In today’s world, content is one of the major ways that people find, connect with, and retain interest in brands and products. This is often attributed to digital nomads (people who work remotely and mainly online), Generation Z, and millennials – these are the groups most likely to go online to interact with brands.

Whether you’re just getting started or already have a strong brand identity, you can benefit from an online marketing presence in one of the most popular platforms today: YouTube.

YouTube is the second largest video platform, behind only Facebook. Because it’s so big, you can use it to target people based on a wide range of interests, including your videos’ content.

Let’s explore how to set up a YouTube channel for your business.

Create A YouTube Channel For Your Business

The first thing you need to do to set up a channel for your business is to go to youtube.com and click on the big orange “Create Channel” button.

youtube.com will redirect you to YouTube’s creator platform. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see the categories and suggested content for your channel. Above the categories, you’ll see an option to choose a topic for your channel.

You can easily find a category such as “marketing,” “business,” or “technology,” or you can choose a broad topic like “product ideas” or “how to succeed.”

Once you’ve found a category or topic, click on it to see a list of suggested videos.

If you’re looking for inspiration, you can also search for popular channels in your niche to see what content they’re making and considering building on to.

Select A Username For Your Channel

YouTube’s channel creators are called “issuers,” and they’re given a unique “issuer name” that appears alongside their videos. You can choose any name you want for your channel, but if you’re looking for inspiration, you can check out established YouTube channels in your niche to see what name they used.

Tip: If you plan on growing your channel’s audience, consider using your “issuer name” as your channel’s username. This will make it simpler for people to find and connect with your channel.

Set A Description For Your Channel

The next step in creating your YouTube channel is to set a description for your channel. Your description is one of the most important pieces of information about your channel, and it will help prospective subscribers find your content. Make sure that your description is concise yet informative.

You can use a tool like Hootsuite’s Description Generator to easily create a good description for your channel. Just enter your channel’s unique “issuer name” and the name of your channel – for example, the name of my channel is “Marketing Tips From a Digital Nomad,” and my unique “issuer name” is “marketingtipsfromadigitalnomad.com”.

Tip: If you have a sales page or website for your product or service, create a short description for it using the same wording as the sales page. For example, the marketing tips page could have the following description: “Get the inside track on marketing trends, tips, and exercises to grow your business with Social Media. Sign up to get the digital nomad’s guide to marketing success.”

Add Keywords For Your Channel

YouTube’s algorithmically generated suggestions will automatically include the relevant keywords for your content. If you’re publishing new content regularly, it’s a good idea to add these keywords to your description to ensure that your content is found by those who are searching for it.

If you are already using keywords in your description, make sure that they are relevant to the type of content you are posting. In the example above, I have used the keyword “marketing” in my description, which is a general keyword. However, my video content is primarily about marketing for startups and emerging businesses – so my keywords are highly specific to that topic.

For a more detailed list of keywords you can use, visit Google Keyword Planner.

Choose A Design For Your Channel

The last thing you need to do to get your YouTube channel set up is choose a design for it. You can use one of YouTube’s standard templates or click on the “+ ADD A DESIGN” button to get some inspiration from existing channels in your niche.

You should pick a design that is consistent with your business’ overall branding, and consider investing in a high-quality template that will make your channel stand out.

Fill Out Your Channel’s Details

Now that you have your channel set up, you need to fill out the basic information about it.

You can do this by clicking on the “Edit” button next to the “About” section in the dashboard.

Clicking on the “Publish” button at the bottom of the screen will take you to a page that allows you to fill out more details about your channel.

You can add a logo for your channel and adjust the information about your channel’s topic, purpose, and categories.

If you’re feeling creative, you can also add a custom thumbnail for your channel. Keep in mind that the thumbnail of your channel will be used on your channel’s webpage as well as any videos you post on your channel. It’s important to keep the right proportions among the smaller the thumbnail, the better. Thumbnail preferences can be found in the “Your Channel” section of your YouTube settings (accessible from the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen).

Tip: If you’re not sure how to create a good thumbnail for your channel, check out YouTube’s video guide for creators.

Post Content To Your Channel

The last step in setting up your channel is to post content to it. You can do this by clicking on the “+ upload a video” button at the top of the screen.

You’ll see a video editing interface where you can adjust the settings for your video and add tags and keywords to it. You can also choose to have YouTube automatically generate thumbnails for you.

Tip: If you need help getting your video content in shape for upload, check out these YouTube video tutorials by Content Machine.

With just a few minutes of setup work, you can have a functioning YouTube channel ready to post your video content to.

Think of this channel as an extension of your marketing efforts. The videos on your channel can function as both an online and offline advertisement for your business. Your description, along with the video’s content, can also function as a piece of online content that draws in interested audiences and encourages them to subscribe to your channel. In this way, you can use YouTube to build an audience and grow your business.