TLDR;
This video provides seven essential YouTube settings that small channels should adjust to increase views, watch time, and subscribers. These settings include optimizing channel keywords, customizing channel trailers and featured videos, setting default upload preferences, managing community and comment settings, adjusting advanced settings for audience and captioning, adding a video watermark for subscriptions, and utilizing analytics to improve content.
- Optimize channel keywords to help YouTube understand your content and target audience.
- Customize channel trailers and featured videos to attract new and returning viewers.
- Set default upload preferences to save time and ensure consistent optimization.
- Manage community and comment settings to encourage engagement.
- Adjust advanced settings for audience and captioning to reach a wider audience.
- Add a video watermark to make it easier for viewers to subscribe.
- Utilize analytics to understand audience behavior and improve content.
First Settings You Need to Turn On Now [0:43]
The first crucial setting is channel keywords. These keywords help YouTube's algorithm understand your channel's content and identify the target audience. Small channels need to feed the algorithm relevant keywords to enable YouTube to recommend their videos to the right viewers. To find these keywords, brainstorm relevant terms in your niche and research keywords used by successful channels in the same area by checking their about sections. Then, in YouTube Studio, navigate to settings, then channel, and add these keywords, including names of popular YouTubers in your niche, to increase visibility when people search for those names.
How to Use This Settings in the Studio to Grow Your Channel [2:02]
After gathering relevant keywords, go to YouTube dashboard in Google Chrome, then settings, and then channel to add the keywords. Include the names of successful YouTubers in your niche because many people search for channels by name. Optimizing channel description by converting keywords into sentences also helps YouTube understand your content and target audience. With these optimizations, YouTube will start pushing and recommending your videos to a broader audience.
Second YouTube Settings to Grow Your Channel [3:38]
The second important setting is channel customization, focusing on channel trailers and featured videos. Channel trailers play automatically for new visitors, offering views without requiring a click. Select a high-value video as your channel trailer to attract viewers and potential subscribers. To set this up, go to the customization button, then the home tab, and add a channel trailer. Featured videos or spotlight videos are for returning subscribers, providing extra value to keep them engaged. Choose a video that complements the trailer and adds additional value.
Optimization Secret for Small Channels [6:20]
The third key setting is default uploads, which is an optimization technique. This feature allows you to set up default information that YouTube automatically adds to every new video you upload. To access this, go to settings and then upload defaults. In the description section, include relevant keywords, social media handles, disclaimers, and other standard information that you always include. Set the visibility to private or unlisted, allowing the video to sit on your channel for at least two hours before making it public, giving YouTube time to analyze the content. Also, add niche-related tags to the tags section.
4th Method [8:33]
The fourth important setting is managing community and comments. Enabling comments is crucial for engagement metrics, which help YouTube push your videos. To do this, go to settings, then community moderation, and then defaults to turn on comments for your channel. Moderate the comment section to prevent spam and inappropriate language by selecting moderation settings like basic, strict, or holding all comments for review.
5th Important YouTube Settings [9:39]
The fifth essential setting is advanced settings, which determine who YouTube shows your videos to. In advanced settings, declare whether your video is made for kids. If the video is not specifically for children, select "no" to avoid limitations on comments and monetization. Also, enable automatic captioning to reach a wider audience by checking the appropriate box, allowing YouTube to code inappropriate words in automatically generated captions.
Go to Studio and Turn This On to Get More Subscribers [12:11]
The sixth setting focuses on getting more subscribers by adding a video watermark. This setting adds a subscribe button directly on the video, making it easier for viewers to subscribe. To add this, go to the customization button, scroll down to video watermark, and select "entire video" to display the watermark throughout the video. The seventh important setting is analytics. YouTube Studio provides insights into video performance, helping you improve content creation. Pay attention to the click-through rate (CTR) to assess thumbnail effectiveness and the audience retention graph to identify drop-off points in your videos.