How to optimize your Youtube video channel to make it look top-notch

We live in times of YouTube. Actually, we live in the era of video, but since YouTube is the first platform that is strongly associated in our minds with video, therefore… Well, you get that. In this regard making your channel on YouTube good-looking is the first thing you have to consider. And we are not talking merely of content.

On second thought, content is a subject of another conversation. Here we are talking about everything that has an effect on a viewer’s desire to watch or not to watch content. Believe it or not, but usually, it has little to do with content. So, how should you optimize your YouTube channel in order to deserve to hear the word “top-notch” about it? Here goes. Your YouTube banner, or channel art, is a vital part of your brand’s channel.

Nowadays there are hardly those that separate how the channel looks from its content. It means that once stumbling upon your blog people would rather take a quick look on the cover and might as quickly leave it. Why? Well, a cover photo is basically “the face” of your blog. Literally – it is the first thing a user sees when they open your channel. It can and it should be attractive no matter what.

What is an appropriate banner size and dimensions for your channel on YouTube?

Before actually making any steps in the art of making YouTube covers, you have to know its technical proportions. So, how big should a YouTube banner be? Here are some basic requirements: These rules are very important, but you have to keep in mind that the cover has to be adjusted to the variety of screens – after all, people use different devices these days. So, in order to make sure YouTube won’t crop part of your cover on some device, find a “blind spot” for these virtual scissors that YouTube seems to use quite often.

How to choose a memorable cover?

YouTube actually is very open and democratic about covers – once you manage to make everything fit the rules above, you can give your fantasy permission to fly.

There are typical approaches to banners: bloggers, companies or studios fill a banner with vital information about the channel, show posting schedule, or make a visual luxury and put some artsy image on the cover. While we can’t help you with the first two cases, the last seems like a great thing to mull over. 

What types of banners can make you memorable?

Personalized banner – you can put your own photo or a photo of your team on the banner. It is commonly used among influencers and celebrities, but no one is saying that you can’t do it.

Source: Pinterest

Minimalistic – the easiest way to make your channel look cool. Hear this: we don’t say simply. Minimalistic has been confused with simple for a long time.

Source: YouTube

Art – artworks on banners could be minimalistic, too. But to use a banner with a piece of art is always a great way to catch a viewer’s attention.

Source: PosterMyWall website

Announcement – yes, you can have a personalized banner and shift it when something important is coming. Netflix, which usually has a minimalistic banner, now is changed to the announcement. 

Where to create a banner?

We won’t leave you without practical tips on the subject of banners. So… we made a list of the best banner makers. Let’s take a look at them:

Fotor – a  free app that is also an all-in-one photo editing toolkit. Lots of templates will help you easily create mind-blowing banners. 

Canva offers many simple, engaging templates with unique looks. 

How to write great titles and descriptions?

Proper YouTube marketing is impossible to imagine without titles and descriptions. Let’s say you posted an amazing video on YouTube, which your team actually worked hard to make, but the views are not that many. Funnily enough, YouTube reminds here text content: without a great title, it is quite hard to make people believe you offer them great content. Great titles, guide:

• No longer than 70 characters since YouTube won’t show more to users on the search page.
• Keywords that describe your video must be in the title.
• Numbers are a good reason to make a stream of attention to stand still.
• Say no to clickbait things, because YouTube is not approved of this. And it is simply a quite bad tone.

Great description:

• Keywords first. Use them in both the description and title, thus your content will rank higher.
• Add hashtags, but not don’t overplay them:  you don’t need more than 10.
• The first three lines in your description must be killer ones.
• Don’t forget to Use & Mention license and give credit to those that helped you to make this video by contributing their arts.
• Time traps are also obligatory. But only if your video is really long.

What is the best duration and format for a YouTube video?

YouTube is always changing. Always. To keep that pace is one of the main goals brands have to do. Knowing what is the best duration and format according to statistics and YouTube rules is obligatory.

First things first: what are the formats that are allowed to be on YouTube?

• .MOV
• .MP4
• .MPEG4
• .AVI
• ProRes
• WebM
• DNxHR
• HEVC (h265)
• CineForm
• .WMV
• .FLV
• .MEGPS
• .3GPP

While you are having quite a variety of choices, the best one is obvious – it is MP4 format, the most universal of all. As the stats say, the duration is between 7 and 15 minutes. When it comes to the ads, the best thing is to get between 6-20 seconds.

Anything on the tags?

Yes, we have something to say about tags. YouTube tags function to help the AI – which is YouTube itself – to understand what is your video about. This helps YouTube categorise it and choose a topic for it.

Even though tags are not that important now, there are still many reasons to use tags as a booster for YouTube. So, what to do with the tags?

A few tag generators to go?

There you go! Keywordtool.io – offers a lot of suggestion keywords, especially trending ones.

Rapidtags – this app is easily reacting to a word you enter and will generate a number of related tags for your YouTube video. Keyword Keg offers you to enter your target keyword and… you are getting lots of stats on the subject, including cost-per-click, competition, SEO difficulty, and suggested keywords.

Source: Backlinko website

How to promote your video on YouTube?

While the best way to promote your channel is to work well with description, title and keywords, there are other things to keep in mind.

Thumbnails – yeah, YouTube offers automatic thumbnails for all videos, but it doesn’t mean you have to accept it. You can stick to these rules:

• Resolution: 1280 x 720 px
• Format: .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG
• Size: under 2MB
• Contrasting images
• Use text and colors
• A close-up image is a thing.

Interact with your subscribers – you shouldn’t limit yourself with content creation and sometimes make a video where you react to their comments, actions or just go to Q&A.

Find out what works – there are definitely videos that work well and content that is performed less well. This is a reason for you to revise your content and produce something your audience enjoy.

Promote your channel as a whole – not just certain videos, but a whole channel.

Use cross-promotion to keep your channel on going – meaning: you have to promote it basically everywhere – from social media accounts to email outreach marketing.

Summary

YouTube is one of the best marketing platforms nowadays. People are more and more inclined to watch a video as the main content. However, keeping the platform interesting and eye-catching requires a ton of work. The main layer that has to be done is not even content – it is how your channel is arranged and how it looks.

Even if you’ve just created the next viral video, you must remember that an algorithm is like the law – it decides which videos YouTube is going to rank really high. Now, when you know how to make your channel look better, you might want to fill it with great content. We can make wonderful animated videos that will reflect your brand values and simply make the audience fall in love with it.

Source: Tips Make site