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30 December 2016

How to Make Your YouTube Channel Succeed

Making your YouTube channel appealing to visitors is essential. However, page view and click statistics do not completely indicate whether your video marketing campaign is succeeding in its goals. Despite this, they do show how many people are viewing and interacting with your message. The role of a film editor is more than just creating high quality videos these days. Now film editors need to ensure that these high quality videos do not get lost in the mass of content on YouTube. In order to do this you need to ensure that your YouTube channel is well designed.

Top tips for design success

There a number of key considerations which you should bear in mind to make your YouTube channel stands out. These include:

  • Create a memorable channel name, which includes a clear description of its purpose.
  • Select a simple and easily identifiable icon.
  • Use an attention grabbing trailer.
  • Design attractive channel art, including your banner.

Channel Name and Description

YouTube ChannelTo demonstrate this point we will use a case study. With their channel, Shay and Katilette Butler have attracted over 1 million subscribers. On the opening page they describe their channel as “a daily diary” about life in a large Mormon family. The channel began as joke with the humorous name “Shaytards”.

Joking aside a channel stands a far greater chance of success if its name is clear. For example one channel with clear content but brand confusion is the Penguin publishing company’s site for young readers. The channels banner reads “Penguin teen”. You can’t access the channel by entering this into the search bar. Instead the channels name is “Penguin Young Readers group”. However, despite this, none of the channels sub heads make any reference to the intended age group for its books.

In order to attract users to your channel, and to hold them once they are there, it is important that your channel name matches the content you wish to display there. It is well worth taking time to create a name which best summarises your content, and will also appeal to your target audience.

Recognisable Icons

YouTube Channel IconsIn the words of Mashable an icon is an extremely valuable “piece of real estate”. Some channel icons are incredibly effective. A good example is the Awesomeness TV channel logo. It is simple the letter “A”. However it is formed by a cartoon depicting two upside-down fingers. These are then tied together using a tiny crossbar of string next to the image of a picture. This logo is excellent as it reflects the intended demographic of the channel and is memorable.

Again, similarly to your channel name it is worth spending some time designing your channel icon. A good icon design will be easily recognisable whilst also appealing to your demographic. Also when designing your icon, quality is essential, poorly designed icons will reflect badly on you, your brand and most importantly your channel.

Opening Trailer

You need to post an enticing opening trailer video to gain viewers attention. The best kind is one which is short. But also manages to provide a clear idea of the content viewers expect to see on your channel. Using Awesomeness TV again, their channel begins with a welcome video. The video shows rather than tells viewers the playful tone to highlight both the company’s content and upcoming features.

High Quality Channel Art

YouTube Channel ArtCreating solid videos which are both engaging and interesting, and designing a well defined page are key to creating a successful YouTube page. Another essential part of YouTube video marketing is to apply the same focus the artwork used throughout the channel. Often channels have high quality videos and attractive page banners, which is let down by poor and inconsistent channel art. Channel art is an excellent tool to tie your page together and to create a consistent theme.