Social media platforms

YouTube is the largest social video site in the world with over a billion users. It allows you to create a channel for your videos; embed them in your website or blog; share them on other networks; gain a following; and engage with people.

There are also opportunities for paid advertising.

YouTube channel for business

A YouTube account for uploading video content is known as a channel.  A channel page can be customised with your branding and specific videos and playlists can be emphasized.

You can enhance the user-friendliness of your channel by grouping your videos into topic based playlists. Try using custom thumbnails that include your branding for more visual impact.

Users can follow your channel. This means they will be notified when you upload a new video. You can encourage new people to follow your channel by ending a video with a call to action and highlighting the benefits.

See how nibusinessinfo.co.uk presents video content on a YouTube channel. 

Creating and optimising content for your channel

The video content on your YouTube channel can be professionally produced corporate videos or a more informal style. Consider what works best with your budget and brand identity.

Try to create content that your users will find entertaining, interesting or useful. Combine this with some more sales focused content.  

Remember that YouTube is a search engine for video, so it is important to apply search engine optimisation (SEO) principles to your content. Use the video title, description, category and tags to include keywords that users can search for and find your video.   

Optimise your video to encourage users to take an action such as visit your website, make an online purchase or sign up for your newsletter. You can include a link to your website in the video description. You can also add links that appear in the video with YouTube cards. The video itself can include a call to action.

YouTube videos automatically generate subtitles. You can edit these for accuracy. Subtitles can improve the accessibility of your videos for users with hearing loss, or for customers who prefer to watch videos without sound. 

YouTube advertising

YouTube also offers a wide range of paid advertising options, including video ads and display advertising. Video ads can appear in search results or play automatically before other videos. YouTube offers targeting options for demographics like age, gender, location and interests. YouTube analytics helps you track the success of your ads.  

YouTube analytics 

YouTube provides channel owners with analytics data, including reports on:

• video views
• watch time
• subscribers
• likes and dislikes
• comments, favourites and shares
• viewer demographics

You can use this information to better understand your audience and to improve future content.