Reach new customers: Your videos will show up in search results on the platform, putting your content in front of users who might not have known you existed.

Drive traffic to your website: After viewing one of your awesome videos, a viewer who wants to learn more can click on a link in your video description to check out your website.

Amp up your SEO: Many companies are using video SEO to enhance their searchability and increase web traffic. This powerful strategy is simple to implement and can be wildly effective.

The first step to creating a YouTube channel is setting up your channel. Before you do, you need to create a YouTube account. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to set up your channel.

To get started, log into YouTube and click on your avatar in the upper-right corner of the screen. Select “Settings” in the dropdown menu.

Then select “See all my channels or create a new channel.” This link can be hard to spot, so look for the linked text under the “Your Account” heading.

From this screen, you’ll see any channels you already belong to, and will be able to create a new channel by selecting “Create a new channel.”

Next, YouTube will prompt you to name your channel. If you’re creating a channel for your business, you probably want to name your channel after your company so things are clear for your viewers.

After selecting a name, YouTube will create your channel and drop you into your channel dashboard. Voila! In just 5 clicks of the mouse, you’ve created your new YouTube channel and are on your way to sharing killer content with YouTube’s 1.9 billion users.

As you’ll see, your YouTube channel comes completely blank, so the next thing you’ll want to do is spruce it up a bit. Get this process started by selecting the “Customise Channel” button on your dashboard. Then head over to the “About” tab to fill in some basic information about your business, including a description and customised links.

When writing your description, be informative but also strategic; YouTube scans this content to optimise users’ search experiences, so infuse it with keywords as much as possible. You can also take advantage of the Customised Links feature to add marketing links to your channel profile. The links you enter here will display as icon overlays on your channel cover photo; we’ll see this in action later in this section.

Finally, while you’re on this tab, you can add an email address for users to send inquiries. This is an often overlooked but important step for organisations looking to increase inbound leads – and who isn’t?

As a next step, spice up your channel with some visuals, specifically your channel cover art and your avatar.

Your channel cover art is the banner that sits at the top of your YouTube channel. If you’re not a professional designer, don’t worry. There are plenty of free tools you can use to create your channel art in just minutes. We recommend Canva and Bannersnack. They’re both easy-to-use free tools that allow you to design your cover art and export it according to YouTube’s art dimension requirements.

As you’re creating your channel art, be sure your image matches your brand and is consistent with the visuals you’re using on your website and other social media accounts. Use fonts, colours, and graphics that match your brand identity.

Once you’ve created your beautiful channel cover art, upload it by clicking “Add channel art” at the top of the screen. Then locate the file you’d like to upload.

As a final step, check out your cover art on multiple screens. YouTube automatically shows you what it will look like on desktop and mobile, so give it a thorough review to be sure important content isn’t cut off. Keep these dimensions in mind as you’re designing your cover art, too. YouTube’s desktop and mobile layouts are long and narrow, so layout your graphic accordingly.

After your cover art is uploaded and live, the next visual you’ll want to add is your profile photo. To get started, click on the blue avatar image in the top left corner of your profile.

This will prompt you to upload a photo to feature as your profile image. We recommend using a version of your logo that fits nicely in a square container. You could experiment with using other images here, but if you want to increase brand recognition, it’s best to stick with your logo.

Once you’ve selected the right image, YouTube will give you the option to crop it, so don’t worry about perfectly sizing your logo. You can handle all of that within the platform.

After you’ve cropped your image appropriately, click “Done” and take a look at your new YouTube channel, complete with an SEO-friendly description and beautiful channel art that matches your brand.

Remember the Customised Links we mentioned earlier? You’ll see those appear as linked icons right on top of your cover art. It’s a simple way to ensure your audience can easily get to your website, blog, or other landing page directly from your YouTube channel.

Now that your channel is all set up, it’s time to start uploading content. To upload your first video, click on the “Video Manager” link above your channel profile photo. This will take you into YouTube’s Video Manager tool.

Once you’re in the Video Manager, select the “Upload Video” button to get started, and find the video file you’d like to upload.

As your video uploads, you can start entering in your video’s data, including the title, description, and tags. Your title should describe what’s in the video while being eye-catching and intriguing, and your description should be filled with SEO-friendly keywords. Just like with your channel description, YouTube will reference this text to serve up relevant content to users when they search – and you want to be in those results.

From this page, you can also add tags to help boost your video’s SEO ranking. For more on maximising your YouTube SEO, check out our blog on 13 ways to rank higher in YouTube’s search engine results in 2021. Here are a few quick tips as you’re thinking about YouTube SEO:

Be sure your title packs a punch; it’s the first impression your audience will get of what’s inside your video, and you want them to click through without scrolling past you.

Use focus keywords multiple times instead of lots of keywords once or twice.

Include your URL in the video description so viewers can check out your website if they want to learn more.

Just create great content. More views means better search results, and you’ll never get millions of views without having solid, shareworthy content.

Finally, at the bottom of the page, select the thumbnail you’d like to appear in search results; pick the most engaging, accurate, and eye-catching thumbnail in your video. This is the single image that represents your video, and should be chosen thoughtfully.

When you’re all finished, click “Publish” to publish your video, or “Save Changes” to save any updates you’ve made once you’ve posted the video.

After you’ve uploaded several videos, you might be ready to make a YouTube playlist, which is just as simple as uploading a video. Simply navigate to your Video dashboard, and select the videos you’d like to feature in your playlist by checking the boxes to the left of the videos.

Then select “Add to playlist,” give your playlist a name, and start sharing your new playlist with the world!