Given that 50 percent of internet users look for videos related to a product or business before they invest in it, there’s never been a better time for small business owners to start creating quality visual content. As the third most trafficked site in the world, YouTube is definitely the platform to do it.
Read on for the full guide on how to create a YouTube channel.
The show don’t tell rule is a good one to follow
Videos are more reliable when it comes to gaining customer trust.
Audiences respond well to real people addressing the camera, whether it’s showing them how to fix a broken pipe or add volume to your hair.
It’s just more effective than telling them with text. It works for advertising too; research tells us that if people hear a brand mentioned in a video, they are far more likely to look it up.
Why you should jump on the YouTube bandwagon
Creating a YouTube business channel is a viable business decision in itself: it boosts trade, gives you the chance to visually show off your company culture and adds professional credibility — particularly if your videos are informative, like how-to videos or DIY tutorials relevant to your trade.
YouTube is a web marketing avenue that encourages communication between businesses and customers. As it’s Google owned, it also encourages traffic to other relevant pages, like your official website and social media platforms, which helps you rank high on Google searches.
Besides, it’s a user-friendly platform, even for the non-tech savvys, with clear instructions and easy-to-use features. This makes it easier to upload and schedule your videos, share them, monitor comments and follow other channels.
How to start a YouTube channel
-
Create a Google account
To get started, you’ll need a Google account – although if you already have a personal one you can use it, but you should keep things professional by creating all your business channels from scratch.
-
Sign in with your business name
Head over to YouTube’s homepage and sign in from your computer or mobile. You’ll be able to start customising your channel immediately.
Once you’ve created your Google account, head over to YouTube’s homepage to personalise the layout. Instead of putting in your own name, as prompted, you should choose the Brand Account option from the drop down list.
-
Fine tune your channel.
Craft imagery to make the home page visually appealing or relevant to your business category. You can start with your channel icon, channel banner and user photo to give your company a sense of your personality. You should take your time, experiment until you get it right, but your channel banner should make your business the focal point. This is so your viewers are immediately aware of what your business focuses on.
-
Insert Quality Content
Make sure you create proper content for the About section, as this is often overlooked by first-time creators. A brief summary of who you are and what you do, a mission statement if you will, should be enough to get the right message across to your viewers. Also add your business email to the contact section for additional contact information and links to your homepage, social profiles and other sites where you want your viewers to land.
-
Verify your account
Once you’ve filled out all the details and are happy with the way it looks, you can click “Done” to save your brand new account. You can also add owners and managers to the page so they can help edit content, track comments and load videos. To do this, just click on Account Settings, where you’ll find Add/remove managers and follow the instructions.
Once you’ve setup your YouTube channel…
So now that you’ve got your channel, think about your videos. Given that you already know what your business is about, you can focus on tailoring videos that represent your business and its services, by displaying your unique knowledge of your field. So if you’re a plumber, you could create DIY fix videos, or if you’re a makeup artist, you could include unique makeup tutorials.
Upload quality content
You don’t need a great camera or marvellous editing skills — these will improve as you go along, but you do need top-notch relevant content so focus on that. The same goes for consistency. Don’t neglect your channel, upload regularly — once or twice a week with active performance in between should be enough to keep on top of things.
If you’re looking for a way to create your own YouTube videos, there are plenty of free video editing tools available. Pick the one that best fits your needs and start creating!
Be an active community member
Keep your channel active even when you’re not uploading videos by following other channels and liking other related videos to your business’s content – keep things strictly professional though, don’t stray into following unrelated videos or YouTubers.
SEO
You should think about search-engine optimisation (SEO). You can tag your videos so they rank high in Google searches with proper keywords. Also think about including unique thumbnail images that appeal and call-to-action options at the end of your videos so your viewers know where to go next. YouTube Analytics helps you view your videos’ performance, so you can check out how all of these aspects are working out for you as you go along.
So, now that you know how to start a YouTube channel, it’s time to stop reading and start shooting your first video masterpiece!
