5 Tips for Starting a YouTube Channel That People Want to Watch

Whether you're ready for it or not, video is the future of the Internet. In fact, by the year 2021, video will make up 82 percent of all traffic. If you want to take advantage of all that video has to offer, then you need to start a YouTube channel for your brand or business. Here are five tips for starting a YouTube Channel that people will want to watch.

Invest in Ideas and Concepts, Not Equipment

The only equipment that you need to start a YouTube channel is a smartphone. What you probably are lacking is a great idea and concept for your channel. If you want to have a successful YouTube channel, then you need to spend some time figuring out your niche. You can start by writing down 25 to 50 ideas for videos. Think about titles for the videos and search YouTube to see what comes up and see what your competition is doing.

Keep Your Videos Short

Viewers today want bite-sized chunks of information. Unless you know what you’re doing, you won’t be able to be successful by producing videos that are more than two minutes in length. When you’re first starting out, viewers don’t know you. The only thing they have to judge whether they’ll watch your videos is the title, thumbnail, and length.

Design Thumbnails That Pop

The only thing you have to market your videos when you’re first starting out is the thumbnail. While YouTube uses your descriptions and tags in its search index, the only thing you have to separate yourself from the other videos in the search results is your title and thumbnail. This makes it extremely important for you to make sure your video thumbnails stand out.

Title Your Videos with Humans and Search Engines in Mind

The same SEO techniques that you use on your web page also apply to your YouTube video titles. You need to make sure that your video titles not only grab the attention of viewers but that it includes relevant keywords to catch the attention of the search engines. Also, the first two lines of your the descriptions are usually shown on the search results, so make those lines count.

Engage Your Audience Through Comments

The last thing you want to do is be a nameless and faceless entity. YouTube audiences want to connect with their favorite channels. One of the easiest ways to do this is to engage with them in the comments section of your channel. While it can be time-consuming, it will be well worth the effort you put in when you start to gain more subscribers.

Starting a YouTube channel that people want to watch isn’t difficult. While it will take some time and effort on your part, keeping these five tips in mind as you move forward will help ensure that you’re successful.