What to know before starting your YouTube Channel – basic concepts

Getting started with YouTube needs you to be smart, sensible and disciplined. Well, anything in the world which you want to succeed in needs these three virtues. Let's talk about some basic concepts before starting your YouTube Channel.

In this article, I am going to talk about a few other things that you need to do to succeed on YouTube. If you are looking to learn what to know before starting your YouTube Channel, this article is for you. Keep reading.

Many friends keep asking me how to start a YouTube channel. Some have started, produced a few videos but did not see any traction and stopped. A few of them want to start again. This post is specifically for them, who are looking to start or restart their YouTube journey.

I have written an article earlier on how to consider YouTube as a business, and I am sure it will be beneficial too. Please click here to check those if you have not read them already.

In this article today, I am going to talk about the two basic requirements or rather expectations, that you must fulfill to grow on YouTube and remain there on top. 

• Quality 
• Consistency

Apart from that, there are a few things you need to focus on while publishing your videos. We are going to talk about those as well, in brief. These are

• Title
• Description
• Tags 
• Thumbnail

First things first; let’s talk about the basics.

Quality of your videos

There are no two thoughts on the quality of your videos. You must produce the highest quality videos. Viewers do not like low-quality videos and will dismiss them straight away.

There are many channels on YouTube which create content similar to yours. Your content may be a little better than those videos which are already there, but your presentation must match theirs or even exceed if you want to make your mark on the viewer’s mind.

When a viewer is watching a video on YouTube, he is giving up his valuable time. He deserves to watch the very best so that he can justify the time he spends on YouTube too. If he does not get a high-quality video, the viewer has every right to reject your product and move on to another. Moreover, trust me, he will have many options.

When I started my Bengali Puzzle channel – Buddhir Dhenki – there were no such logical or significant channels on YouTube on the same niche. My channel grew and even inspired other YouTube channels to start (which eventually have a much bigger following than me now). However, today, when there are many options for the viewer, we all know that we must bring in our A game to succeed on YouTube.

You already know what you need for your videos, don’t you? If you are creating talking head videos, you would need a great camera, good lighting, nice background, and high standard audio. These are basics of shooting your video.

Once you have shot the video and it is time to edit them, you must obtain a great tool (video editing software), learn how to use it and give your videos awesome looks.

All these when applied together, will help you in creating awesome videos. I am telling you some basic concepts before starting your YouTube Channel. It would be nice if you can focus on these.

Many people are doing screencast videos, where they record the screen of their computer and do a voice over. In such a scenario, you need a good screen recording software and a microphone.

Arrange these things and make some practice videos – a lot of them – and you will be able to improve your techniques of arranging, shooting and editing post-production. 

Quality of your videos needs to be top notch!

Now, not everyone can get an expensive camera or a set of studio lights or costly editing software or even a high-end computer. I understand this, and I agree that you should not spend too much while you are starting the journey.

However, you must be knowing your limitations. You would know how much you can afford to spend. Spend that much and bring up the quality. Improve your videos as much as you can.

If you are not able to get a DSLR Camera, you can use your phone camera for shooting, and this is what I do.

If you are not able to arrange proper studio lights, shoot during the day (or the golden hours, if possible), and this is what I do too.

For my own YouTube videos, I have spent on two microphones (Blue Snowball ICE and Boya BY-LM10 Lavalier mic) and the editing software. I use Camtasia. I also use a few other software, and I will talk about those in a future post.

So, what is the bottom line? The bottom line is that you must try to produce high-quality videos for your YouTube channel. Put in as much as you can. Consider YouTube as a business where you need to put in your money, time and effort. It will be very wise to do that!

The consistency of producing videos

A myth buster! Producing consistent YouTube videos does not mean you need to publish one video every day. It merely says that you need to create a schedule for your videos, inform your audience about that and stick to the plan.

If you choose to publish 3 or 4 or even a single video every week, notify your audience about it on your social media or on your channel itself, and stick to that plan!

Sticking to the plan that you have set for yourself is the best way to be consistent.

Remember, it is not only you for whom you are setting up this schedule. It is for your audience as well.

Correlation with Television

In India, many people spend the lion's share of their time watching daily soaps on television. Whereas in the US, many people have switched from TV to Netflix and YouTube. 

That is not what I want to talk about in this article. I was hoping you could focus on the timing and scheduling of these daily soaps on television. 

Everyone who watch these serials, finish up their work and get themselves ready for the episode scheduled at a fixed time during the day or the evening. They know by heart of the exact time of when that particular channel will telecast the next episode and are sure that it is going to happen without a miss; which is why they prepare themselves and often arrange their chores so that they remain free during that time.

You also have a channel on YouTube, and you also publish your videos or episodes. Why not release the videos at a predetermined day and time? Doing so will make your audience wait for your video, and even they will prepare themselves and keep themselves ready so that they can watch your video the moment you publish it.

Even YouTube is stressing on the point where they want the viewer to watch your videos instantaneously. The two new features of Bell Notification (which is relatively new) and YouTube Video Premiere (which is brand new) point towards stressing on this fact.

Importance of the first two days

The first 48 hours are most important for your video. The popularity and reach that your video receives on the first two days will determine how it is going to do in the future too.

Focus your promotion for your videos on these first two days, as much as you can. The more people your video can reach in the first 48 hours, the better.

YouTube is trying to help the creators with these new features so that they get the bulk of the traffic as soon as the video is published and for the next 48 hours.

When YouTube’s algorithm sees that your videos are consistently getting the push during this time, it will further push your videos up in the list and bring more views and hits. Your channel will grow with leaps and bounces, doing this.

Best Practice Check List while Publishing video

By now, you know how producing high-quality videos and consistently publishing them will help you grow. I cannot end this article without sharing a few best practices that you must do while you release your videos. Though I will talk about these best practices in very brief, this will serve as a checklist while you upload and publish your video to YouTube.

You must do keyword research before finding the topic of your video and choose the keyword that you would want your entire production to revolve around. We are going to use this keyword within the video content and also while updating the YouTube metadata before publishing.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, after Google. Moreover, these searches take place using keywords. It would be best if you made your metadata, the hidden information about your video, friendly to YouTube’s search engine by using the correct keywords in the right places.

The YouTube metadata consists of the title of your video, description and the tags that you use. Each of these is so important that I can write a dedicated post on every segment mentioned below. In this post, I will keep everything short. Let’s look into these segments, one by one.

Title

The title is probably the most critical part of the metadata associated with your video. More often than not, your video gets a hit because someone is searching on YouTube with the title of your video. Ensure that you have the keyword is there in your YouTube video title.

It is only 100 characters long. So, it would help if you were very wise in writing the title of your video.

Description

The description of the video is where you talk more about the video. It is a good idea to write 150-200 words for each of your videos in the description, talking about what the content is all about. Ensure that you have used the title at the start of the description and the keyword(s) at various places in the description. 

You may also add links to your social media pages in the description.

A few people also add affiliate links, but it is a good idea to check with your affiliate provider if they allow you to link to your YouTube videos before you add links.

Tags

Tags, though are significant for your video to surface on YouTube’s search results, these are to be used very wisely. You are bound to write the keywords in there, but also ensure that you write tags that are related to your channel in general and your motives with YouTube. 

There are various types of tags that you can add, apart from the keywords or the title. You can add words that mean similar, words that sound similar, and misspelled keywords to your tags.

We will do a separate post talking only about the YouTube metadata in the coming days as I can see that it will prove to be of great value to you, the reader.

Thumbnail

One of the most important things about your YouTube video is your video thumbnail. It is that image that appears on the side when you are watching a video on YouTube. 

Most of the clicks that your video gets are based on the thumbnail. Even though it is not part of the YouTube metadata, it is something you cannot ignore at all.

Ensure that you create or design awesome clickable thumbnails for your videos and don’t just upload anything that you wish to!

If you need professional help, you can even Hire Professional Freelancers who can create awesome clickable thumbnails for your YouTube videos. Hiring a professional to design your thumbnails will be an excellent investment to the channel.

With this, we have come to the end of this article. These are a few basics that you need to keep in mind if you want to start your YouTube channel. If you can follow these in mind while you get started or get back to your YouTube career, you will be ready to grow on YouTube. I hope you understood and will remember these basic concepts before starting your YouTube Channel.

In future articles, I will try to focus more on various aspects of YouTube one by one. Do let me know in your comments if you have any specific question regarding this. I can even take it up on a video on my YouTube channel or also write a note on my Facebook Page if needed.

The following video was streamed live on YouTube, yesterday where I talked about the same topic. Though I have added quite a bit in this article, still I am sure you will love watching the video too. 

Check it out!

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The Indian Freelancer
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