A GUIDE TO YOUTUBE PART TWO: HOW TO USE YOUTUBE
Jan 17, 2013
In the first part of our YouTube guide we looked at why companies should use YouTube to further their brand. Now comes the practical part – how do businesses use YouTube? Follow our simple steps and you’ll soon be on your way.
1. Set up an account
Go to www.youtube.com and click “sign in” on the top right. You’ll get a prompt to create an account – click this and fill in the form. At this point you can use your own name as this can be changed later.
After you’ve set up your account, you’ll be prompted to upload a profile picture, connect to Facebook and Twitter and pick channel categories so YouTube can notify you of videos that may interest you.
2. Personalise your account
Personalising your account is the most important step, as this is how your subscribers will come to recognise you.
• Choose a username by clicking “My Channel” at the top right of the page. A box will appear called “Create Your YouTube Channel”, and at the bottom there’s a link where you can change your username to the name of your brand.
• Edit your “About” section on the right of your channel, making sure to add information about your brand and links to your website.
• Change your background by clicking “Channel Settings” at the top left of your channel page. You can simply change the colour, or upload your own background image. It’s a good idea to use the same theme as your website.
• Edit Channel Information and tags also in “Channel Settings”. This is important for SEO, so make sure you include relevant keywords to help people find your channel. You can also edit the activity shared on your channel in the “tabs” section.
3. Interact
Treat YouTube like any other social media account and start exploring the community. While logged in to your account, search for relevant videos and start liking and commenting on them. This activity will populate your channel, making it look less empty. It’s also essential that you start building an audience for when you upload your own videos, so start subscribing to other channels and invite them to subscribe to you.
4. Upload videos
Find the “Upload” button next to YouTube’s search field at the top of the page. Then you simply select your file. Important things to remember when uploading a video are:
• The Title: It needs to describe the video using relevant keywords, and should include the name of your business too, for example: “How to use YouTube | The Creation Lab”.
• Description: If your video has a script, include it in the description. You can also link to other videos in this section.
• Tags: Tag your video with keywords that your viewers are likely to search for.
• Captions: Captions are excellent for SEO. Attach a notepad file with your video’s transcript (if applicable) by clicking “upload file or transcript”. YouTube can then translate this for foreign subtitles.
• Promote Your Video: Share it on Facebook, Twitter, and your own website. For more tips on how to promote your video see our blog post about video optimisation.
5. YouTube Ads
There are a few ways you can advertise your video on YouTube, including Promoted Videos, where your video is displayed alongside related video content. Once you have established your channel and have a few good videos uploaded then we definitely recommend investing in YouTube ads as they will considerably increase traffic to your channel.
For more help on creating a branded YouTube account, visit Google’s help pages. You can also talk to us if you need any help with video content!
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