Last week we talked about some things to consider before creating your YouTube channel. Now we’re going to go over some of the basics about how to set up your actual channel.
Creating a YouTube Channel
Once you’ve made the decision that creating a YouTube channel is something that could benefit you, the next step is to create a Google account if you don’t already have one. Once you’ve done this you should head over to YouTube and on the top right corner you’ll want to click the sign in button. This will take you to a screen where you can choose subscriptions. You can edit these later so you can skip this step for now.
Make It Yours
Now that you’ve created a blank channel you’ll want to personalize it. You want to use your YouTube Channel as an extension of your brand identity. This means you should select images that are consistent with your online presence as well as use a similar voice when speaking to the views. Your Icon can be changed by clicking the pencil while hovering over it. This redirects you to Google+ in order to edit your image. You’ll need to go back to your YouTube channel and refresh your icon image in order to see it. Next step is to add channel art. You probably guessed right, you can do this by selecting the blue button that says add channel art and uploading a photo.
Next you’ll want to add a description and some links so you can give your audience more ways to connect with you. You can add a description by clicking the about panel. Just tell the viewers what you’re about, nothing too complicated here. You can also add links in the about panel. YouTube will automatically include your Google+ account but you can add other social media sites as well as a custom link for your website.
So you’ve set up your channel but how does it benefit you? We’ll be covering that next.