Module 1 - Properly Structuring Channel
Strategizing
One of the most important things you can do is to develop a clear vision and strategy for your channel long before you begin to create content. You want your channel to appeal to a specific audience so that you’re able to connect with your core market. You also want visitors to immediately understand what you have to offer and that your content appeals to their interests. This is how you connect to your audience and quickly build a large following on YouTube. All of your content should be unique, highly targeted and relevant to what you want to offer to your audience.
This requires careful content planning. You’ve probably already decided on a general focus for your channel, but now it’s time to dig a bit deeper and create a content plan that will help you stay on track while ensuring that your channel is focused on what your audience wants most. The key to YouTube is being consistent in terms of the type of content you offer as well as uploading fresh, unique content on a regular basis. Creating a content plan helps you stick to that overall theme.
CONTENT PLANNING
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Begin jotting down notes and ideas about the type of content you want to create.
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Research your market (similar channels) to better understand what your target audience is looking for.
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What style content and overall tone are they most likely going to be attracted to?
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What can you do differently from other channels in your market to make you stand out and really make users subscribe. Conversion is key, and you want your viewers to convert into subscribers! More subscribers, more money.
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Create a content plan that involves uploading content on specific days of the week.You’ll also want to make sure it’s a schedule you can stick to since your subscribers will begin to rely on content updates on those days.
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For example: Choose to publish weekly or daily intervals such as every Monday, or Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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When you are first getting the hang of YouTube, but want to put out as much quality content as possible, see what you can realistically commit to per week.
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In the beginning, you’ll want to quickly build a backlist of videos so that you’re able to keep people engaged when they arrive on your channel.
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For example: you may find that you can only publish once or twice a week.
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Decide on the days that you can guarantee videos be uploaded, and then put that information in the About section of your YouTube channel. This will tell viewers when they can expect to see a new video from you.
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If you have other social media accounts, it’s a good idea to mention which weekdays viewers can head on over to your channel for new content.
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There’s also a strategy for what time of day to publish. Research shows that most people watch videos in the evenings and on weekends. But that doesn’t mean you should upload during those times or expect a lot of views.
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You want to give Google enough time to actually index your videos, meaning they’re more likely to show up in search results.
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During the week, it’s suggested that you upload between 12-4pm.
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This gives your video enough time to be indexed for the viewers who will be sitting down that evening to watch. On Saturday and Sunday, they suggest publishing between 9am-11am.
Download this content planning guide to help you with all of your planning.
Defining channel theme and type
The most successful channels are usually based on what your interests and passions are. You want to also tie in your channel to any other websites, blogs, or products you may have associated with you. The goal is to create one seamless brand when you’re visible on all major platforms. So, connecting your channel to your other ventures and projects helps expose your channel to a wider audience.This will also help maximize your exposure.
If you aren’t sure what you want your channel to be about, then you’ll want to to spend some time figuring it out before you go any further. Again, this goes back to researching your market and identifying areas that are lacking in content. Try this:
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Scroll through the comments of similar channels with a high amount of subs, and jot down the requests of their subs.
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Once you’ve identified the audience needs-
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strategize and implement the resolution into content.
Fulfilling a need in your niche with content that is widely in demand but not available, will be the easiest way to grow your channel with little marketing needed. If you need more helping selecting a channel theme, then here is a list of popular channel themes.
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Family channels-
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Vlogs, pranks, challenges, muckbangs.
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How to/ tutorials/ DIY channels-
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Creating how to content for things such as-
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Crafting, website building, marketing, making money, home improvements. There are so many things you can teach, these types are channels are always in demand.
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Best Of Clips channels-
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Research popular people, places, and things that are trending-
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Compile a list of the best or top 10.
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Example:
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Top 10 music artists of 2021
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Top 3 vacation spots in US
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The best TikTokers in 2021 so far
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Explain why and what each do.
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News/Gossip/Tea channels-
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Report drama going on in the world, youtube community, the celebrity world, or just public figures overall. You can report the good or the bad. Make sure you have facts and always use “allegedly”.
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Reaction channels -
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React to popular/trending issues,topics, situations and videos.
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Business & entrepreneurship channels -
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People always want to learn best from people who they see are already successful. Use your success to teach and educate others on certain areas in their business or entrepreneurship journey.
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Once you have gained their trust and loyalty you can also start promoting other paying content like courses, ebooks, and etc.
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Beauty channels-
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If you enjoy all things beauty then this is the perfect choice to go. Makeup, hair ,and nail artists have begun to teach others these skills via their YouTube channel to grow their clients and to add an extra income stream to their brand and business.
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Fitness/ Health & Wellness
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Workout routines.
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Healthy recipes.
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There is so much you can do with this type of channel.
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Cooking/ Baking channels
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Real estate/ real estate investment/ home decor/ home reno
These are just a few ideas for you to choose from, but if none of these seem like a right fit for you then really sit down and make a list of things you enjoy and strategize how to convert it into a unique channel theme.
Channel Name
If you haven't yet decided on a name, you’ll want to consider this very carefully. Your name represents your brand and business, and also tells potential subscribers what to expect from you.
This means you do not want to choose something generic and vague that people won’t associate to a specific topic or theme.
While there are countless successful vloggers who created their channel with their personal name, it’s often much easier to launch a channel and connect to your target audience if you choose a channel name that represents the type of content you’ll be creating.
Creating a successful Youtube channel requires a focus on specific content formats. Creating a random channel that tries to be all things to everyone will make it hard, if not impossible to establish a recognized channel to stand out. Instead you want your channel to be geared to one main niche or category, at least when you're first starting out.By doing this you’ll be able to grow faster and solidify your channel and brand. Plus, by taking a laser focused approach, it’ll be easier for you to create, schedule, and put out content.
Branding Identity
Branded videos always outperform non branded videos, and there's a good reason for it. People recognize your channel’s brand and content because it is prominent and memorable. They’ll share your content with others if it’s informative, entertaining, or interesting. And in return, your channel will continuously have more exposure.
To take your channel to the next level, you need to have outstanding and quality content tools and accessories. This means:
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great thumbnails
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an amazing intro that isn’t too long
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Professional banners and etc
Consider hiring a professional to create these for you or purchasing templates that you can repurpose. This is important because you need to highlight your brand in every way possible. You should choose one main color design scheme and stick to it. If you already have a website or logo stick to those colors for your channel as well. That way your brand can be clean and cohesive.
Always look for ways to include your brand identifying elements into your videos and other content. The more often people see it, the faster they’ll be able to recognize it.
If you have a tagline, include that in your tools and accessories as well.
Attention Grabbing Description
Believe it or not, a lot of new YouTube channels often overlook the importance of a highly-optimized channel description. This is the first thing that people often see and if someone is interested in subscribing to your channel, chances are, they’re going to read your description to determine whether it’s something worthy and relevant to what they are most interested in.
Therefore, creating a well-written, keyword optimized, informative channel description is imperative to the success of your YouTube channel. Potential subscribers will find this when they click on your “About” tab. To begin creating your channel description, click the "Edit" button within your admin panel, and then fill out the “About” section. Use this opportunity to inform viewers about the type of content YouTube Quick Start: Special Report 12 you offer.
Include links to your website or landing page so you can convert that viewer into a mailing list subscriber as well as a channel one! You’ll want to include 1-2 primary keywords that clearly describe your content. Use them in both video descriptions and titles as well. It’s been proven that YouTube places a great deal of importance on the content found on your About Page so you want to make sure you use this space wisely.
There are also places to link your other social media accounts for your business, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so be sure to fill them out if they’re applicable, as this is a great opportunity to gain followers on other social media platforms and create a flow of traffic to all your accounts. If your channel will offer a weekly podcast, then be sure to include the link and content schedule in your "About" section along with a relevant hashtag for your podcast.
Once you’ve created a handful of videos, you can also create a playlist that is linked and featured in your About section. This is great for the times where you are offering longer videos on external channels like Twitch.
You can upload a portion of the full video to YouTube and then funnel traffic to the full video on another site where perhaps you’re able to monetize. At the end of your about section, you’ll want to include something to encourage viewers to interact with your videos – essentially, a call to action.
Videos with a high level of interaction tell potential subscribers that what you produce is good, binge-worthy content, and keeps people engaged instead of clicking on something else and moving on.
For example, say something along the lines of something you’ve likely seen a hundred times on other channels:
“If you enjoy watching our videos, then please comment, hit that like button, subscribe to our channel, and share!”
This also helps with your algorithm. The more activity your channel gets, the more Youtube pushes and refers your videos to different users. So it’s very important to get your subscribers engaged if you want to grow your channel.
A critical part of having a successful YouTube channel is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is what puts your videos on the Google map, as well as other search engines and social media sites, where people searching the internet can find it. They help people find your channel and serve as signals that will help connect your target audience to the content they’re looking for on your channel.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with Google’s Keyword Planner, which is found at: https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keywordplanner/
You can also use Google Trends here:
Other tools
Begin by evaluating different keyword phrases to determine what people are actively searching for, but also what keywords are relevant to your market. Chances are you’ll uncover a ton of high-traffic keywords you haven’t even considered.
Use a few of these keywords throughout your entire channel, not YouTube Quick Start: just your description but also in your video descriptions and title tags. Keywords are what people search for when looking for specific content, so the more often you are incorporating them into your channel’s content, the higher number of social signals will be out there, driving traffic in. Also keep in mind that repetition matters.
Don’t keyword stuff (this is where you use keywords in ways that don’t make sense to your audience or detract from a viewer’s experience). At the same time don’t be afraid to use the same keywords multiple times throughout different areas of your channel. 2-3 times is best practice. Any more than that can get your account flagged.
Include keywords in your titles, but make sure you keep your titles short and focused on engagement. You want them to be exciting and attention grabbing.
Be sure to create a second keyword list for your tags. Tags function the same way as keywords so they’ll become very important to your channel. Unfortunately tags are not displayed in video descriptions to uncover them just by browsing popular videos in your niche. However there are tools to help with this issue. Once you install these tools whenever you visit a youtube channel and look at the video description, you’ll be able to see the tags being used by the creator. This will show you exactly what successful youtubers in your niche are using.
Tools for tags:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tags-for-youtube/dggphokdgjikekfiakjcpidcclbmkfga?hl=en-US
When it comes to growing an audience, there are a few things you can do help your channel become successful in this area. First you'll want to work on building a strong back end. This means that the more content you can publish the better.
Providing subscribers with a ton of content to consume will keep them on your channel longer and will work towards facilitating the process of converting a visitor into a loyal subscriber. So work on bulking up your library of content. This is another reason why content planning is so important. In the beginning stages it is important to release as much quality content as you can to keep your audience engaged.
Consider spending weeks or months creating content before you drive traffic to your channel. That way when users start coming to your channel they'll have enough videos to watch to keep them on your channel. Once they binge your videos they will become loyal subscribers and will be waiting for your next video upload.
Subscribers prefer channels that provide fresh new content on a regular basis. You can set yourself up for long term success without being overwhelmed. You can achieve this by creating content in batches and stock-piling that content for future release.
Networking with other channels is a great way to gain new subscribers. Collabs and shout outs are very common and help subscriber conversion rates. Research different youtubers in your market and propose a collaboration offer. Really sell yourself and let them know how much it can help you both. You can make this offer via email, social media accounts, or directly through their video comments or blog.
Prior to making your proposal, spend more time engaging with their content, subscribing, commenting, and studying what it is that they do that makes them unique. This way your proposal we'll start with a compliment and you will also gain trust by showing how familiar you are with them. The ending of your collaboration proposal should be you explaining to them why a collaboration will be equally beneficial.
CONCLUSION
This module should have given you the knowledge and tools you need to start building a successful channel. Start off by researching your market, spend some time watching videos from successful channels in your niche and then develop a content plan and schedule that you can stick to. Once you get the hang of it, make it a point to regularly upload quality content based on the schedule you’ve chosen.
Try not to change this! Your subscribers will rely on it and begin to log on expecting new content on those days. Give viewers a reason to subscribe to your channel and keep coming back, and don’t forget to directly ask for it!
A call to action within each video as well as channel description is important, you should always encourage them to also turn on notifications so that they’re alerted whenever you upload fresh content. Notifications cut through the noise and helps your channel gain traction with repeat visits from subscribers. And remember to upload in different video formats to keep it interesting, and keep the viewer's attention.
Move on to Module 2 of Building A Successful Youtube Channel