consultancy – Alan Spicer – YouTube Certified Expert

HOW DO I START AND GROW A YOUTUBE CHANNEL?

YouTube is a beast in the social media world and it’s not just all pranks and cute kitten videos. Countless hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! Not all of it will go viral, in fact not all of it will be seen at all. So this is where I can hopefully nudge you in the right direction to Grow a YouTube Channel.

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PICK A NAME FOR YOUR CHANNEL OR VIDEOS

So many YouTubers start uploading videos to an account before they have done their legwork to Grow a YouTube Channel and it can be a real pain to change later. A good example of this is “NicePeter” who started a project with his friend “EpicLLOYD” recording parody rap videos. But when their videos started to get popular people were looking for “Epic Rap Battles of History” and found them on a Nice Peter’s YouTube channel instead, which could confuse people. They have since opened a new channel to match their branding and boast over 12 million subscribers.

Picking a name at this stage can help you match social media accounts together helping people find you. For example, if your YouTube account is MrHairyBrit, you could grab your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat accounts with the same username to help people find you should they want to see more of your work.

BRANDING AND CHANNEL DESIGN

You don’t have to be a web designer or a branding graphic designer to Grow a YouTube Channel and make your channel stand out. YouTube channels, as with most other social media profiles, have a header banner and a YouTube channel avatar. These banners and avatars are a way to let your audience know who you are, what you do, and a way to establish a recognised look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3DyqS3f4_o

The header banner needs to be 2560w x 1440h pixels as this is then used and scaled down for mobile devices such as phones, tablets and notebook laptops. As for the avatar or profile image I personally use and image that is 275w x 275h and I try and match the colours to the header banner so people are used to my avatar and my channel colours when they try to find my videos.

YOUTUBE CAMERA, YOUTUBE AUDIO, AND YOUTUBE VIDEO IDEAS

You don’t have to be rich to get into vlogging and Grow a YouTube Channel. YouTube is a great tool for any new curious vlogger who wants to find an audience on the internet. I personally started with a webcam that cost me £15. This had 720p video format and a fairly good microphone. The core thing to remember with videos is that even if your video quality is great, if you cannot hear the video properly a viewer will very quickly tune out.

After a lot of testing I found that my webcam microphone was great depending on distance and that assuming I wasn’t in a dark room then the video quality wasn’t so much of an issue. I have since moved onto a £35 Logitech c920 1080p Full HD webcam to film my vlogs and have a pretty reliable set up.

“Ok, so I have a camera and I have a microphone… But what do I make videos about?”

A very good question. Now when you started this journey you may have had an initial thought of what the channel would be for, whether it’s business, hobby, factual or just weird. Now why not open a notebook and throw words/questions at the page that would describe that topic? For example, if you want to make a video diary then these could be, “Where do I live? What’s my job? Do I have any pets? What did I think about the football game this weekend?” Already you have a few topics for a video. If it’s business based, then why not explain who you are, what you sell, any examples, or your work, etc.

HOW DO I GET YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS? HOW DO I GET YOUTUBE VIEWERS?

It’s time to build an audience. You have some videos recorded and you are ready to get them seen, but for that you need subscribers and random viewers. There are 7 important tips to help you boost your YouTube subscribers and boost your YouTube channel video views.

– Make videos:

Sounds obvious, but you need to keep feeding your channel with new content so people can find you.

– Make videos regularly – schedule:

As you start to get random views you need to start building the routine for a viewer. Why not upload a video on a set day? This could be daily, weekly or monthly but try to stick to it that way people know when to expect a new video from you

– Let your viewers know when you will make a video and how to subscribe:

Tell your viewers when you will be uploading your videos. That way they will come back but also make sure you ask them to subscribe that way when you do upload a new video, YouTube will send them an email to tell them you have a new video for them.

– Share videos with your social media:

You’ve made a video so make sure people know it exists! Share it with friends, family and your social media accounts otherwise you may have well put a sign post in the middle of a field that no-one ever walks in.

– Share videos on related sites:

This is a good tip for expanding your audience. Your social media is full of people who have seen you before and expect videos from you while other sites are full of people that have yet to find you so this could be a way to spark their interest.

– Stick to it

Rome wasn’t built in a day and a loyal YouTube viewer and YouTube subscriber base isn’t either. The more videos you publish, the more chances people will have to find you and share your content. And then the more subscribers you have, the more they can share, so make sure you stick around for the long haul.

SHOULD I BUY YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS? SHOULD I BUY YOUTUBE VIEWS?

It can be very tempting to take short cuts in social media. Everyone has seen them and no doubt you may have had an email or a social media message offering you the chance to “Buy Active YouTube Subscribers” or “Buy Fake Twitter Followers,” etc. Although these offers can look nice and the subscriber count may go up, these are indeed inactive user accounts and in the long run will either get removed by the YouTube subscribers account checker looking for fake YouTube accounts, or in the worst case scenario, could get your account banned entirely due to YouTube community standard breaches.

Also with YouTube subscribers it is QUALITY over QUANTITY! You want active YouTube subscribers to watch your videos so they can share them with friends, like your videos and comment on them. YouTube comments, YouTube likes, and YouTube subscribers are the most powerful and effective ways to help your channel get seen, shared, and grow.

AND FINALLY….

YouTube is not a get rich quick scheme! YouTube should be a place for you to share your opinions, have a laugh and to expand a business or social media reach. If you are looking to join YouTube wondering, “How do I make a viral YouTube video?” rather than How to Grow a YouTube Channel then you are looking at this in the wrong light entirely.

YouTube is a social media platform and is there for you to make friends, build connections and have fun, so make sure you don’t forget the fun!

I wish you all the luck in the world 🙂

And remember – If you would like to see what I did with all these Grow a YouTube Channel tips then check out my videos at www.YouTube.com/MrHairyBrit – www.Twitter.com/MrHairyBrit – www.MrHairyBrit.com – https://www.facebook.com/MrHairyBrit