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10 minute read
9 Jun 2023

10 Things to Know Before Starting a YouTube Channel

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YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide. With over 2 billion active users, the platform provides a massive opportunity for creators to showcase their talents, share their knowledge, and engage with a vast audience. As such, it’s no wonder that so many people are eager to start their own YouTube channels in 2023. However, before you dive in, there are some essential things that you should know.

In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the top 10 things to consider before starting a YouTube channel. So, whether you’re an aspiring vlogger, a business owner, or just someone who wants to share their passion with the world, this article will cover everything you need to know to succeed on YouTube.

Table of contents

Why Should You Create a YouTube Channel?

The power of YouTube lies in its ability to connect people from all over the world, creating a platform for individuals and businesses alike to share their passions and ideas with a global audience. By creating a YouTube channel, you open the door to a range of opportunities, including the chance to reach millions of people, develop new skills, and grow your brand.

YouTube also allows you to engage with your viewers in a unique and meaningful way, building a community around your content that can provide valuable feedback, support, and inspiration. Whether you’re looking to make a career out of YouTube or simply want to share your knowledge and talents with the world, starting a YouTube channel is a powerful way to make your mark and connect with people from all walks of life.

Top Tips to Know Before Starting a YouTube Channel

Creating a YouTube channel can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging when you’re just getting started. With so many channels and creators on the platform, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Let’s go over the top tips you need to know before starting a YouTube channel. From finding the right niche to promoting your videos and creating subtitles with Amberscript, these tips will help you succeed on YouTube and stand out from the competition.

1. Find the Equipment

Before you start creating content for your YouTube channel, you need to invest in the right equipment. This includes a camera, microphone, lighting, and editing software. You don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money on expensive equipment, but you should ensure that the gear you use is of good quality. When it comes to choosing your camera, make sure to select one that has high video resolution and image stabilization, to produce clear and stable footage. You should also invest in a good quality microphone, which is essential to ensure your audio is of high quality.

2. Do Competitor Research

To stand out from the crowd, you need to identify what makes your content unique. Doing competitor research can help you identify gaps in the market and determine the types of content that perform well in your niche. You can use tools such as TubeBuddy, Social Blade, and VidIQ to research your competition, including their video views, engagement rates, and subscriber growth. This information can help you understand what works and what doesn’t, and provide inspiration for your own content. However, make sure you are not copying others, just taking inspiration from their content.

3. Find the Right Niche

To succeed on YouTube, it’s essential to find the right niche for your channel. The best way to do this is to identify your passions and interests, and then research what types of content perform well in those areas. You want to find a balance between something you are passionate about and a niche that is not overly crowded. It’s also important to understand your audience and their interests. By finding a specific niche and developing your content around that niche, you can stand out from the crowd and provide real value to your viewers.

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4. Promote Your Videos

Creating great content is only half the battle. You also need to promote your videos to reach a wider audience. There are several ways to promote your videos, including social media, email newsletters, collaborations with other creators, and paid advertising. Social media is a great way to promote your videos to a wider audience, and to engage with your viewers on a more personal level. Email newsletters can also help you build a loyal following, and collaborations with other creators can help you reach a new audience. The key is to experiment with different promotion strategies and find what works best for your channel.Top of Form

5. Subtitle Your Video (Pro Tip: Add Translated Subtitles to Reach an International Audience)

Subtitling your videos is essential to make your content accessible to a wider audience. Adding subtitles can help people with hearing difficulties, non-native speakers, and those watching in a noisy environment to understand your content better. By adding translated subtitles to your videos, you can also reach an international audience and increase your viewership. Subtitles also help to increase the watch time of your videos, as viewers are more likely to stick around if they can follow along with the content.

Benefits for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Subtitling your videos can benefit the deaf and hard of hearing community, as it allows them to follow along with your content without relying on audio. This is essential for creating an inclusive environment and making your content accessible to a wider audience. By adding captions, you are also complying with accessibility laws in many countries, which require video content to be accessible to those with disabilities.

Benefits for Internationals

By adding translated subtitles to your videos, you can make your content accessible to non-native speakers, which is essential for reaching a global audience. This can help you grow your audience, increase engagement, and build a loyal following of fans from all over the world. Providing subtitles can also improve the viewing experience for international viewers, who may struggle to follow along with your content without them.

Benefits for People Unable to Turn Up the Volume

Finally, adding subtitles can benefit people who are unable to turn up the volume on their devices. This could be due to watching videos in public places, or to avoid disturbing others around them. By adding captions, you make it easier for these viewers to follow along with your content and improve the overall viewing experience. This is particularly important for mobile viewers who may be watching in noisy environments, such as on public transport or in a crowded area.

6. Pay Attention to SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for your videos to be discovered on YouTube. You can start by finding the right keywords and tags to include in your video titles and descriptions. This will help your videos appear in search results for relevant queries. You should also optimize your video content to increase viewer engagement. This includes using engaging thumbnails, captions, and annotations to keep your audience interested.

Learn how to create YouTube subtitles for SEO purposes

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7. Learn How to Edit Your Videos

Editing is an essential part of creating high-quality videos on YouTube. You don’t need to be a professional editor to create great content, but you should learn the basics of video editing software. This includes understanding how to trim and cut footage, add transitions, and use effects to enhance your content. There are plenty of free and paid editing software available to use, so you can find the one that best suits your needs. Also, make sure to learn how to color grade your videos, as this can have a significant impact on the overall look and feel of your content.

8. Plan Your Content Ahead

To keep your audience engaged, it’s essential to plan your content ahead of time. Creating a content calendar can help you stay organized and ensure that you’re consistently publishing content that resonates with your audience. Planning your content ahead can also help you be more efficient in your production process, by allowing you to batch record and schedule content in advance. When planning your content, make sure to consider your audience’s interests and feedback, so you can create content that meets their needs and expectations.

9. Be Consistent with Posting

Consistency is key to building a successful YouTube channel. You need to publish content on a regular schedule to keep your audience engaged and growing. Whether you choose to post daily, weekly, or monthly, it’s essential to be consistent and to stick to your posting schedule. This will help your audience know when to expect new content from you, and it will help you stay organized and focused on creating great content.

10. Use the Reactions for Creating Better Content

Reactions are a great way to learn from your audience and improve your content. You can use the comments and reactions to understand what your audience likes and dislikes about your videos, and to get ideas for new content. This feedback can help you improve your videos over time and ensure that you’re creating content that resonates with your audience. You can also use reactions to create engagement opportunities, such as hosting Q&A sessions or answering fan mail.

How to Subtitle Your YouTube Videos with Amberscript

As mentioned, adding subtitles to your YouTube videos is essential for making your content accessible to a wider audience. Amberscript is an excellent tool that you can use to add subtitles to your videos quickly and easily. Here’s how you can use Amberscript to subtitle your YouTube videos:

Subtitling Services

Amberscript offers different subtitling services to fit your needs. You can choose from machine-made, human-made, or translated subtitling services. Machine-made subtitles are generated automatically by Amberscript’s AI-powered transcription technology, while human-made subtitles are created by professional transcriptionists. Translated subtitles are available in over 40 languages and are ideal for reaching a global audience.

How to create subtitles and captions with Amberscript

How It Works

To add subtitles to your YouTube videos using Amberscript, all you need to do is follow a few simple steps:

  1. Upload: First, upload your video to the Amberscript platform.
  2. Let Our AI Generate the Subtitles: Once your video is uploaded, Amberscript’s AI-powered transcription technology can generate subtitles for your video automatically.
  3. Edit the Automatically Generated Subtitles: You can then edit the automatically generated subtitles to ensure that they are accurate and error-free. You can also adjust the timing and formatting of the subtitles to match your video.
  4. Export: Finally, export the subtitles in the format of your choice and upload them to your YouTube video. You can also download the subtitles and use them on other video-sharing platforms or for other purposes.

Using Amberscript to add subtitles to your YouTube videos is a simple and effective way to make your content accessible to a wider audience. Whether you choose machine-made, human-made, or translated subtitling services, Amberscript makes it easy to create high-quality subtitles for your videos.

Content Ideas for Starting a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel can be exciting, but it can also be challenging to come up with fresh and engaging content ideas. Here are some content ideas to help you get started on the platform:

  • Travel Vlogs: Share your adventures and experiences with your audience by creating travel vlogs. This can include showcasing different destinations, local cultures, and cuisines.
  • Tutorials: Teach your viewers something new by creating tutorials. This can include anything from makeup tutorials to coding lessons and can be a great way to showcase your expertise and knowledge.
  • Product Videos: Create product review videos to showcase different products and services to your audience. This can include product demonstrations, comparisons, and recommendations.
  • Reaction Videos: React to viral videos, music, and other content to engage with your audience and provide entertaining content. This can include watching and reacting to funny or emotional videos.
  • Gaming: Share your love for gaming by creating gaming videos. This can include walkthroughs, reviews, and live streams of your gameplay.
  • DIY Videos: Showcase your creativity and DIY skills by creating DIY videos. This can include crafting, home improvement, and fashion projects.
  • Workout Videos: Help your audience stay healthy and active by creating workout videos. This can include yoga, dance, and other types of exercise videos.
  • Cooking Videos: Share your passion for cooking and food by creating cooking videos. This can include recipe demonstrations, cooking challenges, and cooking tips.
  • Reviews: Share your opinion on products, services, and experiences by creating review videos. This can include book reviews, restaurant reviews, and movie reviews.
person watching video on youtube

Remember, the most important thing is to create content that you are passionate about and that resonates with your audience. By finding the right content ideas and creating engaging content, you can build a loyal following on YouTube and establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

Key Takeaways

Starting a YouTube channel can be challenging, but with the right approach, you can create engaging content and build a loyal following. Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind when starting a YouTube channel:

  1. Find the Right Equipment: Invest in the right equipment to create high-quality videos that will keep your audience engaged.
  2. Research Your Competitors: Learn from your competitors and see what’s working for them in terms of content, style, and strategy.
  3. Find the Right Niche: Focus on a specific niche and create content that resonates with your audience.
  4. Promote Your Videos: Use social media and other channels to promote your videos and grow your audience.
  5. Subtitle Your Videos: Make your content accessible to a wider audience by adding subtitles to your videos. Consider using Amberscript to create high-quality subtitles quickly and easily.
  6. Pay Attention to SEO: Use best practices for SEO to ensure that your videos are discovered by viewers who are interested in your content.
  7. Learn How to Edit Your Videos: Editing is an essential part of creating high-quality videos. Learn the basics of video editing software to create engaging content.
  8. Plan Your Content Ahead: Create a content calendar to stay organized and ensure that you’re consistently publishing content that resonates with your audience.
  9. Be Consistent with Posting: Post on a regular schedule to keep your audience engaged and growing.
  10. Use Reactions for Creating Better Content: Use comments and reactions to learn from your audience and improve your content over time.

By following these tips, you can create high-quality content that engages your audience and grows your YouTube channel over time. With persistence and dedication, you can establish yourself as a trusted authority in your niche and build a loyal following of fans who love your content. And remember, when it comes time to add your subtitles, be sure to check out Amberscript.  

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