Many dream of YouTube stardom and a successful presence. Yet, many let it go due to confusion and lack of guidance.
To troubleshoot this, I’ve curated insights from YouTube automation experts and top channels to build a comprehensive guide for you.
In this article, I’ll give you a step-by-step guide to creating a YouTube channel and discuss tips to set it up to attract the audience. In addition to this, I’ll also discuss eligibility criteria for monetization and help you unlock your channel’s revenue potential.
So, let’s get started!
Setup Your YouTube Channel (Step-By-Step Guide)
YouTube allows users to create a YouTube channel with the help of a Google account. Follow these 5 steps to set up a YouTube channel in a few minutes.
Step 1: Tap on your Profile picture in the top-right corner of the desktop. You can find it in the bottom-right corner of the mobile.
Step 2: Click on Create Channel.
Once you click on Create account, you will see a pop-up with a form and a profile icon.
Step 3: Upload a suitable Profile picture.
You can skip this step for later, as YouTube allows you to customize your Channel anytime in YouTube Studio.
The size of the YouTube profile picture is ideally 800 x 800, known as a 1:1 aspect ratio. You can upload images in various formats, including JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP files, until they exceed 2MB.
Step 4: Insert your desired Name and Username
Like other social media sites, even YouTube requires a unique handle name. Keep it specific and relevant, as it will be placed as your Channel name.
Step 5: Click on Create Channel. Ta-da! Your YouTube channel is ready.
Tips For Setting Up Your YouTube Channel
As you have created the Channel, it’s time to work on it, set it up, and drive traffic.
Creating a YouTube channel is easy, but ensuring its success requires a little hard work. So, starting with a plan is better than going out of ideas after creating a channel. Thus, here are 11 essential tips to set up a YouTube Channel.
1. Pick The Right Name & Niche:
Your name tells a lot about your channel. Therefore, Choose a memorable name for your channel that reflects your content. You can either get creative or go with your name & last name, like Iman Gadzi. However, ensure consistency in branding across channel art, profile pictures, and content.
Regarding niche, always go for topics you love or have expertise in. This will motivate you to stay consistent on the platform and ease your content-making process. Besides this, always try to narrow down the niche to eliminate competition.
2. Channel Art:
Channel art, also known as a YouTube banner, serves as the first impression of your profile. You can find dozens of templates online and take inspiration from other creators.
You can also hire a graphic designer or make it yourself using Canva. The goal should be to make eye-catching art relevant to your content and use high-resolution pictures that look good on mobile and desktop. Likewise, don’t forget to add a call-to-action or any relevant text to hook your visitors.
3. Profile Picture:
Your profile picture is your identity, whether it’s on Instagram or YouTube. It’s essential to have a high-quality profile picture on your Channel. You can also create a logo or use a high-resolution picture of yourself. Choose an attractive and recognizable image that helps viewers to identify you.
As suggested before, the size of a YouTube profile picture is 800 x 800 pixels and 2MB. You can also show your creativity by uploading images in various formats, including GIFs.
4. Channel Description:
Channel description helps you give new visitors an overview of your channel content. YouTube allows you to write up to 800 words in channel description. So, write a concise introduction about your channel and summarize what it offers.
You can also include keywords in the description to enhance your visibility, and don’t forget to add your social media or other relevant links in the links section.
5. Channel Trailer:
Create an engaging channel trailer to introduce your channel to new visitors. Channel trailers are placed on the homepage of your profile and play automatically for new visitors.
This feature helps promote and introduce your channel to a new audience. So, make it convincing enough to convert your visitors into subscribers.
6. Use YouTube SEO tools:
SEO is a key element of YouTube. It would help if you made that interesting to your audience. Therefore, we have a few essential tools, like YouTube Studio, VidIQ, etc., to research keywords, get content ideas, track analytics, optimize your videos, and more.
7. Create High-Quality Content:
Create high-quality content to attract and retain viewers. It will help you to build credibility and increase engagement. This will directly impact your YouTube growth and potential revenue.
Sticking to one niche and making content around it is always better. This will help you build a strong identity among your audience and motivate them to revisit your channel. Besides this, don’t forget to add Call-to-action in your videos to gain subscribers, likes, etc.
8. Video Thumbnails:
Thumbnails are the first images that appear on users’ feeds; they play a vital role in attracting clicks. Thus, design catchy thumbnails for your YouTube videos. Ensure they are high-quality pictures with readable and bold fonts.
In addition to this, YouTube allows you to change thumbnails, even after uploading the video. Hence, you can use this feature and try different thumbnails to see what works best.
9. Optimize Video Titles And Descriptions:
Use keyword research tools to find suitable keywords and integrate them in titles, tags, and descriptions to increase visibility. Also, don’t forget to use those keywords in your script, as YouTube transcribes your video to categorize and serve your content to interested audiences.
Besides this, you can also make the most out of a video description by adding links to your other videos and social media sites. You can smartly drive traffic from one video to another using description.
10. Other YouTube Features:
To connect with a broader audience, utilize features like Shorts, community, playlist, etc. You can make a playlist of similar content and add a link to it in the video description, make Shorts out of long videos, and drive traffic to them. YouTube gives much space to communicate with your subscribers through community and live streams to showcase your expertise and understand your audience’s perspective.
11. Experiment With Your Content:
You can’t find what works best for you until you try new strategies, and YouTube is all about experiments. Therefore, keep experimenting with your content and thumbnails to find what engages your audience the most.
In addition to this, pay attention to your competitor’s channel and see what works for them. Consequently, strategize your content based on your audience’s behavior, engagement, and current trends.
How Do You Get Paid From Your YouTube Channel In 2024?
Only YouTube creators who meet the eligibility criteria for the YouTube Partner Program can monetize their channel. On meeting the required criteria, this digital platform pays revenue per 1000 views. The amount of revenue varies based on niche and video length.
YouTube pays revenue in your AdSense account between the 21st and 26th of the month. However, you can withdraw only $100 or more. If your account doesn’t have $100, the remaining balance rolls over the next month.
The YouTube partnership program is divided into 2 milestones with different eligibility criteria and benefits. Here are the eligibility rules and benefits of YouTube monetization.
First Milestone: Eligibility
Here are the eligibility criteria for the first milestone.
- 500 subscribers
- Upload 3 videos
- 3000 watch hours (in 365 days) Or 3M public Short views (in 90 days)
Benefits:
The benefits of meeting milestones aren’t as profitable as the final milestone. Yet, they offer you a passive income stream. Here are the benefits:
- Memberships: Create a fan club and get 70% percent of revenue from monthly subscription fees paid by members
- Super chat: Earn money directly from the audience to highlight messages during live streams or premieres.
- YouTube shopping: You can tag products in your videos and earn commission on sales made through these links
You can learn more about how much YouTube pays through our detailed guide.
Final Milestone: Eligibility
The final milestone is a key goal of many YouTube content creators. Here are the requirements you need to meet to get the best benefits from your YouTube channel:
- 1000 subscribers
- 4000 watch hours (in 365 days) Or 10M Shorts views (in 90 days)
Benefits:-
The benefits of the final milestone are comparatively more profitable than the first milestone. In addition to this, it offers constant income to content creators. There are benefits of reaching the final milestone:
- Watch page ads: Earn from ads that show up on your videos and revenue from YouTube Premium subscribers who watch your video
- Shorts feed ads: Earn revenue from ads that run in between videos in the shorts feed and revenue from YouTube premium subscribers who watch your Shorts.
Besides this, here are a few more requirements to join the YouTube partner program:
- It would help if you lived in a country with access to this program.
- It would help to have an AdSense account linked to your YouTube channel.
- There are no active community guidelines on your channel.
- You should accept all terms and policies of this program
The final milestone’s eligibility criteria are challenging, yet you can achieve both milestones with smart strategies and consistency. In addition to this, your first milestone progress is included in your final eligibility criteria, which makes it a bit easier to achieve.
The fastest way to meet this eligibility criteria is by being consistent and experimental with your content. The right collaboration of keywords, eye-catching thumbnails, and smart use of Shorts can help to accelerate your YouTube channel.
You can meet these requirements by either working on Shorts or long-form videos. However, using both types of content strategically to meet your goals is better.
For example, YouTube shorts offer less revenue than long videos, yet it has around 2 Billion monthly users. Therefore, you can use Shorts to increase subscribers, reach larger audiences, and drive traffic to your long videos.
Additionally, you can use tools like View Stats, VidIQ, and Google Trends to do competitor analysis, keyword research, and look for trending ideas.
Explore Our YouTube Resources:
- Fix ‘This Channel Has No Content Error’
- How to See Your YouTube Channel As A Visitor
- Complete Guide On YouTube Shorts Aspects Ratio
Conclusion: Quick Tips To Remember To Set Up A YouTube Channel
YouTube isn’t an overnight game, but it is impossible to win. You can potentially grow your YouTube channel with consistent learning and dedication. Here are the top 3 tips to help your Channel grow.
- Choose a niche you can stick to.
- Use tools to do keyword research and analyze competitors.
- Experiment and make high-quality content regularly.
A successful YouTube channel is a long journey that demands persistence and patience. Thus, keep moving while celebrating every milestone, and don’t give up until you reach your destination.
FAQs
As a beginner, you can start a YouTube channel after analyzing other channels’ content and strategies to get ideas about niches, graphics, and scripts you want to stick to.
Yes, anyone with Google can create a YouTube channel for free.
Yes, YouTubers get paid between 21st and 26th of every month in their AdSense account
Yes, you can create a YouTube channel on both mobile and desktop
There can be several reasons for being unable to create a YouTube channel. However, try to connect with the YouTube Help Center and Google Support team to resolve the issues.
