Learn How To Create A YouTube Channel And Grow Your Subscribers Today!
Introduction
YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, with over 2 billion monthly active users and 500 hours of video uploaded every minute1. It is also a great place to showcase your creativity, share your knowledge, and build an audience for your brand or business. However, creating a successful YouTube channel is not easy. It requires a lot of planning, research, optimization, and promotion.
Related: Digital Marketing Ultimate Guide
In this article, we will show you how to create a YouTube channel and grow your subscribers and views in 2023. We will cover the following steps:
- Choose a niche and target audience for your channel
- Set up and optimize your channel profile
- Create high-quality and engaging videos
- Optimize your videos for search and discovery
- Use thumbnails, titles, and descriptions that stand out
- Promote your videos on social media and other platforms
- Interact with your viewers and encourage them to subscribe
- Analyze your performance and improve your strategy
Choose a Niche and Target Audience for Your Channel
The first step to creating a YouTube channel is to choose a niche and target audience for your content. A niche is a specific topic or category that you focus on, such as gaming, beauty, fitness, or education. A target audience is the group of people who are interested in your niche and who you want to reach with your videos.
Choosing a niche and target audience will help you:
- Define your value proposition and unique selling point
- Stand out from the competition and attract loyal fans
- Create relevant and consistent content that meets the needs and expectations of your viewers
- Optimize your videos for keywords and topics that your audience is searching for
To choose a niche and target audience for your channel, you need to do some market research. You can use tools like Keyword Tool to find popular keywords and topics related to your niche. You can also use TubeBuddy to analyze the competition and demand for different niches on YouTube. You want to find a niche that has high search volume but low competition.
You also need to understand who your target audience is, what they want, what they like, what they dislike, what their problems are, and how you can help them. You can use tools like Google Trends or YouTube Analytics to find demographic and behavioral data about your potential viewers. You can also create personas or profiles of your ideal viewers based on their age, gender, location, interests, goals, challenges, etc.
Set Up and Optimize Your Channel Profile
The next step to creating a YouTube channel is to set up and optimize your channel profile. Your channel profile is the first impression that your viewers will have of you and your brand. It includes elements such as:
- Your channel name
- Your channel icon
- Your channel art
- Your channel description
- Your channel trailer
- Your social media links
- Your contact information
Your channel profile should be:
- Professional and attractive
- Clear and concise
- Relevant and consistent with your niche and brand identity
- Optimized with keywords and phrases that describe your channel and content
To set up and optimize your channel profile, you need to follow these steps:
- Sign in to YouTube with a Google account or create one if you don’t have one already.
- Click on the profile icon at the top right corner of the screen and select “Create a channel”.
- Choose whether you want to use your name or a custom name for your channel. If you choose a custom name, make sure it is catchy, memorable, and related to your niche.
- Upload a channel icon that represents you or your brand. It can be a logo, a photo, or an image that matches your style and theme. The recommended size is 800 x 800 pixels.
- Upload a channel art that showcases your channel’s personality and value proposition. It can be a banner, a collage, or an image that highlights your content or offers. The recommended size is 2560 x 1440 pixels.
- Write a channel description that summarizes what your channel is about, who it is for, what kind of content you offer, how often you upload, and why people should subscribe. Include keywords that describe your niche and content. The recommended length is 1000 characters.
- Create a channel trailer that introduces yourself or your brand, explains what your channel is about, shows some examples of your best videos, and invites viewers to subscribe. The recommended length is 30 to 60 seconds.
- Add social media links to your channel banner that direct viewers to your other online platforms where they can follow you or contact you.
- Fill out the “About” section of your channel page with more information about yourself or your brand, such as your location, email address, website, etc.
Create High-Quality and Engaging Videos
The most important step to creating a YouTube channel is to create high-quality and engaging videos that attract and retain your viewers. Your videos should be:
- Valuable and useful
- Entertaining and enjoyable
- Informative and educational
- Inspiring and motivational
- Original and unique
To create high-quality and engaging videos, you need to follow these steps:
- Plan your video content in advance. Decide on the topic, the goal, the format, the style, the tone, the length, and the script of your video. Use tools like Google Docs or Trello to organize your ideas and outline your video structure.
- Record your video with a good camera, microphone, lighting, and background. Use tools like [OBS Studio] or [Camtasia] to capture your screen or webcam. Use tools like [Audacity] or [Adobe Audition] to edit your audio. Use tools like [Canva] or [Pixlr] to create graphics or animations.
- Edit your video with a good video editing software. Use tools like [Filmora] or [Adobe Premiere Pro] to cut, trim, crop, merge, split, rotate, zoom, add transitions, effects, filters, text, music, etc. Use tools like [VidIQ] or [YouTube Studio] to optimize your video settings, such as title, description, tags, thumbnail, etc.
- Upload your video to YouTube and publish it with a catchy title, a compelling description, relevant tags, an eye-catching thumbnail, and a clear call to action. Use tools like YouTube Analytics or [Google Analytics] to monitor your video performance and feedback.
Optimize Your Videos for Search and Discovery
The next step to creating a YouTube channel is to optimize your videos for search and discovery. YouTube is not only a video-sharing platform but also a search engine that ranks videos based on various factors, such as:
- Relevance
- Watch time
- Engagement
- Authority
- Freshness
To optimize your videos for search and discovery, you need to follow these steps:
- Conduct keyword research to find the best keywords and topics for your videos. Use tools like Keyword Tool or TubeBuddy to find popular and low-competition keywords that match your niche and content.
- Include your main keyword in your video title, description, tags, file name, transcript, captions, etc. Use tools like [YouTube Suggest] or [Answer The Public] to find related keywords and phrases that you can also use.
- Optimize your video title with a catchy and clear headline that describes what your video is about and why people should watch it. Use tools like [CoSchedule Headline Analyzer] or [Sharethrough Headline Analyzer] to improve your title quality and click-through rate.
- Optimize your video description with a summary of what your video is about, what value it provides, what keywords it targets, what call to action it has, etc. Use tools like [Hemingway Editor] or [Grammarly] to improve your description readability and grammar.
- Optimize your video tags with relevant and specific keywords that describe your video content and category. Use tools like [Rapidtags] or [Tag Generator] to generate tags for your videos.
- Optimize your video thumbnail with an image that captures the attention of your viewers and entices them to click on your video. Use tools like Canva or Snappa to create thumbnails for your videos.
- Optimize your video playlist with a collection of videos that are related by topic or theme. Use tools like YouTube Playlist Generator or Playlist Buddy to create playlists for your videos.
Promote Your Videos on Social Media and Other Platforms
The next step to creating a YouTube channel is to promote your videos on social media and other platforms. YouTube is not the only place where you can reach your target audience and drive traffic to your channel. You can also use other online platforms where you can share your videos or link back to them.
Some of the platforms that you can use are:
- TikTok
- Quora
- Medium
To promote your videos on social media and other platforms, you need to follow these steps:
Choose the platforms that are relevant to your niche and audience, and where they are active and engaged. You can use tools like [Sprout Social] or [Hootsuite] to manage your social media accounts and schedule your posts. 2. Create a social media strategy that aligns with your goals, content, and brand. You can use tools like [Buffer] or [Loomly] to plan your social media calendar and content. 3. Adapt your video content to fit the format and style of each platform. You can use tools like [InVideo] or [Wave.video] to create short videos, stories, reels, clips, etc. for different platforms. 4. Write captivating captions and hashtags that describe your video and encourage your followers to watch it or click on the link. You can use tools like [Capitalize My Title] or [Hashtagify] to improve your captions and hashtags. 5. Engage with your followers and other users who are interested in your niche or topic. You can use tools like [BuzzSumo] or [Social Mention] to find relevant conversations and influencers in your niche. 6. Track and measure your social media performance and feedback. You can use tools like [Social Blade] or [Socialbakers] to analyze your social media metrics and insights.
Interact with Your Viewers and Encourage Them to Subscribe
The next step to creating a YouTube channel is to interact with your viewers and encourage them to subscribe. YouTube is not only a video-sharing platform but also a social network that allows you to connect with your viewers and build a loyal fan base. Subscribers are the people who have chosen to follow your channel and get notified when you upload new videos.
Interacting with your viewers and encouraging them to subscribe will help you:
- Increase your engagement and retention rate
- Boost your channel authority and ranking
- Grow your community and brand awareness
- Generate more revenue and opportunities
To interact with your viewers and encourage them to subscribe, you need to follow these steps:
- Respond to comments and messages from your viewers. You can use tools like [TubeBuddy] or [Agorapulse] to manage your YouTube comments and messages.
- Ask questions and feedback from your viewers. You can use tools like [YouTube Poll Cards] or [YouTube Community Tab] to create polls, surveys, quizzes, etc. for your viewers.
- Create live streams and premieres for your viewers. You can use tools like [StreamYard] or [Restream] to broadcast live videos or schedule premieres for your videos.
- Collaborate with other creators and influencers in your niche or industry. You can use tools like [FameBit] or [AspireIQ] to find and work with other creators and influencers on YouTube.
- Offer incentives and rewards for your subscribers. You can use tools like [Patreon] or [Buy Me a Coffee] to create membership plans, perks, benefits, etc. for your subscribers.
Analyze Your Performance and Improve Your Strategy
The final step to creating a YouTube channel is to analyze your performance and improve your strategy. YouTube is not only a video-sharing platform but also a learning platform that allows you to improve your skills and knowledge based on data and feedback. YouTube provides various tools and resources that help you measure, monitor, and optimize your channel performance.
Analyzing your performance and improving your strategy will help you:
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses
- Discover new opportunities and trends
- Solve problems and challenges
- Achieve your goals and objectives
To analyze your performance and improve your strategy, you need to follow these steps:
- Use YouTube Analytics to track and measure your channel metrics, such as views, watch time, subscribers, revenue, etc.
- Use YouTube Studio to manage and optimize your channel settings, such as monetization, branding, features, etc.
- Use YouTube Creator Academy to learn and apply best practices, tips, tricks, etc. for creating a successful YouTube channel.
- Use YouTube Help Center to find answers and solutions for any questions or issues that you may have regarding YouTube.
- Use YouTube Feedback to share your opinions and suggestions for improving YouTube.
Conclusion
Creating a YouTube channel is a rewarding but challenging process that requires a lot of planning, research, optimization, promotion, interaction, analysis, and improvement. However, with the right tools, resources, strategies, techniques, skills, knowledge, passion, creativity, dedication, patience, persistence, you can create a YouTube channel that grows your subscribers and views in 2023.
We hope this article has helped you learn how to create a YouTube channel and grow your subscribers and views in 2023.
If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and family who are interested in creating a YouTube channel. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and hit the bell icon to get notified when we upload new videos. Thank you for watching and reading!
This article was co-authored by Bing Chatbox and John Monyjok Maluth, who are both passionate about YouTube and digital marketing. You can find more information about them and their work on their websites .
References
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- TubeBuddy. (2023). The Premier YouTube Channel Management Toolkit.
- Google Trends. (2023). Explore what the world is searching.
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- Answer The Public. (2023). Find out what questions and queries your consumers have by getting a free report of what they’re searching for in Google and YouTube. Retrieved from 20 Some additional sentences are:
- CoSchedule Headline Analyzer. (2023). Write headlines that drive traffic, shares, and search results.
- Sharethrough Headline Analyzer. (2023). Optimize your headlines for maximum engagement.
- Hemingway Editor. (2023). Make your writing bold and clear.
- Grammarly. (2023). Write with confidence across documents, email, and the web.