Optimizing Your Channel

Part2

Optimizing Your Channel

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   Prepare to capture chance moments. Your smartphone or video camera should be your trusty companion--take it everywhere. Maybe you’ll get lucky and catch something hilarious that could eventually go viral. Maybe you’ll catch something more serious and help to bring justice to an innocent person. If the footage won’t work for your current project, save the file for later.
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   Notice how popular YouTubers edit their videos. Good editing can take a channel to the next level. Pay attention to different camera angles, close-ups, and scene transitions. If your video focuses on your face for several minutes, mix it up with a few angle changes (from frontal to three-quarter, for example). If you’re doing a demonstration, get a nice close-up of the project you’re working on. Listen for background music or white noise in the soundtrack. Don’t stress about copying other YouTubers' editing styles exactly. Instead, they should give you an idea of where to put certain elements.^[5]
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   Set notifications. To keep your viewers updated on all the new and exciting content you’re producing, check your notification settings while you’re waiting for your video to upload. Set your channel to notify subscribers when you add new content. Click “Advanced Settings,” and scroll down to “Distribution Options.” The option “Notify Subscribers” should be checked automatically. If it’s not, check it! This way, everyone who subscribes to your channel will receive an email when you upload new content.
   

   • On the other hand, if you decide to upload multiple videos at once, uncheck the notification box. Uploading 20 videos in one day will flood your poor subscribers’ inboxes with 20 emails. ^[6]
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   Fix the captions. After you upload your video, you’ll have the chance to set and edit automatic captions. Take it. You can be the clearest speaker in the world, and automatic captions will still contain tons of mistakes. This is unfair to your deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. Take the time to read and correct the captions after you upload your video.
   

   • Use this opportunity for a little viewer engagement! Ask them to let you know if they see any errors.
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   Interact with your audience. If you’re already replying to comments on your YouTube videos, you’re one step ahead of the game. Still, you’ll need to do more. Take the conversation to social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Use specific hashtags on live chats to make it easier for your fans to find the discussion. Interacting shows your audience your care, plus all that social media activity can draw new viewers to your channel.