The experience of a young and successful YouTuber - “Now the profession of a video blogger is gaining momentum. Millions of teenagers open their own YouTube channels, trying to earn their first money in this way.

However, for most of them this experience turns out to be disastrous. They don’t pay any money at all, because there are no views, and the audience is flooded with angry comments. What went wrong? Why was the content unclaimed? Let's talk about everything in order.

• Firstly, I want to make it clear right away that YouTube should in no case be perceived only as a place to make money. If you go there solely for selfish purposes, thinking that ideas for the video will come on their own, then you will only endure negativity from the anger of commentators.
• The audience immediately senses whether a blogger makes a video from the heart or whether he just wants to make money. Definitely, you need to go to YouTube only with certain ideas that just need to be brought to life in front of the camera. If you have no ideas, think about it, wait a few months, or even a year. It’s better to deliver quality content right away and attract the right audience.

Selecting video content

Since we started talking about content, I wanted to tell you in more detail how to choose what is relevant and in demand for yourself.

Attention

The main thing is not to run after fashion, because fashion can go away at any moment, and your videos will remain of no use to anyone. Moreover, you will be simply ashamed of them.

While suitable videos with a good presentation, even on some unknown topic, can interest visitors, and for a long time.

The thought must come from the heart, it must fundamentally touch and excite you. Throw away the various challenges, tags, this is just tinsel. And remember that quality is better, not quantity: it’s better to let your video be released once a week, but it will be well edited and filmed as perfectly as possible.

Of course, you can’t create a large audience with such frequency, but then you can gradually increase productivity. At the initial stage, this video output frequency will be sufficient.

Many YouTubers are interested in the issue of video editing. I won’t say that this is the most important thing, but a high-quality picture always catches the eye. If you don’t know how to edit in professional editors like Adobe Premiere, After Effects, then you can start with some simpler programs, there are a lot of them on the Internet.

If your first acquaintance with such a program horrifies you, then I recommend that you first familiarize yourself with specialized literature, or even better, read blogs on the Internet. For example, my acquaintance with Adobe Photoshop happened there. Believe me, they will teach you everything there, everything will be explained correctly and in a humane way. It’s great luck to find competent people who are ready to help and teach or answer questions.

I can also say that editing videos is actually very simple. In the premiere it is convenient to trim and paste frames. Even without any experience, you can quickly learn if you have the desire. But no matter how many rantings there may be, the main thing in the video is not the editing, but you yourself - as an individual, with your experience, knowledge and ideas that you are able to convey to others.

Even if the video is processed in the best modern program, if there is zero meaning in the video, then the reaction will be appropriate.

Angry commentators - how to respond?

How to respond to angry commentators who are often completely irrelevant? Everyone has them, even the most neutral YouTubers. Haters are an integral part of a video blogger's career.

Another tip

Don't assume they are all telling the truth, only accept constructive criticism. If the comment contains nothing but a swear word, it is stupid, unconstructive criticism that is too low even for your attention. But if you were given advice, calmly pointed out the shortcomings, then accept all the words, analyze, and then draw your own conclusion whether to listen or not.

Also, beginners are puzzled by the question of how to join the local crowd. At first, while your audience is small enough, you will not be able to meet anyone, since no one will know you. If you don’t get bored and continue making videos, then you will start meeting different groups of guys of the same level as you.

You shouldn’t try to join bloggers with a very large audience, it’s not that they are so bad. It's just that they already have a lot of fans just like you, trying to make friends. At first it’s better to be on your own, and the right company will appear on its own. But even with a fairly large audience, I do not guarantee you friends in this area.

If you are a critic, it is quite possible that you will be alone throughout your career. Usually no one strives to be a critic, because they are afraid to say something unnecessary, they are afraid that in the end they too will find themselves under the arrow of rational criticism (and I hope that yours will be just like that). The best critics work in this proportion: the larger the audience, the fewer people who want to make friends.

Is a cool nickname on YouTube really important?

By the way, many aspiring video bloggers are very concerned about their name on YouTube. There is an opinion that it is precisely this that helps to attract the audience if it fits perfectly into the type of activity and so on. I can say with confidence that the name does not solve anything.

What difference does it make what your nickname, page design, avatar are, if your videos don’t represent anything? Yes, sometimes people come to look at a particular blogger just because they like your name. But just because a little more people come to the page doesn’t mean they will stay. If your content is not interesting, no nickname or design will save you.

Once you have read everything above, I hope you have the right impression about vlogging.

If anything, I can immediately answer a popular question: on YouTube they pay for the number of views, you can get money from advertising and the affiliate program. For more detailed information, it’s better to go straight to the Internet, or better yet, to the bloggers themselves.

Good videos for you!”

This article is from a very young video blogger (they are now also called YouTubers) and I wanted it to be read by those who are just taking their first steps as a video blogger or thinking about how to start their career on YouTube.

Timur Fekhraydinov

The article explains in detail how to work with YouTube, but video marketing is not limited to uploading videos to this site. This is a whole complex of work that requires patience and, most importantly, experience. Therefore, if you want to get serious about video marketing, create high-quality videos, order advertising from bloggers, then we recommend contacting our agency. We provide turnkey services - from video creation to promotion.

Most people regard YouTube solely as a popular video hosting site. But we should also not forget that this is the second largest search engine in the world by the number of users. Currently, the YouTube audience is more than a billion people, and this figure is constantly growing. According to official statistics, the number of users starting to view YouTube from the home page, as if they were turning on the TV at home, has tripled over the past year. This opens up huge opportunities to promote your brand through video marketing. In our guide, you will learn how to promote your YouTube channel, attract attention to your videos and gain many subscribers.

What videos to shoot for YouTube

There is no universal recipe for creating an effective video - it all depends on the needs of the target audience and your capabilities. Use our ideas to find the right type of video content for you:

• Interviews and opinions

Interview a colleague, a well-known blogger, or just an expert in your field. Make a list of questions in advance. You can always interview yourself - express your opinion about any problem on camera. Make sure that your story will be interesting to the audience - you are filming for the audience, not for yourself. Example:

• Manuals and instructions

This is one of the most effective types of video content. Think about how often you yourself turn to video instructions and video infographics when you are looking for a solution to a particular problem. The format of the guide always depends on the type of problem being addressed. For example, if you are explaining how to use a program, record a screencast with a voice explanation of all the actions. Think through every detail and explain the problem solving process to your subscribers as if they were children. Example:

• Reviews

These can be independent reviews, reviews of competitors' products, your own products, and so on. Such videos play a very important role in the consumer journey. A ReelSEO study found that 73% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product if it has a video review. The main thing is to be honest and indicate both the advantages and disadvantages of the product. Example:

• Stories

Tell your subscribers an interesting story. Explain a phenomenon and illustrate the video with additional graphics. Storytelling can be an extremely effective tool in the hands of a marketer. Example:

• Entertainment content

Entertaining videos are what you want O The majority of the audience comes to YouTube every day. The term “entertaining” here means not only videos with kittens. There are so many possibilities that it is simply impossible to list them. Not to mention, you can create ideas for such content yourself. Example:

• Creative advertising

Some might say that YouTube users already watch enough advertising content, and there is no point in testing their patience once again. Would anyone in their right mind purposefully watch YouTube ads? It’s unlikely, unless it’s a super creative and viral video. Combine the above content types to create a promotional video that people will search for themselves. For example, once upon a time the Internet literally exploded with an advertising video from Squatty Potty, a company that sells an unusual accessory for the restroom.

Our compatriots are also not lagging behind. The developers of the famous antivirus launched an entire campaign in which users begin their journey with one of the advertisements:

Let's not waste your time talking about how videos should be of very high quality in terms of content. You will find these words in every such guide. Before you shoot a video at all, ask yourself two questions:

• Will this video be interesting and useful to my audience?
• Would I share a video like this on social media?

If both answers are positive, then you are on the right track.

What format to shoot the video in?

Previously, YouTube had to upload videos with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Otherwise, black stripes appeared on the sides or top and bottom - they filled the free space of the square and vertical rollers.

Now you no longer need to do this, because YouTube has allowed you to upload videos in any format - the player simply adjusts to the size of the video. For example, for widescreen videos you no longer need to add top and bottom bars during editing:

Instead, simply upload the video in the format you shot it in:

Now videos with any aspect ratio are displayed correctly. But it’s better to stick to the 16:9 format, because that’s what users are used to seeing.

An exception can be made if you want to achieve some effect using the aspect ratio. For example, on the “Black Cabinet” channel, some of the videos are square - this is how the author of the channel creates the right atmosphere for the videos:

How to design and optimize a channel

The first thing you need to do if you decide to seriously start promoting your YouTube channel is its design. An attractive design inspires trust among users and, as a result, helps to get more subscribers. It may seem like this task boils down to icon and cover design, but it's much more complex than that. In this guide, we'll walk you through every step of channel optimization.

How to choose a channel icon

The channel icon serves as your “avatar” on YouTube—she appears not only on your channel, but also in search results, comments, and your subscription list. The best solution for companies or famous blogs is to use their logo as an icon. If you are running a personal video blog, then put a photo of yourself in which your face is clearly visible. Use a high-quality image with a resolution of 800x800 pixels.

How to design a channel cover

The maximum and optimal cover size is 2560x1440 pixels. Because The cover is displayed differently on different devices; there is a space in the center that will be displayed correctly everywhere. This is an area measuring 1546x423 pixels. Place the main content of your cover there so that users of any device can view it without any problems.

Use our template to understand how to place content on your channel cover.

(click to open in new tab).

Let's look at the correct use of the central cover space using our channel as an example:

As you can see, the main content is in the safe zone. This ensures that it will display correctly on all devices.

Scroll down the page and you will see the "Links" section. YouTube allows you to add up to 14 links to websites and social networks, but you can display no more than five on the cover:

How to create, customize and optimize playlists

Playlists on YouTube are an important element of channel design. They help solve several problems at once:

• Make channel navigation more convenient

By combining thematic videos into playlists, you help users navigate your channel.

• Encourage users to watch additional videos

If users see that the posts are logically connected and combined into a series, then you have a better chance that they will not stop watching one video.

• Organize sections on the main page of the channel

Read more about sections in the next paragraph.

Follow our instructions to learn how to create playlists on YouTube and add videos to them:

1. Go to the video manager in the "Creative Studio"
2. Select "Playlists"
3. Click on the "New Playlist" button
4. Enter a name for the playlist. Be sure to include a relevant keyword phrase in the title - playlists are also indexed by YouTube and displayed in search results.

1. Specify your privacy settings
2. Click on the “create” button

On the screen that appears, immediately go to settings. A window with three tabs will open:

1. Basic

Adjust your privacy settings if necessary and choose the most convenient order for sorting videos in your playlist.

Activate the "set as official episode playlist for these videos" feature. How it works: when a user gets to a video from a playlist in any way (through search or via a link), a window with the next video begins to appear to the right of the video. Additionally, when the first video ends, the next one will start playing automatically (assuming the user has autoplay enabled).

Please note that you can only add videos from your own channel to the episode playlist. If you want to add other people's videos to your playlist, do not activate this function.

1. Auto-add

In this tab, you can configure the automatic addition of new videos to the playlist if certain rules are met. For example, if you are recording “let’s plays” based on the famous “Klondike”, create a rule in which every new video with the word “Klondike” in the title will be automatically added to the corresponding playlist. The same rule can be set for descriptions and tags.

1. Co-authors

If you're collaborating on a series of videos, use this feature to give your colleagues the ability to add videos to a playlist. Just activate the slider, copy the link and send it to everyone you want to give access to the playlist.

You're now ready to start adding new videos to your playlist. You can find them either through a search, or insert a direct link to the required video, or select from the list of your publications.

Congratulations! You've just created and optimized a new playlist.

How to create and organize sections

Customizing the look and feel of your channel shouldn't be limited to just the design and selection of cover art and logo. Using sections, you can organize the content on your channel page in a convenient and attractive way.

To enable the ability to add sections, go to the main page of your channel and find the edit settings button on the right under the cover and select “Navigation Settings” in the menu that opens.

To enable the ability to add sections, go to the main page of your channel and find the gear button under the cover and in the menu that opens, activate the option “Customize the appearance of the “Overview” page.”

Go to the main page of the channel and click on the “Add section” button.

A small menu with section settings will open. You can choose the content and how it will be arranged:

• Horizontally. The benefit of this layout is that the content looks more organized and takes up less space on the page.
• Vertically. Content organized vertically takes up more space, but for videos the first ~100 characters of the description are displayed, and for playlists a list of the first three videos is displayed.

The following content is available for sections:

• Video

This can include a list of your most popular, recently uploaded, or liked videos, as well as live, recorded, or upcoming broadcasts.

• Playlists

With this feature, you can add one, several, or all channel playlists to your home page. Additionally, if you add one or more playlists, you have the option to insert a playlist from another channel. To do this, select “Single playlist” or “Multiple playlists” in the “Content” menu, depending on your need. A new menu will open where you can either add your own playlist or enter the URL of someone else's.

• Channels

Select this option if you want to show users a list of your subscriptions or any other channels you want to recommend.

• Actions

Here you can show viewers your recent activities on YouTube or your latest posts.

You can have a maximum of 10 sections on your channel home page, so use this space sparingly. Experiment with different types of content and layouts to get the best results.

How to install a channel trailer

A trailer is a video that is seen by visitors who have visited your channel but have not yet subscribed to it. The main purpose of a trailer is to introduce new users to your content and encourage them to become your subscribers.

You shouldn't choose one of your already filmed videos as a trailer. Make a new one and tell us what your channel is about, how often you post content, and why people should subscribe to you. Be sure to use a call to action.

Follow our instructions to learn how to add a YouTube channel trailer:

1. Upload the video you want to make your trailer
2. Go to the channel page and make sure you have channel overview enabled (you should have done this before organizing the sections in the last step)
3. On the main page, select the “For new viewers” ​​tab and click on the “Channel Trailer” button

1. Select a trailer from your list of videos or paste a link to it. Click on the "Save" button.

• Don't make the trailer too long. Users don’t know you yet, so your task is to quickly introduce your channel and grab their attention;
• Be sure to include a call to subscribe to your channel;
• Use more visual content - show, don't tell.

How to Optimize Videos for YouTube

If you want to ensure your videos have good positions and visibility, they need to be properly optimized both before and after uploading. Key YouTube video ranking factors include:

• Number of incoming video links
• Number of video embeddings on third-party resources
• Number of video views
• Average duration of video views
• Number of videos shared on social networks
• Video rating

In fact, there are many more factors, but YouTube, like Google, does not fully reveal its secrets.

Today we will tell you in detail about all the nuances of video optimization for YouTube.

How to optimize videos before uploading

Creating a quality video is a topic for another series of articles, so today we'll look at just two things you need to know before uploading a video to YouTube:

1. Video technical parameters

2. Video file name

The fact is that YouTube cannot understand the content of the video itself - the title of the video, its description, and the name of the uploaded file help it with this.

Many people do not attach any importance to this and download files with the names MOV1234.avi, DSC1234.avi, Untitled1.mp4 and so on. Avoid this mistake. Include a passphrase in the file name. For example, if you are uploading a video guide on simple card tricks, name the file card tricks for beginners.avi. This will help YouTube understand what your video is about.

How to choose video settings when uploading

Immediately after you start downloading videos, you will be able to configure some basic settings:

• Privacy Options

In most cases, leave the video public. Use other options only if you don't want to make the video public.

• Playlist

We have already talked about how to create and customize playlists on YouTube. Just add the video to the desired playlist. If you created rules for auto-adding videos, check if everything worked correctly.

• Category

YouTube offers you to set one of 15 categories for each video. Choose the one that best describes your content.

• Comments

Allow users to comment and rate your video.

• Embedding a video

Make sure users can embed your video on third-party resources. This will not only give you additional views, but will also increase the authority of the video from a YouTube perspective.

• The shoot place

Set the video location. Personalization of search results on YouTube is far from perfect, but it is still there.

• Video language

Be sure to specify the video's language so YouTube can generate automatic subtitles that you can edit later.

How to write and optimize a video title

The video title is one of the first things users will see when they search for a video. It should be short, eye-catching and convey the meaning of the video. Use our 10 Recipes for Writing Killer Headlines. Be sure to include keywords. The entry should be natural - neither users nor YouTube search robots will like a name filled with crooked “keywords”.

The length limit for YouTube video titles is 100 characters.

Remember that the title should be informative. For example, if you are filming a review of a new gadget, then you should not indulge in literary agony when writing a headline. A simple “review of *gadget name*” will be enough. This way, you not only let users know what your video is about, but you also use the keyword phrase in a natural way.

How to write and optimize a video description

The limit on the length of descriptions for YouTube videos is 5,000 characters. Use this space wisely and remember that the longer your descriptions, the better.

Use the most important keywords at the very beginning of the description - this will make it easier for YouTube to understand the content of the video. The first few sentences are generally extremely important, because... they will be used to generate snippets in:

In addition, when a user opens a video, YouTube does not display the entire description, but only the first 157 characters. To see the rest, you need to click the “More” button. Pay special attention to this fragment of the description - it should hook visitors, force them to watch the entire video and read the description. Remember how you write descriptions for articles on your blog? Use the same rules here.

Don't forget to put a link to your resource at the beginning of the description. This arrangement will provide you with maximum CTR. The link must begin with the prefix http:// or https://.

If the video is short, then write a full transcript - a transcript of the audio track. This will tell YouTube the whole point of your video, and also get you extra views thanks to the low- and ultra-low-frequency key phrases in the transcript.

If the video is long, then use timestamps. Have you noticed how we navigate large articles? YouTube has a similar feature that you can use for any video without any special knowledge. Just mark the necessary moments of the video in the hour:minute:second format, and they will automatically turn into clickable links. This way, users can jump straight to the part of the video they are interested in.

How to Set Default Video Download Settings

If you are serious about promoting your YouTube channel and will be uploading a lot of videos, then be sure to pay attention to this point. You can set default download settings for all downloaded videos - categories, description, tags and everything else that has already been listed above. To set the default settings, go to the “Creative Studio”, select the “Channel” menu and click on the “Video Upload” item.

So, for example, you can write the same (bottom) part of the description for all videos. Place there:

• Links to your social media pages

Don't forget to use a call to subscribe to them - this is a good way to drive traffic from YouTube to other social networks.

• Link to subscribe to your channel

There are two types of subscription links to your channel. The first can be used if your channel has a good reputation, has already collected 100 subscribers, and you have created a unique URL for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user= yourchannel

Use the second one if you don't have a unique URL. You will need your channel ID. To find it, open your channel and copy the last part of the link highlighted in the screenshot. This is your ID.

Take the ID and paste it into the following template: http://www.youtube.com/channel/ yourID?sub_confirmation=1

For example, the link to subscribe to the Texterra channel looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUMNUndgRn7BSUEkuZxdt2g?sub_confirmation=1

• Description of your channel

Briefly tell us what your channel is about: what videos you publish, and how regularly you do it.

Remember that these settings can be changed for each video individually after it has been downloaded. This allows you to add a unique part of the description and edit other parameters for individual videos.

How to design a video icon

For channels with a good reputation, YouTube allows you to use unique video icons. What is it for:

• The icons that YouTube itself offers are simply three random frames from a video. In most cases they look unattractive.
• Well-designed video icons hook users and get you more views. If your icon stands out from the rest on the search page, then users are more likely to click on it, even if your video is not in the first position.
• With custom icons, you can create a unique channel style.

To set your icon, go to the video manager, select the desired video and click the “Custom Icon” button.

The best resolution for an icon is 1280x720 pixels, and the file size should not exceed 2MB. Select the image you want and wait about 10 minutes - the icon will take a while to update.

• Use faces

People tend to make eye contact when they see other people's faces or eyes. Use this feature to grab users' attention. Place the video's main character's face on your icon.

• Design your own icon template

For example, place a face on the right, an inscription below, and an attractive image on the left. This way you will not only simplify your life, but also create your own unique style. Use different playlist templates to provide an even better experience for your subscribers.

• Experiment with colors

Use bright, eye-catching colors for your video icons. Consider the habits of your target audience. Icons in soft colors are good for beauty bloggers, and more aggressive ones for a network marketer selling membership in a financial pyramid.

• Add some text

Text on your video thumbnail doesn't give you any SEO benefits, but it can be a good way to grab users' attention. This is also a great opportunity to go beyond the 100 character limit for your video title.

• Intrigue/lift the veil of secrecy

Use these two opposing techniques to capture your users' attention. Make them eager to find out what happens in the video or how it ends.

To find inspiration, look at the channels of top bloggers. Most of them have a unique icon for each video, and together they form a unique style.

How to create and optimize subtitles

Creating subtitles for videos is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. But if you want to get the most out of video optimization, this is a necessary step. Just like the file name, subtitles help YouTube understand what the video is about. Be sure to include key phrases in the subtitles - you can paraphrase the speech in the video a little. There is nothing wrong with this, and many vloggers use this tactic. The main rule is that the entry must be natural. Read on to learn how to create subtitles on YouTube.

Using built-in speech recognition technology, YouTube automatically generates subtitles for every video as long as you specify a language when uploading. In some cases, YouTube will not be able to create automatic subtitles - for example, if the video is too long.

You've probably already seen this technology in action. Sometimes the subtitles are correct, and sometimes they make such mistakes that users either want to cry or laugh.

You can fix this situation. Go to YouTube, select the video you want and click on the “CC” button below it.

After this, the video manager will open. To the right of the video itself there will be a list of available subtitles. If the video is in Russian, select “Russian (automatic)”.

A window will open to the right of the video with the subtitles themselves. Scroll down and click on the “Change” button. This will take you into subtitle editing mode.

After that, you can edit the subtitles as you wish. Just click on the required line and make all the necessary edits in the top window. Don't forget to include a few key phrases.

Once you're done editing, YouTube will create a new subtitle file. All you have to do is go to the automatic subtitles viewing screen and turn them off.

Congratulations. You have edited and optimized the automatic subtitles.

How to use tags

The main purpose of tags is to help YouTube search algorithms understand the meaning of a video in order to provide users with the best quality search results. Remember a few important rules when writing tags for a new video:

• Tags must be relevant

Write tags as if you were explaining the meaning of the video to a friend using individual words and phrases. For example, for a video about running a corporate blog, you can write the following tags: internet marketing, content marketing, blog, blogging.

• Place the most important tags at the beginning

YouTube pays more attention to tags located at the beginning.

• Use as many tags as possible

YouTube won't penalize you for over-optimizing in this case. The length limit for all tags is 500 characters. Try to use them all to give your video maximum search visibility.

If this is not enough for you, then use the following trick. The fact is that YouTube indexes tags immediately after you upload a new video, and then ignores them. But if you update the tags after a while, YouTube will index them again. Wait a week or two and replace the necessary tags. For example, write variant tags with typos.

• Steal other people's tags... some of them

Look at what tags your colleagues and competitors put under the videos. Copy them and paste them into one of your next videos. This is a good way to promote it to the related videos block on the right side of the screen.

In 2012, YouTube removed the ability to view tags for any video. However, it is still possible. Open the video you want and use your browser's view source code feature. In Chrome, this can be done using the Ctrl+U hotkeys. Next, use the page search function. For most browsers, it is called by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F. Enter the word in the search bar keywords. You should get two format results:

• "keywords":"tag,tag,tag,tag,tag"

The second result is a complete list of all tags that were used for the video.

Don’t mindlessly copy all your competitors’ tags. Take a few of the most popular ones and add the rest yourself. Completely copying the tags of another video does not guarantee inclusion in the recommendations block.

Also, previously, tags served to change the format, for example, the “yt:crop=16:9” tag scaled the video to 16:9 format - now this is not necessary, because all videos are played in the form in which they were downloaded.

Now two additional tags may come in handy: “yt:cc” and “yt:quality=high”. The first one automatically turns on subtitles, and the second one plays videos in HD quality.

How to use end screens

Previously, on YouTube you could add annotations to videos - links to other videos, to your website, and so on. From May 2, 2017, new annotations cannot be added; old ones work as before. Instead, YouTube introduced the ability to create end screens. What it looked like before:

The end screen can be seen from 8:29

To redirect the viewer to other videos, you had to add these videos manually during editing, and then add annotations. In general, not everyone could cope with this, lacking sufficient skills in working with a video editor. Now you can create screensavers in two clicks. This is what it looks like now:

Screensaver starts at 51:01

Let's figure out how to make such a screensaver yourself.

1. Go to "Creative Studio";
2. Find the desired video in the list and click “Edit”;
3. Select the End Screens and Annotations tab:

To begin, set when you want the splash screen to start by dragging the slider at the bottom. Screensaver cannot be created:

• later than 20 seconds before the end of the video;
• earlier than after 20 seconds at the beginning of the video;
• less than 5 seconds long.

Time to add splash elements. YouTube allows you to add up to 4 elements, the following types are available:

1. Video or playlist

You can add either select the video yourself, or display the newest one, or trust YouTube to select it for each specific user. A playlist can only be added in the first case.

2. Subscribe button to your channel

A round logo of your channel, which, when clicked, will prompt the user to subscribe.

For clarity, I decided to add all four:

Use the Recommended Content feature to encourage viewers to watch more videos on your channel. Go to Creative Studio – Channel – Recommended Content and click on the “Promote Content” button.

Choose one of two options: promoting the most recently uploaded video, or promoting a specific video or playlist. Let's look at the first option as an example.

Specify when the link to the recommended video should appear: at a certain point in the video, or at the end of it. Turn on the Optimize feature to have YouTube automatically adjust show times based on the behavior of those who have already watched the video.

How to use the Brand Identity feature

YouTube gives you the option to add your channel logo to all your videos. To do this, go to the video manager and select “Corporate Identity” from the menu. After that, upload your logo. It is best to use 800x800 resolution. The file size must not exceed 1 MB. In many guides you will see recommendations to install the logo in .PNG format with a transparent background, but we advise you to adapt to each specific case. For example, in most of our videos, a logo with a transparent background does not attract attention and blends into the background, so we use a .JPG image.

Once you've uploaded your logo, set when you want it to appear: throughout the video, at the end, or at a certain point and until the end.

Ignore the logo preview when loading. In most cases it will be much smaller. Compare the proportions of the video and logo in the preview screenshot above and the same proportions in the videos themselves after saving the changes:

In addition to giving your videos a corporate identity, a logo has another advantage - if a person is not subscribed to your channel, then when you hover over this logo, a “Subscribe” button will appear.

Finally

Today we have discussed the main points of promoting on YouTube, but the work is not limited to what is written in the manual. We'll soon look at more specific YouTube features and capabilities that you can use to make your channel effective. But remember that there is no universal recipe for success. It largely depends on what kind of videos you make, as well as the interests of your audience.