Now that you’ve started your YouTube channel, it is time that you begin working on improving it. As a matter of fact, it is not sufficient to begin a channel. You should ensure that it works. It takes time, dedication and hard work to have an interesting channel.
Below are nine things you can do to improve your YouTube channel.
1. Plan Out Your Content
You may have heard the following saying: “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Planing is key to succeeding in any endeavor. It is therefore important for you to “map out” what you intend to publish before embarking on it. You need to create a list of topics you wish to present on your channel. It will give you the opportunity to get relevant information to make your presentation worthwhile.
2. Research your content
YouTubers are not necessarily experts of the niches they choose for their channels. Research therefore comes in handy. In order to make your videos complete, you need to stay on top of trends. Carry out relevant research about the topics you will want to present. With a list of upcoming content of hand, research becomes easier, cos you know exactly what you are going after.
An ill-researched topic turns people off, causing you to appear unserious – unless perhaps your channel is about some spontaneous act, especially for the sake of entertainment. Or else, carry out proper research to appear as an authority in your niche, and enhance subscription and loyalty.
3. Post regularly
Another factor that has the propensity of turning viewers away from your channel is inconsistency. You will have to establish a consistent schedule for uploading videos with a reasonable frequency.
You could have very good, well-prepared content. But if you do not upload it quite frequently, viewers wouldn’t have something to look forward to. If, on the other hand, they are aware that after a definite number of days for example, they expect a new upload, they would include it in their schedule to check out your channel regularly.
4. Seek out solutions
As you become more experienced with youtubing, there will surely be things you would see the need to have. Whether it is something you might have seen on another channel which you are interested in having on yours, or it’s a piece of technology you are aware will transform your art, it’s not going to come to you on its own. You must go after it.
The internet remains the most reasonable place for getting solutions.
5. Learn from others
The internet is a place of immense knowledge. Proof of that is the fact that you are currently reading this post. There is information about just about anything you want to know or learn. Take advantage of this opportunity to enhance the quality of your channel.
Read articles on topics of interest, look at others and see what they have that you can “borrow” (or steal) and when possible, ask for advice on how to do your art better. Consider the world around you. It’s all about that: everyone copying from everyone else.
6. Be creative
Albert Einstein once said, “Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no on else has thought.” After learning from others, it is vital that you add your own flavor to what you have learned. Or else, your work will soon be seen to be plagiarism.
Everyone on has his/her own way of presenting things. Simply use yours to better off what you would have “borrowed” (or stolen) from others, making it unique to you. That’s what you would eventually be known for.
You know what? Those we call “stars” are actually ordinary people who consistently add their uniqueness to what they’ve copied from others. So be a star in an attempt to improve your channel.
7. Acquire relevant tools
In my article on how to create a YouTube channel, I advised my readers to begin with what they have. That is key to getting started. Because most time, when you want to get all the best equipment and what-have-you before starting off, you may actually never get started. That’s the approach when starting off.
But after starting off, it’s important that you begin to think about getting better tools – not only to improve your art, but also to save yourself time. In fact, those are actually the two reasons tools are for.
Getting better (the best) equipment and software would add a professional touch to your art. In most cases, you can not compare a video taken by a mobile device with on shot by a specialized video recorder. Neither can you compare a final unedited video with on that was subject to some kind of editing software.
You may not have the means to acquire the most advanced tools at the moment, but make sure you improve on your tools if you already haven’t done so.
The following two tips can be carried out from within YouTube itself.
8. Verify your account
By going to the settings and verifying your YouTube account, you unlock additional features for your channel. For example, you will get access to custom thumbnails, you’ll be able to upload videos of more than 15 minutes (which is impossible prior to verification), you’ll be able to live stream on your channel, among others. All of which contribute to the overall improvement of your channel.
9. Optimize Your Videos
Most people end up clicking on videos after seeing them displayed alongside related videos. It is therefore quite important to sort of entice viewers to click by giving your videos captivating titles, thumbnails and descriptions, after uploading them. This is referred to as optimizing your videos. And don’t forget to always do that. And add relevant tags. Tags make your videos easily located by viewers searching for content you’ve dealt with.
Rinse and repeat
The above points are the basis of a healthy YouTube channel. Doing them repeatedly will put your channel on an ever-improving path, resulting in the overall improvement of your art. That is what successful channel owners are doing.