YouTube has taken an enormous step forward since its appearance in 2005, becoming the most used video platform on Earth. Back then, it used to be a simple page to play uploaded videos. These days, however, YouTube has myriad features that let everyone enjoy consuming content. Video content creators also have many more options to make their channels look appealing and discoverable. Let’s look at the most practical ways to make your YouTube channel successful and profitable.
Playlists
You would be surprised to know how many YouTubers ignore the playlist feature. Claiming them demanding and time-consuming, they often ignore creating comprehensive playlists of their content. Indeed, creating playlists isn’t elementary, but it’s far from labor-intensive! Consider the benefits the playlists can provide to your channel, and designing them will turn out to be an enjoyable thing to do!
On a side note, imagine you are a lay person visiting a YouTube channel with plenty of videos. Would you want to dive deep into that dense forest of videos on various topics? We don’t think so. Building playlists is also an excellent feature to use and boost your SEO. Yes, you heard right, playlists improve search engine optimization. Creating playlists makes your channel discoverable and navigable instantly, allowing users to find motion pictures they prefer to watch. It also sends YouTube algorithms a sign that the channel meets people’s requests, and algorithms push the video up the ranking.
Channel Preview
Once the person visits your channel, you have a short window of opportunity to draw their attention and invite them to explore the channel, react to your videos, and ultimately subscribe to your brainchild. Three elements to leverage here. The first one is a feature video. It is a motion picture that auto-plays every time viewers open your YouTube channel. Here, you can include practically any video, from your most-viewed piece to a brief channel preview to an announcement, etc. You can change previews now and then, so they won’t be annoying.
An icon and cover picture are the second and third elements to include in the channel preview. Since multiple research studies show that visuals are influential, engraving in people’s memory is necessary. Ensure to design a splendid channel icon in the required format (800 x 800 image, 98 x 98-pixel circle; formats JPG, BMP, PNG). Already have an attractive icon but in a different format? No lackluster! This image converter in seconds will handle any visual and deliver it in the appropriate format right away!
End Screen
YouTube is a fantastic video platform for blogging, allowing you to use promotional techniques effectively. Take an end screen feature, for instance. As simple as it is, promoting other videos at the end screen is impressively efficient and makes viewers retain on your channel for a significantly longer time. When a person enjoys your video and watches it until the end, they will see a link to another YouTube video. Once they watch the second video, the third video will appear as a recommendation, and so on. This way, your overall views will increase tremendously.
YouTube Studio
Behind every high-quality video is a colossal amount of work and hours spent using various tools. One such software is YouTube Studio, an ideal tool you, as a YouTube, must embrace and befriend. Why? YouTube Studio provides you with lots of opportunities to maintain your channel. You can, for example, track your performance, handle monetization, see mentions and comments, add subtitles in different ways, and customize your channel. Importantly, YouTube Studio allows editing your videos, checking metrics, adding end screens, and doing everything to make your videos look professional.
Descriptions
A description is a multifaceted feature you can’t overlook when running a YouTube channel. Thanks to descriptions, you can improve the audience’s knowledge, back up your arguments, or promote other channels (you can also promote your pages on different social media). We also suggest including a video timeline there to let others get familiar with your content and jump to the section they are most interested in should they be short on time.
Cards
When people stumble upon your channel for the first time, you need to reinforce them to keep exploring your content, especially if the first video they watch isn’t the best one (yes, that can happen). Luckily, the YouTube Card feature is a practical CTA button where you can place your best video or simply ask to subscribe to your channel. Cards are interactive elements that pop up at the end of the video. They have proven to boost audience engagement and drive traffic to the page. Use YouTube analytics to learn the best motion picture to include in such a card. Although the platform allows for five cards in a single video, we recommend not going overboard; two cards is enough to get good results.
Finale
Despite the sea of features and tools that can improve your channel, don’t forget about one thing essential at all times–comments. Remember to reply, heart, and pin users’ commentaries. Being active in the section will indicate your channel is alive. Gaining success on YouTube takes time and effort, but it is worth it. Therefore, ensure to leverage every feature mentioned above, and your road to YouTube success will be smooth and full of mesmerizing adventures!