The initial setup of your YouTube channel makes all the difference for you, the algorithm and your audience. If not made correctly, it may be the decisive factor for the viewers to turn you off and look for someone else. This is why in this video I will help you set up your YouTube channel properly, and with success in mind!

Have you ever seen someone’s cool video, went to their channel and literally looked into the void? Yeah, this happens to me to… a lot. It’s hard to go through such channels and looking for things that may interest you is simply a pain. In our society this will not work. Therefore, if you think that your channel is set up properly already - maybe double check.

YouTube is my pillar content tool (and actually my favourite. People are turning away from instagram lately and for very good reasons). Therefore, I am taking an extra care of my landing page. I want to be sure that whenever you land on my channel - you will find everything you may need (again, maybe not now as it’s the first video on this channel, but hey - there is my main channel linked, so we’ll use it as an example while we build up this channel right here.

Once You have Your channel (it can be your main account, or you can set up another email just for the sake of social media, which is actually what I have done) there are a couple of things that you need to pay your attention to (and feel free to follow me along):

Channel art

Make sure that your channel art stands out. Check out the channels of other creators (for example the ones you like personally) and see what they have there. Some people like to create a graphic that informs about the videos they are creating, like “new video every Sunday 8pm CET”. Also remember to add the small graphics with the social media links. Instagram logo + @your nickname are enough and show people right away, that you are also on other social media platforms. And weirdly works better than having an actual link (which you also need by the way). Better be prepared for everything rather than miss an opportunity to get a follower here or there. The size of channel art is different on every screen. Therefore, remember to use the most of it. Here’s a small graphic that will tell you all, and an example of the channel art that I have on this particular channel.

Profile picture

it can be your logo, picture of you or something that you are doing. Check out the channel profile picture of people you personally like to watch. Most of them use their faces instead of attributes. The thing is – people like watching other people. This is why we do have social media at the first place. Your face has a bigger chance of getting more people in rather than a picture of your car/drone/cat/dog (unless it’s a dog/cat channel) or a landscape. Even National Geographic uses their logo instead of landscape. Because they are a company, not an individual.

Social Media Links

(those are different than the ones on channel art. How? Well, you can click those) remember to add the social media links to your channel! It can get people to your other social media like facebook, Instagram, your website or patreon. Leaving such a chance unused is a waste. Why did I say though that you should add the graphics in your channel art? Well… They are pretty small on the channel page and I get it. YouTube wants people to stay on, well… YouTube.

Screenshot of the page and tiny socials

Channel trailer

Do you have a channel trailer? It is the first video that people will see once they click on your icon if they liked your comment or just go to your channel after seeing your first video. Channel trailer should be rather short. You can create a channel trailer by yourself:

• Talk about who you are and what the channel is about

• Create a reel of your best moments

• Create a video introduction on a pro level.

Or:

• Use the video that you already have, and are proud of

• Use the “best of 2022 or similar video which is basically a reel” – guilty here. I had something like this as my trailer for way too long. I actually need a new one for my main channel, while this one got the introduction as its own trailer. Which I think works well.

• Channel composition – (CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL button) your main page is what people see first. If you are creating a couple of things (educational, vlog, tutorial, random. Or travel to multiple countries and continents) create a separate playlist that perfectly fits the subject of those videos. It is important that people can find the stuff that interests them most – easily.

How to customise your channel?

To customise your channel – go to your main channel page (not the studio) and click customise channel. To add the playlist – click add section and pick what you want to see there.

• Uploads – first category that should be visible on your channel. So newcomers can see your newest stuff, meaning the things you are doing right now with current editing skill level – we all learn every day and it is pretty important to show your best work first. Consider yourself a learning artist: with every new piece – you gain experience and make it even better.

• Popular uploads – a category of videos that is created by YouTube itself. That shows your most watched videos. So, stuff you should be proud of (or confused about – I can assure you – I have no idea why my most popular videos are popular, therefore I belong to confused group)

• Playlists – now here is your playground. Add as many playlists as you can. Starting with the ones you are proud of the most, because people will see them first. And put some more video categories in playlists below that and continue until you have no more playlists or until YouTube tells you that this is enough.

Now your main YouTube page looks professional! And it’s extremely easy to search around it. Congratulations!

About me

Most of us hate writing about ourselves. And I am one of those people. But feel free to write something nice about yourself there. Be sure to add links, business email, say hello to your viewers and inform them how often you upload your videos (consistency is a key! – but we will cover that topic later). Remember to say what your channel is about. Weather travel, lifestyle, DIY, extreme sports or fashion. You can also add something that describes you as a person. On some social media I have some weird stuff written down. For example, on my “Gear list” I have a short info + “now, what’s your fav pizza?”. You can check it because it stays there. And it shows that you are not completely super serious about life. We shouldn’t be overly serious. Life is fun.

Ok so… we’re done. How does your channel look like now? Fancy? Professional? I bet it looks much better than the default! Leave me a comment down below and let me know what shocked you about this setup or how did your setup change! Comments help me immensely to build this channel up, so thanks a lot for doing that. For more tips, tricks and information on how to make a living and build up your dream life trough content creation - be sure to subscribe and smash that bell button to get a notification whenever a new video is up - we’re just getting started.