New YouTubers are always in search of some shortcut tricks that can grow their channels in no time. But in reality, there’s none. In fact, uploading videos with the right metadata and some other very basic settings is the only thing you can do to boost your channel to get more views and subscribers.
If you have been uploading your videos on YouTube without thinking much about title, tags, description, and thumbnail, then here are 10 important things you must do before publishing YouTube videos.
YouTube Video Upload Checklist
It’s true that there’s no shortcut that can grow a new channel very fast, but if you follow the basic things that matter to YouTube then your videos have a higher chance of getting more views and subscribers.
You should only think about the actions that are under your control, and uploading videos regularly is the one thing that you can become best at to grow your channel. And here is an upload checklist of 10 points you must consider before publishing your videos on YouTube.
1. Rename Video File
Many new creators export their videos with very generic names like Untitled04.mp4 or Project04edit.mp4 and upload them with the same filenames. The very first thing you should do before uploading your video on YouTube is to rename the video file with keywords relating to your video topic.
Uploading videos with filename relevant to the video topic can be a helpful signal for the YouTube algorithm to determine the topic of your video and suggest the same to your potential viewers. You should also rename the thumbnail filename with some relevant keywords.
2. Design an Eye-catching Thumbnail
Thumbnail is the image that you see on a video, and on clicking upon which the video gets played. And a thumbnail is the very first thing that a viewer sees and decides instantly if he/she needs to watch the video or not. So you need to design an eye-catching thumbnail that a viewer cant’s stop himself to click on the video.
Many creators just don’t spend time creating thumbnails. It doesn’t matter how good your video is if it isn’t reaching potential viewers, and designing an attractive thumbnail is the secret to reaching more people. Think of some creative ideas, invest hours, and make the best thumbnail you can.
3. Write a Compelling Title
Your video title is what viewers see after the thumbnail, and you should write a compelling title in your videos that can make potential viewers interested to watch your videos. The title is not only for the viewer to make them click on your videos, but it also plays a vital role in making the YouTube algorithm understand the topic of your videos.
If you type some good keywords in the title that are related to your video topic, it can also rank in search results and can help you get views from the search traffic. And it’s the best kind of traffic that can increase subscribers on your channel and build an audience for you.
4. Type Complete Description
You might have noticed a lot of creators not typing a complete description about their videos. The description box is meant to provide a context to the viewers, why they should watch the video completely, and other important information that you wanna share with them.
YouTube has set the limit of 5000 letters that can be typed in the description box, and you can type a lot of details about your video, give links to your social media handles and other important websites. You should also consider entering a detailed description because people can also read in addition to watching your videos.
5. Add Descriptive Tags
Tags are descriptive keywords you can add to your video to help viewers find your content. And tags can be useful if the content of your video is commonly misspelled. Otherwise, tags play a minimal role in your video’s discovery.
There are many tools like TubeBuddy and VidIQ that can help you to find keywords related to your video topics that you can put in the tags section. And one thing you should not miss is that if you add excessive tags or irrelevant tags, YouTube may treat it as spam and deceptive practices. So be careful while adding tags.
Also Read: How to Get New Topics for YouTube Videos?
6. Add Video to Playlist
A playlist is a great way to organize all your videos of similar topics in one place. You should always add your videos to existing playlists if you’ve created them before or should create one with a relevant name to the videos you’ll be adding onto that one.
If your similar videos are grouped in playlists, viewers find it easy to watch a complete playlist of similar content. Even you as a creator can share the link of a playlist to anyone with whom you want to share your videos on specific topics.
7. Add Info Cards
You must have seen info cards while watching YouTube videos which many creators also call ‘i-button’. These show as a teaser card that pops up in the top right side of a video for some seconds containing a link. Info cards can feature a video, playlist, channel, or any other link.
Info cards are designed to complement videos and enhance the viewer experience with relevant info. For example, you’re making part II of a topic that you’ve already uploaded Part I on your channel. Then you can add an info card featuring your previous video on the newer ones so that if someone hasn’t watched it yet, can click on that card and watch it.
8. Add End Screen
End screens can be added to the last 5–20 seconds of a video. You can use them to promote other videos, encourage viewers to subscribe, and more. You can add up to four elements to your end screen for videos with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Other aspect ratios may have a lower limit.
These are basically visual links that viewers can click upon and watch a featured video, subscribe to your channel, or visit a featured website. If you add end screens to your videos, viewers get more options to stay connected with your channel by offering them some recommended videos to watch.
9. Promote across Existing Videos
Info cards and end screens are designed by YouTube itself to give the viewers more options to watch videos on your channel. And if you regularly create inter-linked videos, then you can also promote your new videos by putting links of the same in the description of similar existing videos.
In addition to adding links in the description, you can also feature your new video in info cards and end screens of your previously published videos. So there are many ways by which you can promote your new videos across existing ones.
Also Read: YouTube Channel Growth Myths Busted
10. Pin Comment with Important Information
If you have something very important information that you wanna share with your viewers, you can add a comment on your videos and pin the same so that it will show at the top. If you are promoting any brand, then you can also pin a comment with the brand’s website or landing page so that the brand can get more clicks, and eventually, you’ll get more money for your sponsorships.
And to pin your own comment that will be shown to all, you need to add a comment after publishing the video or you can set the visibility option to unlisted and then add and pin a comment with whatever important information you want to share. And this way, you can also increase your viewers’ engagement in the comments section.
