The Dos and Don’ts of Creating a Successful YouTube Channel

Creating a YouTube channel is one of the most satisfying ways to express your creative side. In some cases, it can also become a lucrative career.

In fact, for many video content creators, YouTube has become a full time business.

But, not everyone knows the rules that they need to keep in mind in order to ensure their success.

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s take a look at all the info that you’ll need to keep in mind.

Use Search Tags

One of the biggest mistakes that new YouTubers make is foregoing the use of video tags.

Put simply, video tags are keywords that your audience searches for on the platform that will help them find your video in the results. So, you’re putting yourself at a great disadvantage if you don’t make extensive use of them.

You should take the time to consider what relevant terms your audience may be searching for in order to find your content. For example, a YouTube channel that focuses on improving your art skills would use tags like ‘how to draw’ or ‘how to get better at drawing.’

Another great way to get started is to analyze what tags your competitors are using. This can be easily accomplished with a free browser plug-in.

Network And Collaborate With Others

One of the fastest ways to grow your audience is to leverage the audience of other creators. This is most frequently accomplished through collaborations where both parties contribute to a single video.

This is also one of the things, several YouTubers mentioned in my article 26 Successful YouTubers Speak Out: “What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting My YouTube Channel”.

While this is easier in some niches than others, it has utility no matter what demographic you target. The collaboration doesn’t have to be extensive, either.

Using the aforementioned art channel example, a separate channel that focuses mainly on graphic design could briefly discuss the benefits of learning how to draw by hand and then link to the drawing channel.

In exchange for this, the first channel could reciprocate their behavior and link their own audience to the graphic design channel.

You’re even able to accomplish this with your competitors in some cases. Musicians, for instance, may collaborate together even though they both target the same audience.

This allows them to benefit from each other’s following and grow simultaneously.

Emphasize Quality

As you may expect, it’s not feasible to grow a reliable fanbase if you aren’t producing quality content.

Even while your channel is small during its early stages, quality is key to ensuring your long-term development. This means that each video should be as professional as possible.

This is especially true when it comes to audio quality. Even if the actual content of your video is above average, a poor quality camera or microphone can easily detract from this experience.

In many cases, you’ll fail to gain new followers due to this issue and may even begin to lose existing followers if your quality doesn’t improve over time.

As previously mentioned, checking out other channels in your niche can help you get a feel of what is expected by your audience.

You may even find that some YouTubers list the equipment that they use to achieve the level of quality they have.

Consistency Matters, Too

The YouTube algorithm seems to favor channels that produce content on a regular basis.

While this doesn’t mean that you need to upload a video every single day, you’ll likely notice a drop in your video traffic if you only post once every few months.

So, it’s imperative that you set a schedule for both the creation of content and how often you upload.

In general, becoming more organized will significantly improve the chances you’ll become successful.

The ideal upload frequency will also depend on your niche. News channels, for example, should upload relatively frequently since their content is based on current events.

A YouTube channel that is centered around relatively static content (such as learning how to code) can get away with uploading less frequently.

Interact With Your Audience

One of the best ways to drastically increase your following is to engage with your audience. This will help dissolve the barrier between a creator and their followers, which will help you establish a deeper connection with your audience.

Fortunately, doing so on YouTube is relatively straightforward.

Liking comments, replying to them, and even asking your audience about their opinions are quick and easy ways that you can help strengthen your relationship with them.

Over time, you’ll develop a base of loyal followers that will help you drive more traffic to your videos through YouTube’s search algorithm. 

You’ll also drastically increase the chance that they’ll share your content with others on social media. 

Evolve Over Time

In many cases, it’s required that you evolve your content as time goes on. Otherwise, you’ll likely find yourself stuck in an endless loop of uploading the same type of videos over and over again.

This is commonly seen with channels centered around tutorials since there’s only so much information that can be provided. A channel that centers on beginner Photoshop tutorials, for example, will eventually run out of new ideas.

In this case, that creator can branch out by creating tutorials for other Adobe applications, creating advanced Photoshop tutorials, etc.

So, do your best to develop a timeline of content that you would like to create so that you have a roadmap to guide you as your channel grows.

Creating a Successful YouTube Channel Can Seem Difficult

But it doesn’t have to be.

With the above information about how to optimize your YouTube in mind, you’ll be well on your way toward ensuring that you reach peak levels of performance.

Now take a look at 10 Effective Ways to Get More YouTube Views.