spends a lot of time behind the camera, I know exactly how intimidating it can be to turn the spotlight on yourself. However, if you’re trying to build a brand it’s imperative that you have a strong video marketing strategy.

Whether you’re making your first video today or you’ve posted off and on for a while, these steps will help your YouTube channel rank among the most successful brands.

It’s time to start seeing your YouTube channel as a brand (whether you decide to monetize it or not) and every brand has a unique selling position (USP) to differentiate itself from the competition.

If you’re having trouble identifying your USP, answering the following questions will help.

• Who is your audience?
• What problem do you solve for them?
• What makes you unique?
• What differentiates you from the competition?

Simply put, what do you represent? 

This is a really important first step because all of your video content needs to reflect the answers to these questions.

If you’re an established brand, this process should be fairly easy! Just like any other social media channel, you’ll need to include the following:

Channel Icon
This is the small square on the left top of your channel. Most brands use a recognizable image or their logo in this space.

The channel icon should be no larger than 800 x 800 pixels.

Channel Art
This is the long horizontal image that stretches across the top of your channel. Similar to your channel icon this imagery should represent your brand and if possible further showcase what your channel is about.

The channel art should be no larger than 2560 x 1440 pixels.

If designing is not in your wheelhouse, Canva is a great resource to easily create engaging and beautiful YouTube thumbnails.

Playlists
Once you have enough content, you can categorize videos into playlists. Once a playlist has been selected all videos in that playlist will play automatically. Playlists can be positioned on your home page to increase engagement and watch time on your channel.

Just like any other social media channel, YouTube requires reoccurring content posted regularly to engage and grow your audience. Your videos will be found in one of two ways.

1. Someone is searching for a topic related to your video like, how to change my oil, or to how to cook banana bread.
2. Your video is promoted as a “suggested video” at the end of someone else’s video with a similar topic.

Content
Your video content can be a variety of themes but should always focus on the questions you answered above. The following types of videos typically get the most traction:

• How-Tos & tutorials
• Vlogs
• Industry tips & tricks
• Unboxing & product reviews
• Q&A

Upload Schedule
Think of your YouTube channel as a show. If your audience is engaged, they want to know how often and at what time they can expect your content. Posting videos on a regular basis will also help your SEO ranking. There is no magic number when it comes to frequency, (I aim for once a week). It’s most important to determine what your capacity is and stick to it.

End with a Call to Action
At the end of each video make sure to tell the viewers exactly what you want them to do next. It could be to subscribe to your channel, click the bell for notifications when your next video is released or it could be to purchase your product or service.

YouTube is the second largest search engine, which means the more video content you distribute the more customers you can reach. While your videos themselves cannot be crawled for search, their metadata can, so use specific keywords that will help YouTube’s algorithm categorize your content.

Title
Your video title is the second thing people read (thumbnail is first) so it must be clear, engaging, and explain exactly what your video is about. In 60 characters or less, you need to include keywords that spark curiosity and promise value.

Description
The video description is the text below each video that explains what your video is about and includes other information related to the video. Your descriptions can be as long as you want but YouTube will only show about 100 characters before viewers must click “read more”, so be sure to include calls to action and the most important keywords in the first few sentences.

You can also set up a default description (in channel settings) to populate on all of your videos. Be sure to include general content about your brand like social media channels, affiliate links, and important timestamps.

The imagery that you use for thumbnails is arguably more important than the video itself. YouTube itsself even says that “90% of their best-performing videos have custom thumbnails”.

The Video thumbnail is the first thing your viewers will see when your video is searched for. YouTube recommends “a strong, vibrant image that looks great large and small, and conveys key information about your video.” For reoccurring video series, custom thumbnails are key to helping your audience identify new episodes.

The ideal size for your custom thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.

Again, if designing isn’t your forte these can easily be made on Canva as well!

Cards and end screens can be added to your videos once they are fully uploaded to your channel. They allow you to refer to other videos, poll your viewers, or link other websites (if your channel qualifies for that).

Cards
Cards are the small, rectangular popups that appear in the top right of your video. Each video is allowed up to five customized messages and they can be placed at any timestamp.

End screens
End screens extend your video for 5-20 seconds and allow you to promote another video, ask viewers to subscribe to your channel, or link to outside websites (again, if your channel qualifies for that).

It’s best to design a customized end screen. Did I mention Canva? (I swear this is not a paid promotion. They are just that great!)

Subtitles and closed captioning make your content accessible and inclusive for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speak another language.

In today’s mobile world, subtitles are a great way to help your viewers consume content no matter where they are. With as much as 85 percent of video views happening with the sound off, captions are a must-have if you want your audience to stop scrolling and pay attention.

Captions are also another great place to strengthen your SEO.

When you’re first starting, your channel trailer could be something as simple as the video you are most proud of making. Something that truly shows off your skills or brand personality.

But as your channel grows, it’s important to create a more personalized trailer for new visitors to get a better understanding of what they can expect from you.

Think of your trailer as something similar to a filmmaker’s demo reel. It could be a compilation of clips from your best videos or a completely customized promotional video. Just make sure it is dedicated to showcasing you as an influencer and explaining your channel’s purpose.