Youtube – Effective Channel Design

Over the years Youtube has become the number 1 place to go to for video information. Whether you are looking for the latest reviews on a new product or would like to learn a new skill, all this and more can be found in the endless library that is Youtube.

Youtube is absolutely packed with channels from multiple users, split up into various categories, such as; lifestyle, technology, entertainment. It would be fair to say that a vast amount of us spend more time on Youtube than we do watch the television.

You could assume that Youtube is the future of television. With the slogan “Broadcast Yourself”, Youtube has spent years supplying the world with videos from users. Owned by Google, the website keeps improving, so it would be a waste not to have a channel of your own on the website.

Youtube allows customization of user channels to completely maximise the effectiveness of their brand. What you are about to see are examples of useful ways brands have customised their Youtube channel to increase subscriptions and traffic.

(This article is for those who have signed up to the Youtube Partner Program – get in touch with Google Adwords for more information).

Custom Youtube Background

Youtube gives users the choice of changing their background to either a flat colour or an image. This isn’t exclusive to partners, but it is still important if you hope to single yourself out from your competition. Using a background image sets your brand, and can be set to be static, tiled, or scroll. This is a great way to promote upcoming products.

Companies such as Canon have used the background to compliment what they do. A photograph of professional bike riders has been used to show the capabilities of their cameras. This tells us 3 key messages; Canon products are powerful, fun, and high quality.

Website Navigation

When it comes to customising social media channels, it is almost always an opportunity for your fan base to navigate through your web pages.  Using the background image function, and just a little bit of HTML, you can have a banner with links to several web pages.

The Youtube Channel for The Guardian has taken advantage of the space available to include several categories, as well as icons to their social media pages, and a subscription to their channel.

Profile Image

It should come as a natural decision to use your company brand as the profile image. Just as you would with a Facebook or Twitter account, your profile picture will help cement your brand along with any banners and background you may have.

You don’t even have to use your entire logo; a section of it will do if you have an iconic brand. See Google’s profile for example. Keep in mind that when your channel comes up in the search results, this is what users will see.

Include a channel icon

A channel Icon is useful to brand your channel when users are watching a certain video. Youtube allows users to upload a small image above the video. This can be particularly useful if you wish to remind users to subscribe to your channel, otherwise it can simply just contain your business name. See an example from ASOS below.