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As you guys have probably noticed the past couple of weeks, YouTube has done a lot to
redesign its website, including our channel pages. And today we’re going to talk about
how do we use the new design of our channels to really draw in new people and really make
a positive first impression? That’s what we’ll talk about today on this week’s
creator’s tip. Hey guys, my name is Tim Schmoyer and welcome to another week of creator’s
tip where every week, we give those of you guys who are creating online video content
tips, ideas, suggestions and things just to really make your content stand out on the
web. Today we want to talk about YouTube’s new channels, like specifically how do we
use them to make a really good positive first impression on people who are visiting our
channel? Last week, we took a look at the back end of our channels, so the new options,
the new design layouts and all the new features there and how we can use them for our channels.
This week, let’s take a look at the front end of our channel and look at the actual
content, what we’re putting on there for people to see. All the tips and ideas I’m
going to share with you guys today come directly on a post on YouTube’s official blog, the
link to it is below. You can go check it out if you want to read this it in its entirety
there. But first of all, they suggest that, hey, you should probably post your posting
schedule somewhere on your channel page. Let people know how frequently you update, when
they can expect new videos, is it Monday, Wednesday, Friday, is it Tuesday, Thursday,
Saturday? Or just once a week? Post that there so people know when to come check your channel,
when to come back and look for new content. Also, one of the things that people have been
complaining about the new YouTube channels is that they can only do 200 characters in
the new subscription box. Personally, I think that’s a step in the right direction, we
used to be able to like, put almost anything we wanted to but by limiting it, I think we’re
really forcing people to be concise and brief in how they describe the content on their
channel. When we used to be able to put like, thousands of characters in there, I don’t
think anyone really took the time to like read through all that. So by shortening the
text up, I think that it’s more likely that people will actually rethink content because
hey, it’s only like two or three lines, I can read that. But now that you know people
are more likely to read that text since it’s shorter, you have to make every single word
count. Don’t just randomly type something and throw it in there. Think carefully about
what you want to communicate to the people who are new to your channel when they see
your stuff for the very first time, what in 200 characters do you want to communicate
to them, and put that in that spot. Number three, unless you’re a partnered channel,
you do not have access to post up custom thumbnails to your videos. But everyone has access to
upload their own custom avatar to their channel. Little icon, little images that represents
what their channel is about and identifies them from all the other channels on YouTube.
So make sure you upload one but two, make sure it pops, make sure it stands out, make
sure it really is representative of your content and your channel and represents you well.
Number four, make sure you’re uploading video content regularly and consistently.
One of the first things people are going to look for when they come to your channel is
when was the last time they posted a new video? Was it three months ago, four months ago,
has it been awhile? You think, this guy’s probably going a little inactive, less likely
to subscribe, to engage. But obviously, hey, two days ago, six days ago, eight days ago,
they see that as regular, they say okay, this might be content that I can keep up with and
they’ll be more likely to subscribe. Number five is make sure you carefully select
that featured video that is there on your front page of your channel. A lot of people
complaining about the new design, the channel layout that hey, now I can’t make it automatically
just feature the last video that I uploaded. Well I don’t know this for sure, but I think
the reason that YouTube eliminated that option is because it really just wasn’t effective
in helping people engage in your content. The people who are going to be looking at
your latest video are the ones who are already subscribed to your channel, not the new people
who are coming to your channel to check it out the first, second or maybe third time.
Instead, use a video there that you think really summarizes or even welcomes people
to your channel. Use something there that is a good representation of the kind of stuff
they can expect and change it up every once in awhile just so it doesn’t feel like you’ve
left your channel homepage just stagnant. What further ideas do you guys have to make
a really positive first impression on your new visitors and people that come to your
channels? One of the things that I have learned from you guys over and over and over again
as we comment and interact on these videos is that you guys really do know what you’re
talking about. You are a sharp bunch of people so I love learning from you, leave me your
advice and your suggestions below. Another side note that I will say is don’t look
at our channel right now as a good example of all of this, we are working on that. We
at ReelSEO are having a lot of internal conversations about how we want to set up our channel and
how we want to design it and make it look and feel and set it up so it’s best for
you guys. But we haven’t done it yet but we will so check back probably in a couple
weeks and you might see something totally different. Actually, I’ll probably just
let you know about it in a future video so you can check it out then. If you’re not
already subscribed to our channel, click that subscribe button right there or the one above
this video on YouTube, we’d love to have you join us every single week for this content
and other great stuff that we have coming up for you. Seriously, we have a really long
list of stuff we’re going to be covering with you guys so we’d really love to have
you join us for that and I will see you guys again next week for a look at the Reel Web
and then for another creator’s tip video. And I will see you then. Bye.