If you want to share your recorded videos with the world, YouTube is the right platform for this purpose. Through the largest and most popular video platform you can reach millions of people. All you need is a dedicated channel on the platform. You can either create a personal channel with your own name or a channel for your business.
To register with YouTube
The video platform belongs to the search engine giant Google. For this reason, you need a Google Account to sign up. If you already have an account with Google, you can log in with the data you already have. Registration is possible from an iOS or Android device as well as from your computer. The Google Account is free and can be created in minutes. Go to the YouTube homepage and click on "Sign up" in the top right corner. Next, click on the blue "Create account" link. To create a new Google Account, you'll need to fill out all the fields on the registration form. For the new Google Account, you can either use an existing email address or create a new one. The best way to do this is to register a new email address for your channel with the ending "@gmail.com". This will help you keep track of your channel, and you'll receive all future emails related to your channel in a separate mailbox. Entering your mobile phone number is voluntary and not required for registration. Nevertheless, it is advisable to enter your number, as you can use it to unlock your account in case it is blocked. Once you have completed all fields and checked that your entries are correct, click on the blue button "Next Step". You will see a welcome text on your screen. You have successfully registered and can use all Google services. Click on the blue button below and you will return to the video platform.
Click on your user picture in the top right corner and then on the gear symbol under your name. Under "Additional functions" click on the blue link "Create new channel". First you have to give your channel a suitable name. If you want to operate a personal channel, the name should match the topic or content of your video channel. It is best to avoid unimaginative and inappropriate names with meaningless words and letters. Next to the content, the name is the most important figurehead of your video channel. If you are known on the Internet by your name or a pseudonym, of course use these terms as channel names. If it is a commercially used channel of your company, then it is best to use its name as well. This way, potential customers will find your channel much faster on the video platform. Under the name of your channel, you must select a suitable category. In the last step, you accept the Google+ terms of use. Your future channel will automatically get its own Google+ page. Click "Done" and you have successfully created your YouTube channel. Now you should set up your new channel and make the most important settings.
The most important settings for your new channel
After the successful creation of your channel, the start page will automatically appear on your screen. Here you can make all important settings and customize your channel to your personal preferences. Click on "My Channel" in the top left corner of the menu to enter the edit mode. First of all, you should adjust the look of your channel. To do this, select a suitable channel image and a channel icon. Move the mouse to the upper right corner of the standard image and an edit icon will appear. Click on it and select "Edit channel picture". Once you have found a suitable picture, you can upload it directly from your computer. Alternatively, you can of course create a new image for your channel using a suitable image editing program. Your channel picture should ideally have a resolution of 2,560 × 1,440 pixels. The image may not be larger than 4 MB. If you use a single image in this format, your channel will be displayed optimally on all different platforms. The minimum size for viewing on a desktop computer is 1,546 × 423 pixels and the images must not be wider than 2,560 × 423 pixels. An appealing channel image shapes the identity of your own channel and makes it stand out from the crowd.
Once you are finished with the visual design, the next step is to describe your channel. Simply click on "Channel info" under your name. Then click on the button under Description and the input field will open. Here you should describe your channel in detail. Take enough time for the description and introduce your YouTube channel to your future visitors. The description serves on the one hand as a greeting and should on the other hand give the visitors a rough overview of your channel and its contents. Pay attention to the description to a common expression and avoid spelling mistakes. In addition to the description, you can add detailed information about yourself or your company. Then click on "Done". You can change the description again at any time.
Under "Details" you can store your e-mail address. In this case you will receive notifications and comments from your visitors and subscribers via E-mail. Here, use the new email address that you created especially for your channel. Select your country below the field. Optionally, you can add suitable links to your channel. For example, it would make sense to add links to your private website, to your blog or to your company page. If you want to see how your channel looks to your visitors, this is possible without any problems. For this purpose, click on the arrow to the right of your name next to "Myself". Here you can now select either "New Visitor" or "Recurring Subscriber". Click on "Done" to exit the viewing mode again. Once you have finished setting up your channel, you can start uploading your videos.
What you should keep in mind when uploading your movies
If you would like to upload movies to your YouTube channel, click on the "Upload" button in the upper right corner. You can either drag the video files from your computer onto the large field or click on the large arrow with the mouse. In this case, the file browser will appear with the contents of your hard drive. For each video you must also select whether it is "public", "unlisted" or "private" on the platform. With the privacy settings you can for example show certain movies only to your friends and acquaintances.
When uploading your movies you have to consider some restrictions. In general, each video may not be longer than 15 minutes. If you would like to increase this limit, you will need to confirm your account by telephone. YouTube supports all common file formats for videos, such as AVI, MOV, MPEG4, WMV, FLV and 3GPP. Pure audio files are not supported. If you want to upload a video in a different format, you must first convert it. If your computer has a built-in webcam, you can record movies with it and then transfer them directly to your channel. All videos on the platform are displayed in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Video files in other formats are automatically converted and displayed correctly. To ensure that your videos fit perfectly into the player and have no bars, you should upload them in a suitable resolution. YouTube supports videos in resolutions from 240p (426 x 240 pixels) to 2160p (3,840 x 2,160 pixels).
While your video is uploading, you can edit and set the general settings and advanced settings of your movie. This information is especially important so that your videos can be found by a wide audience. Define tags (keywords) that fit the theme of your video and add an appealing description to your videos. As a YouTube affiliate, you can also adjust monetization settings and earn money through advertising. By default, your subscribers will be notified when you upload a new video. If the upload is successful, you will also receive a confirmation email. To save time in the future, you should adjust the default upload settings to your personal needs. To do this, open the Video Manager. Then select the "Default settings" under "Channel settings". Among other things, you can customize the category, privacy, title, tags and license information.
To embed your movies in your WordPress blog
Do you run a WordPress blog, then you can embed the videos from your new YouTube channel into it. The free plugin "YouTube Channel" is perfectly suitable for this purpose. In detail, it is a small widget for the sidebar of your blog. You can install this either automatically with an installer or manually via the backend of WordPress install. Once you have completed the installation, navigate to the "Plugins" menu in WordPress and activate the plugin. Next, you need to enter your YouTube channel. Enter the API Key, the ID, the name of your channel and your username. Additionally, you can still set which channel to use and how many videos to display. Alternatively, you can use the default settings for now. If you are satisfied with all settings, then click on "Save Changes". Additionally, you can customize the new sidebar widget to match the design of your WordPress blog. If you have successfully installed the plugin and set it up correctly, then the latest videos from your channel will automatically appear in your WordPress blog in the future.
