YouTube is on the mobile font because more people spend their time on YouTube, especially young adults and teenagers.

YouTube is still holding its weight among the fleet of video streaming platforms. In this article, we will break down how to create a YouTube channel for personal use and brand use. These steps will guide you upon creating your youtube channel.

Before we get started, there are certain things you should know before creating a youtube channel.

Things You Should Have Before Creating A YouTube Channel

• Have a name for your channel.
• Make sure you have an existing Google account.
• You should know your niche.
• Ensure you have created your channel banner art
• You should have a channel icon ready.
• For business owners, you should have a business email.

Why You Should Have A YouTube Account In 2021

I believe most people create a youtube channel, as a career or as a  part-time job. They are not driven by a passion for creating content or to offer value, but for the money that comes with creating content.

My opinion is, whether you’re starting a youtube channel for passion or money. Whichever way, your success has to do with implementing the right strategies, understanding youtube algorithms, making research on what is most searched for and being consistent, and a lot more. And always remember, making money on youtube doesn’t happen overnight, it requires a lot of effort.

4 Reasons To Have A YouTube Channel In 2021

• Monetize Your Skills

  Youtube is the most popular video platform on the web, it is still the second most visited website in the world. It gives room for anyone to showcase their talent. Something about social media platforms, in general, is that you tend to generate more audience if you have something to offer your audience. It could be something fascinating, educational, or inspiring.

In layman’s view, I will say youtube is like “give and take”. You offer value and you get paid for offering value to your audience. That is why having a niche is highly important, it guides you on how to create your content, it makes you focus on that field while creating content.

• Increase audience for your brand

There is no point in building your brand, without any increase in audience or engagement. There is a quote that says ‘Do not put your eggs in one basket. Imagine building your Instagram or Facebook page for years without an increase in engagements. You can use other apps to increase your Instagram or Facebook engagements, by directing your youtube audience to your other social media platforms.

• Youtube pays you for creating content on your youtube page.

Youtube pays monthly for creating content on your page. Although, there are requirements before you can be eligible for monetization. Firstly, you need to have 4000 watch hours within a year, which must not elapse within that year. And 1000 subscribers on your youtube channel.

• It helps build reliability

When you have a youtube channel, it helps build credibility, your audience who watch your youtube videos from time to time, see you as a family. They tend to believe what you say and trust you.

For instance, if you buy a skincare product and you make a video telling your audience that the product did work for you, most of them will believe it because you have built a trust relationship with them. It allows you to have an audience that will trust you.

How To Create A YouTube Channel

•   Sign in to your google account

Before getting started on youtube, you will need a google account. You can either create a new one or use an already existing Google account. If you are a business owner you don’t have to use your business name for your google account. YouTube provides the option to use a business page or your own.

•  Create a youtube channel

1. After creating a Google account, open your YouTube homepage.

    

2. Click the top-right corner of your screen. If it is your first time logging in, then you should select ‘create a channel’ from the drop-down options.

   

3. If you already have existing channels and you want to create a new channel, go over to  ‘settings’ then click ‘add or manage your channel’ it shows the channel you already have access to, then you can create a new channel by clicking the plus button in the top left corner of your screen.

    

4. Going back to your channel set up, you can create your channel using your name or a custom name, which is for a brand channel. If you’re still unsure of the name to use, you can use any subject relating to the content you will be having on your channel. Note also that you can change your channel name after setting up. After inputting any name of your choice, accept the terms and conditions and your channel has been created.

Simple right? although there are few more steps to creating a standard YouTube channel. Now that you have created your YouTube account. It is time to make your channel less exiguous, your channel needs to attract more viewers. Below are steps to make your channel more attractive.

•  Complete your channel description

  The next step is to write about your channel in the description box. The viewers need to know about your channel, who you are, things they should expect from watching your channel. Make it precise. Add key phrases to it, This will help your channel rank on YouTube faster. Your channel description can be in this format; Introduction, your type of video, what you will be talking about, ask your audience to subscribe, and a helpful link that adds value to the viewers.

The next section shows ‘add links to your site’ for a brand YouTube channel, you must include your business email as an extra point of contract. Add links to your site for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, YouTube allows adding up to 5 links and hyperlink text up to 30 characters. Then click “Save” and continue.

•    Customize your YouTube channel 

Your channel icon is the visual representation of your channel page. It appears as your profile picture for your YouTube page, in YouTube search results.

Your channel artwork is the large banner that goes across the top of your channel page. It’s commonly used to visually communicate a channel’s brand and personality. The dimensions for the channel icon are 800*800 pixels, while the banner art is 2560*14440 pixels.

Above is a channel banner art created using the photo application.

Applications you can use to create your channel artwork are Canva, Phonto, PicMonkey, Crello, Fotor, Adobe Spark, Placeit, Bannersnack. Although I highly recommend using Canva or Phonto, they are applications I have used to create my channel banner art and I love them. So let’s get started on uploading your channel icon and banner art.

Also Read: Tip on How to add a link to your tiktok bio

1. Return to your YouTube homepage and tap on the customize channel.
2. Click on branding, now you can see your channel icon, banner image, and channel watermark.
3. When uploading, YouTube provides a preview to make sure nothing gets cut off. After you upload your channel icon and banner art, it makes your account look more professional.
4. You must be wondering what a video watermark is. Well, a video watermark is a way to improve your brand awareness and channel recognition, here is how to set it up.

   Select video watermark, you will see a red box shape, it is a little branding watermark that you can add to your videos, it also acts as a subscribe button, you can use your profile picture or a subscribe button icon to create the watermark, tap on “choose image” and select an image of your choice, then you get to choose where you want it to be displayed, then you tap on save.

•  Set extra details for your youtube account

1. By now, you should know how to head up to a youtube studio. In case you don’t know how to do that, from the youtube homepage, select customize channel and your youtube studio page is opened.
2. Select settings and tap on ‘channel’.
3. Click on advanced settings, when you click on advanced settings, you get to select your audience, if your channel is for kids, you can select for kids and if it isn’t for kids you can select not for kids.
4. Select basic info, you will see a box that has the phrase ‘add keywords’, it allows you to add keywords or key tags associable with your channel. It helps increase the visibility of your channel. After adding keywords related to your channel, ensure you click save.

      How To Verify Your YouTube Account

Verifying your YouTube account, allows you to unlock extra features like, live streams, custom thumbnails, you’ll be given a facility to upload videos over fifteen minutes long and appeal content ID claims.

How to Verify your account

1. Head up to profile image
2. Click on the setting button
3. By the left side of the screen click on the ‘channel status and feature’.

   

4. Then you head up to verify
5. Complete the two steps account verification
6. Then your channel is verified

You can start uploading

Now that your channel is all set, you can upload your first video and start publishing.

If you’re a business owner or you’re growing your brand. Setting up a youtube channel is a great decision you have made. If your goal is to create awareness about your brand, or to show your talent, or to even be a youtube user, having a youtube channel will help you achieve that. If your goal of creating a youtube channel is to make money quickly, youtube doesn’t work that way.

Try to enjoy creating content, if you don’t enjoy creating, you’ll be frustrated. Enjoy the process and ensure you give value to your audience.