With over one billion users, equivalent to almost a third of everyone on the internet, YouTube is one platform that businesses can’t afford to miss out on.
Since its inception in 2005, it has grown into the go-to place for reviews, tutorials and informative videos.
YouTube appeals specifically to younger audiences, reaching more 18-49-year-olds than any cable network in the US.
For businesses looking to the future to see how they can grow, it’s an obvious solution to the question of how you can appeal to a younger generation and keep your business relevant.
With that in mind, here are the best practice tips on getting your business set up on YouTube.
Get a Google account
To start a YouTube channel, you’ll need to set up a Google account. Your Google account is linked directly to YouTube, and your log-ins for this will be the same as your YouTube accounts.
To set up a Google account head to YouTube’s website and click the ‘Sign In’ button on the top right. This will navigate you to the Google account sign-in page. On here there is the option to ‘Use another account’. Choose this option and on the next screen that appears choose ‘Create account’.
Follow the steps to set up your account and in no time you’ll have yourself set up with a Google account.
Add images and a description
The next step is to get your wordsmith hat on and fill out all the details are yet to be completed. This will include adding a bio and picking the channel’s icon and artwork.
Here you may want to start with the icon and artwork as it can take a few tries before you get this to your liking. If you have a clear brand image and graphics ready to go, this will only take a few seconds – but if you’re still deliberating over colours and font styles, it could take that bit longer.
When it comes to writing your channel description, it should encapsulate the fundamental purpose of your channel. This is to simply welcome people to your channel and tell them what it’s all about – there’s little to go wrong here!
Highlight featured channels
By highlighting a featured channel on a regular basis, you’ll be showing those who use your channel regularly that you’re an active member of the community. This means that you’re not just pushing your own content on people, but liking, sharing and engaging with others.
By doing this you’re becoming a valued member of the community, making other users more likely to follow you and engage back.
Upload a channel trailer
Your channel trailer will be the first thing a visitor sees on your YouTube channel – so it needs to really captivate their attention. It should both welcome and interest your audience to persuade them to watch more of your videos, which is why you should make an extra effort when creating it.
Try beginning it with something that will hook your viewers into watching past those first few seconds, and then outline what your channel is about.
You should assume that the viewer has never heard of your brand and work from this – introduce what you do, the mission statement of your business and what your YouTube channel offers.
Optimise your videos
As you begin adding more videos to your channel, you’ll want to make sure they perform as well as they possibly can.
These videos are an opportunity for you to boost your channel and get in front of the eyes who may want to subscribe to your channel or view your other videos.
There are a few ways you can optimise your YouTube your videos, but the first thing you should consider is the title. This will be the first thing people see along with the video’s thumbnail, which is why you should keep it relevant, snappy and easily readable.
Another way you can optimise your videos is to keep videos relatively short. Most viewed brand videos on YouTube are on average 31-60 seconds long, potentially because they’re the easiest for viewers to consume.
What will you be posting about on YouTube? Share your ideas in the comment section below or join the conversation over on Twitter and Facebook.
