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How To Build Your YouTube Brand – 28 YouTube Branding Tips

Build Your YouTube Brand and STAND OUT!

YouTube is a huge platform with millions of channels and maybe even billions of users watching hours & hours of video every second. This can be a huge needle in a haystack when it comes to companies or branding so you need to Build Your YouTube Brand, make it STAND OUT and drive authority.

I can be hard to get noticed but if you make your brand UNMISSABLE then it will help attract some attention. Here are 28 tips to Build Your YouTube Brand.

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#1 – Choose your identity – Start to Build Your YouTube Brand

If you want viewers to subscribe to your channel and come back for more later, then they need to know what they are getting themselves into.

While there are endless YouTube video ideas to choose from, it is important that you have an identity.  Whether that means talking about beauty, travel, sports, gaming, or anything that comes up in your life, make it very clear to the audience so that you get subscribers who stick around!

#2 – Follow a passion (yours and theirs)

First of all, make sure that YOU are passionate about everything you are saying and doing on your YouTube channel. If you don’t then none of the rest of the list will matter, and you won’t have any fun!

Once you know what you are passionate about, find the groups of people that are equally passionate and likely to make a large, loyal fan base.  If you know that you love all Technology, then think about making great videos catered towards viewers who are passionate about virtual reality, or artificial intelligence.

If you become a trusted source in passionate niches, you will have a great channel.

#3 – Make great video thumbnails

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Your video’s thumbnail is the first thing people see so make it count!

Boring, or grainy images are going to look weak beside other YouTubers who are competing for the same viewers so take a few minutes to make a great thumbnail and you will see the difference.

4 Tips for Better YouTube Thumbnails

1. Use closeups of your face: Humans like eye contact and this will catch their attention in search results!

2. Convey strong emotion: Strong emotion on your face can set the tone for the video and prime the audience for what is in store.

3. Use bright backgrounds:  It’s all about being eye catching in a sea of YouTube results all over the screen.  Bright screens get people’s attention, and also tend to create stark contrast with your main image.

4. Be consistent: It helps your brand to have similar thumbnails all the way across your page

# 4 – Show off a great channel logo

Your channel logo may be small, but it can say a lot about you. Don’t underestimate the first impression that people will see representing ALL the hard work that you put into your videos. Before creating images like logos and banners, you should make sure that you are making them the appropriate size

#5 – Use Awesome Art for your banner

The images that you use on your channel can influence viewers to hit that ‘subscribe’ button.

#6 – Make a compelling channel page

Your channel page is the home base for anyone looking at your body of work.  First and foremost, make sure it looks pretty with the logo, banner, and thumbnail tips above. Now that you look like a pro, you should remember that some people might actually read (yes read!) your channel description. Use this opportunity to tell your story, and let your personality shine through.

This is an area where you can show off the benefits of subscribing to your channel, and use a call to action to try and get their sub while you have their attention. You can (and should) also organize your content with playlists.  This will let any potential YouTube subscribers find the content that is most interesting to them quickly.

It also makes for a good viewing experience for anyone who wants to binge watch your videos

#7 – Add some contact info

If you are putting yourself out there on YouTube, and you want to build an army of subscribers, it helps to be accessible. Who knows what opportunities might come up – a fellow YouTuber might want to connect, or a fan might want interview you on their blog.

One thing is for sure is that if you make yourself hard to get a hold of, it is a lot less likely that golden opportunities will fall into your lap.

#8 – Have recurring segments

Recurring segments!What do the Tonight Show, Jeopardy, and Bill Nye The Science guy all have in common? RECURRING SEGMENTS! Audiences return again and again for DECADES because they like the reliable structure and familiar nature of their favorite shows. Think about how many clicks Jimmy Kimmel gets every time he posts a “Mean Tweets” video.

If you can come up with a handful of structured segments that you can perfect, you are guaranteed to get more views. People want to see the next segment that they know they are going to love.

#9 – Upload Often

YouTube viewers subscribe to channels that are clearly active and posting new videos all the time.  If you are stingy with your posts, then there is no reason for them to follow you.

Try to start out with at least one video per week.  That way you will quickly build a library of content that viewers can go back and watch, with a pattern that they know they can count on in the future.

#10 – Have a content calendar and stick to it

Calendars aren’t just to help you stay on schedule

With so much YouTube competition, your subscribers need to know that they can rely on you for consistent content.

Make 2 key decisions

  1. How many videos will you produce each week?
  2. When will you publish them?

Once you know these answers, your YouTube channel should run like clockwork for your subscribers.  Try to hit ‘publish’ at the same time each day/ week.

DON’T OVER COMMIT – If you get subscribers with the promise of daily videos, don’t be surprised if you lose them when you downgrade to weekly episodes instead.

#11 – Choose good titles – Eye Catching

Along with the image, your video’s title will form a viewer’s first impression of whether or not you are worth a view.

People tend to click titles that are intriguing or useful to them. Using exciting terms like “Amazing” “Hilarious or “Unbelievable” tend to get people’s attention.

You should also think about driving urgency. Suggesting that watching  your video will have an immediate benefit will get more views than static titles. Think about the difference between ‘How to dress better’ vs ‘How to start dressing better today’

#12 – Keep your titles brief but teasing

Don’t give everything away in one long sentence. Keep your video titles relatively short, and leaving them wanting more.  Try to keep titles below 50 characters to have the best chance of people clicking on your video.

#13 – Cross Promote Your Videos to Build Your YouTube Brand

Always try to turn one view into many views!  When someone is watching your channel, you have a few different opportunities to cross promote your other videos.  The best ways are:

  1. Mention a suggested video during your video
  2. Include a call to action button as an annotation, or at the end
  3. Put links to suggested content in your video description

#14 – Pick the right tags

Many YouTubers actually forget about tags entirely. What a waste!

Tags are a key factor in helping Build Your YouTube Brand and get your videos in front of the right people.  They will inform the search algorithm when people are looking for content, and will also give new viewers an idea of what your videos and your channel are really about.

#15 – Include Annotations & End Screen Options

YouTube has built in excellent features to build in interactive moments during your video, as well as multiple calls to action at the very end.

Here is a helpful video Derral Eves.

#16 – Use keywords, and SEO to Rank & Build Your YouTube Brand

Speaking of titles, you should think very carefully about the specific words you use in those titles.  They will have a big impact on whether new viewers can find you in the first place.

YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world, and people everywhere are looking for answers and entertainment in that search box. Before anyone can subscribe to your channel, they need to find you first!  That’s where keywords come in.

#17 – Use Google Trends to Build Your YouTube Brand

Using Google Trends is the best way to see what people are getting more and less interested in over time.

Why does this matter?

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When the pros think about how to get more views on YouTube, they know that it helps to be talking about things that more and more people actually want to see.  You aren’t going to attract a big audience reviewing season 2 of The Adams Family in 2017.

#18 – Use multi-part episodes – Extend & Build Your YouTube Brand

Who doesn’t love a little suspense?

If all of your videos are standalone pieces with no mention of a follow-up, then there is much less incentive to hit the sub button.  However, if they want to know what happens next, then they are more likely to follow your channel long term.

#19 – Keep the audience in mind

If you want to get YouTube subscribers,  then don’t just make videos that you think will be fun.  Pay attention to trends in your niche.  For example, if you talk about TV shows, make sure you know what shows are rising in popularity and make content geared towards that rather than only shows that you think people SHOULD want to hear about.

#20 – Always ask for a subscription

Whatever you need your viewers to do, don’t be afraid to ask! Many YouTubers miss out by forgetting to simply ask people to subscribe if they enjoyed the video.

Just be sure to keep the call to action quick and simple

In many cases we are looking for a lot of things – a like, a subscription, a click to our website, a follow on Instagram etc.  Don’t overwhelm your audience with a check-list of ways they can help you. Pick one or two that are most important and mention them quickly at the beginning and end of the video

#21 – Use Channel Trailers

Channel trailers are an awesome way to establish what your channel is about, and why people should care.  Just like a movie trailer is a fast moving clip that shows the best that a film has to offer and gets people excited for more, your channel trailer can be the difference between a viewer subscribing, or moving on to the next thing that catches their eye.

#22 – Include useful info in video description

Your video description is vital for a couple of reasons:

First of all, if your title and thumbnail catches a viewer’s attention, the next thing they will check out is the description.  If you don’t have a compelling reason for them to stick around, they won’t make it far in the video.

Secondly, YouTube can’t listen to every word in your video, so it relies on descriptions for its search engine.  This means that a good description can help you show up in search results for potential new subscribers.

#23 – Add a channel watermark

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You can build in your own personalized watermark that will show up on each video.  This is a subtle reminder embedded right onto the video content that the viewer should subscribe

#24 – Look for helpful resources

If you are reading Vlogging Guides, then you are already off to a good start ?

BufferBlog, Vlogging Guides, and communities like YTTalk can help you learn how to get more views on YouTube from fellow vloggers.

#25 – Attend Events

From local meetups, to massive international events, there are many opportunities to attend YouTube related events.  Use these opportunities to network with other content creators, and meet your fans!

#26 – Learn from your most popular videos

If you want more YouYube views, it helps to know what has worked in the past.  Use successful videos as inspiration for similar content and build a reputation for viral videos that people love to watch.

#27 – Avoid too many ads

Ads can be a good thing to let you make money on YouTube and fund great content, but don’t go overboard.  You get several options on what type of ads you are OK with permitting on your videos.

While it might be tempting to go all out and try to maximize your earnings, keep your viewers in mind.  You will get more views on YouTube if your subscribers think that you aren’t just in it for the money.

#28 – Be transparent with your audience

If you do want to make money with your videos, just make sure you are honest about it.  For example, if you are being paid to review a product, mention that in the video.  It doesn’t mean you can’t give your genuine opinion!

This doesn’t end with just money issues.  You can gain a lot of trust by telling people what is going on behind the scenes and making them feel a part of your channels.  Loyalty brings more YouTube views back to your channel then trying to outsmart the audience.

Want more help? Need more hands on assistance? Get in touch we do YouTube Coaching >>

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5 Unknown YouTube Tips And Tricks

Secret Unknown YouTube Tips & Features

YouTube for most people is the the aggregator of fail compilations, the disseminator of cat related humour and a beacon for everything viral. Killing time on YouTube is the most productive way to be unproductive, but there’s so much more to it than salacious thumbnails and unrelated debates about political theory in the comments section, there is also hidden unknown youtube tips and tricks

Aside from a few easter eggs to please medium-core trekkies and Star Wars fans, there are some genuinely useful hacks that can enhance your YouTube viewing experience ten-fold. I mean, if you’re prepared to sign away three hours of your life by watching late-nineties wrestling videos, then you should do it in style, right?

Ever heard of YouTube Leanback? Or how about turning any video into a GIF? No? Then there’s so much more to show you. Here’s a run-down of my top five YouTube hacks:

1. Make any YouTube Video into a GIF

You can turn any video into a GIF by simply adding “gif” just after the “www.” in the URL. For example “www.gifyoutube.com/watchx

Once you type that in, you’ll be taken to a simple gif making tool page that lets you cut out a section of the video and export it.

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Select the point at which you want to start the gif and then select how long it lasts, and you’re done. You’ve made a gif in a matter of minutes.

2.  YouTube Disco Your YouTube Videos

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You already knew that you can use YouTube to stream music, but did you know it can be a DJ too? YouTube Disco automatically puts together a playlist of songs from your prefered genre or artist.

Go to www.youtube.com/disco and enter any artist, song, or genre and YouTube will populate a playlist of the most watched/popular videos from your search.

You can also set it to play the current top hits and it will tell what videos are most popular at the moment.

3. Slow Motion YouTube Videos

There are a couple of ways to slow down a YouTube video, with the simplest way being to hold down the spacebar during a video. This cause the video to rapidly play and pause, which creates a budget slow motion effect.

If, however, you want some more advanced controls, head to www.youtubeslow.com and enter your video’s URL into the specified field. You can then either speed up, slow down, play on repeat or set a loop.

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4. YouTube Leanback – YouTube and Chill

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YouTube Leanback is the friendlier version of YouTube on the big screen. If you’ve ever tried to watch videos on the normal desktop version of YouTube on your TV, you’ll know it’s a pain. Entering characters into the search field with your TV is just not practical, and you need to get right up close to the screen to see what’s going on.

This is where YouTube Leanback comes in. It’s a simplified YouTube UI that only requires use of the arrow keys to control. Also, if you have a smart TV, you can connect your phone or tablet to control what’s on the screen – and you don’t even have to be on the same Wi-Fi connection to do it.

Anyone in the room, providing they’ve gone through the verification process, can connect to the YouTube page and chuck videos into the communal playlist.

All you need to do is go to www.youtube.com/leanback and begin flicking through the availble sub sections of videos. To pair up your phone or tablet, go to www.youtube.com/pair on your mobile device and follow the instructions.

5. Google Video Quality Report

Buffering. Endless, rage inducing, buffering. But whose fault is it? Well, it’s your throttling, lacklustre ISP, according to Google.

Google’s YouTube Video Quality Report was launched earlier this year to help consumers understand why their videos take so long to load and can’t be streamed in the best quality. Some childlike illustrations show you how video makes its way to your screen, but don’t let the welcoming graphics fool you. This is video report is a shaming exercise, designed to embarrass ISPs for providing little bandwidth.

The report, which isn’t available everywhere, will tell you how good your connection is in the area and which ISPs are offering the most YouTube friendly internet speeds. This is done via a verification system, which labels each ISP as either ‘HD verified’ or not.

Check it out here (as I said, it may not be available in your area) and see if your connection can sustain 20 minutes of 1080p footage.

https://www.google.co.uk/get/videoqualityreport/

Want more help? Need more hands on assistance? Get in touch we do YouTube Coaching >>

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5 Tips For New YouTubers – YouTube For Beginners

Tips For New YouTubers Just Getting Started

YouTube has 1+ billion users. While not all are content creators, it’s safe to say that several million are uploading consistently, with thousands of new creators joining every day – Here are 5 Tips For New YouTubers to help them get started.

If you’re just starting out as a video creator, your first few videos will be buried among the millions of videos uploaded each week. So how can you increase your chances of being discovered amid the massive haystack that is YouTube?

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1. Brand yourself early on

Say two people follow you on Twitter. One has the default ‘egg’ as their profile picture; one has a well-designed image. Which are you more inclined to check out and follow back?

One of the most important first steps you can complete as a new YouTuber is your branding. Attractive channel art can drastically increase the chances that a viewer will check out your other videos and subscribe.

2. Create a regular schedule

Just like popular TV shows, releasing your YouTube videos on a schedule can ensure that they get in front of the maximum amount of viewers. To start, aim to release one video per week, and be sure to tell your subscribers when to expect new content!

  • Mention your schedule at the end of each video
  • Include your schedule as part of your channel art
  • Remind fans on social media

3. Strive for originality

Creating truly original content will be your biggest advantage when starting out—and no one can do that but you. At this very moment, there are more than 60 million Minecraft videos on YouTube. So if you’re set on creating gaming videos, for instance, spend time thinking about how you can make them stand out from the very large crowd!

Here are some more tips for new youtubers in our blogs!

4. Be patient about income

Everyone likes extra money. But when you first start out as a creator, it should be strictly to have fun and grow your audience. Most creators who are making a living from their content have spent years building up their channel and are seeing more than a million video views per month. So try to be patient and focus on creating amazing content, and it’s more likely that the money will eventually come.

5. Be yourself

It may be tempting to model your content after another successful creator verbatim. But that strategy can sometimes come off as fake—and audiences can tell. Whether you’re quiet, loud, or awkward, be yourself! No matter what type of personality you have, there will be people out there who will enjoy your content.

Finally, there’ll be plenty of time to refine. As you grow on YouTube, your style will grow as well. Listen to feedback from your viewers, and most of all, have fun. Good luck with your videos!

Want more help? Need more hands on assistance? Get in touch we do YouTube Coaching >>

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11 YouTube Mistakes & YouTube Tips from YouTubers

YouTube Mistakes and YouTube Tips from YouTubers

Just like there are a things you can do to increase the likelihood of success in YouTube (including YouTube SEO Tactics), But, there are also many youtube mistakes which are commonly overlooked and avoiding these mistakes can help increase your chances for success within YouTube.

Need some help with your YouTube Channel? Talk to us about YouTube Coaching! >>

Terabrite on Vlogging (Personal Vlog Channels – YouTube Mistakes)

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1) Have a main channel where you do something like music, skits, comedy, or something.
2) Make your vlogging channel unique, so as to stand out from all the other bloggers.
3) Try humor or something else to keep your viewers interest.

The Fine Brothers (How to Annoy Established YouTubers – YouTube Mistakes)

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4) Don’t steal or just copy other people’s tags, descriptions, or titles for your video.
Many new YouTubers will copy the metadata from a successful video verbatim in the hopes that they will rank similarly, as often times with the hope that the original YouTuber will take notice and be honored that you found their work to be well optimized.  In reality, you will end up annoying these people that you look up to, and they may never want to talk to you as a result.  Not a good approach for attempting to become connected to a YouTube influencer.

Mystery Guitar Man (Collaborate)

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5) Don’t just keep putting up videos on your channel over and over when nothing’s happening.
You may have 100 views, 200 views, 300 views, or even 4,000 views, but what you really need to be doing is developing one skill.  Then collaborate with people who have more subscribers, but less skill.  For example if you’re a really good 3D artist and go to someone with 10,000 subscribers and say let them know it.  Tell them you can do something 3D for them.  Maybe they do composing.  You can suggest that if you do a 3D for them, they can mention you in their video.  Just doing an amazing video and putting it up on your channel will probably not bring you the success you want.  Collaborating with the community is a good way to start.

Street Light – Be Unique and Focus on Originality

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6) Don’t try to be someone else.
Originality is important, but being yourself and don’t just follow a trend.  If you do, it just adds you to the crowd.  If you are the needle in a haystack, it’s difficult to stand out.  You should focus on originality and create something that will make you stand out.

E3M Music – Take advantage of CTA Features

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7) In the description box, don’t forget to have hyperlinks.
Some people have their YouTube accounts set up, but they don’t have their Facebook or Twitter linked in the description box.  It is important to have a hyperlink, which is a link they can easily click, because people want to click it and go right to the page.  They really don’t have the time to just copy, paste and put it in the browsers.

Mark Malkoff

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8) Don’t make everything long – YouTube Mistakes
It is best to keep things short.

9) Don’t forget to have a Subscribe button at the end.
You want people to subscribe to you.

10) Don’t do something just because you think it might get views.
Do content that you care about.  Do something that really interests you, and make sure you find your voice.  Don’t be one of those people who just show up once in a while.  Have a long-term plan and don’t say, “If it doesn’t happen within a couple of months, I’m not going to do this.”  Show up consistently and work on your craft.  Think long-term and focus.

11) Don’t forget to watch other stuff.
Watch stuff that you love.  A lot of people on YouTube, when they’re starting out, don’t watch other stuff.  Watch your peers.  Watch the people that inspire you.  And I just think if you find your voice and you’re authentic and you keep stuff relatively short, you can do some good work and you hopefully will succeed.

Success on YouTube is not going to happen your first week and it’s not going to happen without creating unique content that you’re passionate about, and that is distributed in a strategic way.  It’s going to take some time, but these tips will hopefully help make success easier for you.

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Get Advertiser Friendly #Adpocalypse – Advertising Guidelines & Monetization on YouTube

Are You YouTube Advertiser Friendly?

In 2012, YouTube began de-monetizing non advertiser friendly videos based on new advertising-friendly guidelines. This is not done by people, but by an algorithm that looked at the metadata of videos and other factors to decide whether it is likely to be something an advertiser wouldn’t want to be associated with.

Over the last five years, this advertiser friendly algorithm has regularly removed videos from the pool of advertised-upon content. However, when much of the YouTube community started looking into this process after it hit the news in August 2016, they realized that the algorithm can be over-sensitive. Creators provided examples of videos that talk about subjects like depression, LGBT rights, world events and news, acne scars, refugees, antibiotics, and more, which were deemed advertiser-unfriendly and de-monetized. Many of these videos, when reviewed by a human, were manually granted monetization.

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What is Advertiser Friendly? Advertising-Friendly Guidelines

YouTube’s guidelines cast a broad net (a little too broad, in my opinion).

Sexually suggestive content, including partial nudity and sexual humor

Violence, including display of serious injury and events related to violent extremism

Inappropriate language, including harassment, swearing and vulgar language

Promotion of drugs and regulated substances, including selling, use and abuse of such items

Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown

While the exact criteria aren’t known, key words in title & tags seem to play a significant role. For example, the channel “Healthcare Triage,” which talks about healthcare policy realized they had 27 videos flagged because–in talking about prescription drug costs, the opioid epidemic, and treatments for diabetes–the algorithm thought those videos were celebrating illegal drug use. This was possibly due to the tag “drugs.”

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WHY DOES YOUTUBE DO THIS? 

YouTube needs to create a brand-safe (advertiser friendly) environment in order to maintain and grow the platform, including the Adsense monetization that creators benefit from. They need to be able to guarantee to blue chip companies that there is control over what their brand appears alongside. The Internet Creators Guild is aligned in finding ways to increase ad rates in order to make careers for professional online creators more sustainable. However, we expressed some concern about this issue and suggested (1) more human spot checks (2) an easier way to sort and review in video manager (3) refining the algorithm.

NOTIFICATIONS & APPEAL

Whereas it was previously unclear if a video had been demonetized, YouTube started rolling out features in 2016 in order to:

  1. Let you know when a video has been de-monetized.
  2. Show a notice next to all de-monetized videos.
  3. Allow you to request a manual review of a de-monetized video.
  4. Re-monetize videos that the appeal process finds to be not in violation of YouTube’s ad-friendly policy.

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When your video is de-monetized, this little yellow $ shows up.

Based on the ICG’s investigations, it looks as if re-monetization (if it happens) occurs in between 12 and 24 hours after a manual review is requested.

According to a YouTube representative, overall, less than 1% of partner videos have been de-monetized, and the appeal process is currently taking around 24 hours with a high rate of re-monetization.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW AS A CREATOR?

It’s not the case that YouTube won’t be monetizing channels that cover current events or world news. But it’s worth being aware that creators who speak on sensitive subjects may be particularly affected by the algorithm erroneously de-monetizing videos.

Erroneous de-monetization will always result in lost income. Even now that the notification & appeals process is in place, a video could still be de-monetized for hours or days after upload while the manual review is pending. That could particularly hit hard at timely or viral content (which often means news-related and sensitive-subject videos).

We hope the new appeals process can help YouTube refine this system. In gathering data on videos that creators are submitting for manual review and studying what gets re-instated, the platform has the opportunity to refine the algorithm.

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How Do YouTube Adverts Work?

How does the YouTube decide which YouTube Adverts play on your videos?

Turns out YouTube Adverts work a lot like Google and Facebook ads do. Like on other free sites, the advertisers help fund the YouTube experience in return for exposure to ads. You’ll see certain ads over others because of your demographic groups, your interests (which is judged in part by what you search on Google and YouTube) and the content you’ve viewed before, including whether or not you’ve interacted with the advertiser’s videos, ads, or YouTube channel.

YouTube Adverts algorithms also try to make sure that people aren’t overloaded with ads while watching videos — so it actually sometimes won’t show ads on monetizable videos, even when there’s a demographic match.

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Here are the five ad formats you can expect to see on YouTube, and how they work:

a) YouTube Adverts – Display ads, which show up next to the video and only appear only on desktop and laptop computers. The advertiser gets paid when you see or click on the ad, depending on their selection.

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Image Credit: YouTube’s Creator Academy

b) YouTube Adverts – Overlay ads, which appear across the bottom 20% of the video window and currently only appears only on desktop and laptop computers. You can X out of the ad at any time.

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Image Credit: YouTube’s Creator Academy

c) YouTube Adverts – TrueView in-stream, skippable video ads, which are most common ads. These are the ones you can skip after watching for five seconds. Advertisers can put it before, during (yikes!), or after the video plays, and they get paid only if you watch at least 30 seconds of the clip or to the end of the video ad — whichever comes first.

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Image Credit: YouTube’s Creator Academy

d) YouTube Adverts – Non-skippable video ads, which are those longer, 15-or-more-second ads you see before plays and can’t skip after any period of time, no matter how much you shout at your screen.

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Image Credit: YouTube’s Creator Academy

e) YouTube Adverts – Midroll ads, which are ads that are only available for videos over 15 minutes long that are spaced within the video like TV commercials. You need to watch the ad before continuing through the video. How the advertiser gets paid depends on the type of ad: If the midroll is a TrueView ad, then you’d have to watch 30 seconds of the end or the entire ad — whichever is shorter. If it’s a CPM-based ad, then you have to watch the entire ad no matter how long it is.

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Image Credit: YouTube’s Creator Academy

f) YouTube Adverts – Bumper ads, which are short- non-skippable ads up to six seconds long that play before the video the viewer has selected. Bumper ads are optimized for mobile devices and must be watched in their entirety before viewers can progress to the video they want to view.

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How To Live Stream On YouTube – YouTube Live Streaming

Live Stream On YouTube to boost viewer engagement

Live streaming video has been a big topic of conversation for the past few years. Live Stream On YouTube has seen massive growth, especially in the past few years with the advent of Twitter’s Periscope, Facebook Live, and Instagram live videos.

Live streaming on YouTube is a little more complex (and confusing) than live streaming using these other platforms, though. On YouTube’s easier streaming option, there’s no simple “start” button; instead, you actually have to download encoding software and set it up to use live streaming at all. Luckily, YouTube has easy-to-follow instructions for how to do just that.

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If you want to Live Stream On YouTube a live event, though, all you need is a webcam. We’ll get to that in a second.

Live Stream On YouTube From Your Desktop Computer

Log in to YouTube and click the “Upload” button at the top right of your screen. Normally, this is where you’d upload a pre-existing video — but instead, you’ll want to find the “Live Streaming” module on the right-hand side of your screen. Click “Get Started” in that module.

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Before you go live, YouTube will first confirm that your channel is verified and that you have no live stream restrictions in the last 90 days. Once that’s all set, you have two options for streaming: “Stream now” and “Live Events.”

Stream Now – Live Stream On YouTube

Stream Now is the simpler, quicker option for live streaming, which is why it’s YouTube’s default for live streaming. You’ll see a fancy dashboard like the one below when you choose “Live Streaming” on the left-hand Creator Studio menu:

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Again, you’ll notice there’s no “start” button on the dashboard. This is where you’ll need to open your encoder and start and stop your streaming from there. Here’s YouTube’s Live Streaming FAQ page for more detailed information.

Live Events – Live Stream On YouTube

Live Events gives you a lot more control over the live stream. You can preview it before it goes live, it’ll give you backup redundancy streams, and you can start and stop the stream when you want.

Choose “Live Events” from your live streaming dashboard once you’ve enabled it. Here’s what the events dashboard looks like, and you can learn more about it here.

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When you stop streaming, we’ll automatically upload an archive of your live stream to your channel. Note that your completed live stream videos are automatically made public on your channel by default as soon as you’re done recording. To make them disappear from the public eye once you’re done, you can select “Make archive private when complete” in the “Stream Options” section of your live dashboard.

Live Stream On YouTube From Your Mobile Device

YouTube has also rolled out live streaming from mobile devices for YouTube creators with 10,000 or more subscribers (as of the date of this posting — that will be available to all creators soon, according to YouTube’s blog post).

Live streaming is more intuitive from mobile devices than on desktop computers. Qualified creators can simply open their YouTube app on mobile, tap the camera icon at the top of the screen, and choose “Go Live”.

From there, creators can enter details about the broadcast before immediately recording live for their subscribers, as shown below:

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Royalty Free Music For YouTube – YouTube Audio Library

Royalty Free Music from YouTube Audio Library

Want to add some cool sound effects or music to your YouTube video (or any video)? Royalty Free Music, YouTube is there for you. It has a whole library of high-quality, 320kbps audio tracks and sound effects that you can download royalty-free and add to your videos. (Or listen to in your free time. We won’t judge.)

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To add royalty free music or sound effects to your video: Open YouTube’s Audio Library by clicking here or opening your Creator Studio, clicking “Create” in the menu on the left-hand side, and choosing “Audio Library.”

Now, the fun begins. By default, it’ll start you on the “Sound effects” tab. Here, you can search sounds using the search bar, like I did in the screenshot below for motorcycle sounds.

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You can also toggle by category (everything from human voices to weather sounds) or scroll through favorites that you’ve starred in the past. For easy access in the future, select the star to add the track to your Favorites. The bars next to the songs show how popular a track is.

If you switch over to the “Music” bar, you can browse through all of its Royalty Free Music. You won’t find the Beatles in here, but you will find some good stuff — like suspenseful music, uplifting music, holiday music, jazz, and more. Instead of toggling by category, you can toggle by genre, mood, instrument, duration, and so on.

(Note: Some of the Royalty Free Music files in there may have additional attribution requirements you have to follow, but those are pretty clearly laid out on a song-by-song-basis. You can learn more on YouTube’s Support page here.)

Once you’ve found a track you like, click the arrow to download it and it’ll download directly to your computer as an MP3 file. Then, you can do whatever you want with it.

If you want to source sounds for your videos outside of YouTube, you’ll just have to make sure to you’re following all the rules for sourcing them. Refer to this YouTube Support page for best practices for sourcing audio, and this one to learn YouTube’s music policies.

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How To Add YouTube End Screens and Mobile Cards

Increase Video Engagement with YouTube End Screens and Cards

Over the last 10 years mobile browsing has seen a huge shift towards mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. New websites are now built with Responsive Website Design in mind to maximise the traffic engagement you can get from mobile smart device users. YouTube has also seen a massive boost in smartphone and tablet views and now you can add YouTube End Screens and YouTube Mobile Cards (YouTube Cards) to grab mobile viewers and get them to interact. This blog is here to help you get the most out of YouTube End Screens and Cards!

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How to Add YouTube End Screens

Do your favorite YouTube creators have a fancy closing screen that encourages you to keep watching their videos? For example, here’s one from Saturday Night Live:

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You can create a customized end screen, too. They help keep viewers on your channel by suggesting other videos and sites they can check out. Here’s how to do it:

Navigate to your Video Manager, tap “Edit,” and select “End screen & Annotations” from the drop-down menu:

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From there, you’re taken to the End screen creator studio, where you can play around with different templates and background to determine how you want your end screen to appear. Then, click the “Add element” menu to decide where you want to send viewers from your end screen.

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Any YouTube creators can add an end screen to customize their channels. Here’s an explainer article with more details and inspiration ideas.

How to Add a YouTube Mobile Card (YouTube Cards)

You can use cards to advertise products used in your videos or links on your website you want to market on YouTube. If viewers tap the “i” in the upper-right hand corner of a video, the cards expand, as in the example below:

 

To add a card to a YouTube video, head to your Video Manager, tap “Edit,” and select “Cards” from the drop-down menu.

Then, choose where in the video you want cards to appear, and tap the “Add card” drop-down menu to choose what you want the card to promote. From there, customize the content that will appear to viewers when they tap the “i” while viewing your video:

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