#YouTube is not a social network; it’s a search engine (mostly).

When you think about it, social networks are kind of like listening to the radio. For instance, if you don’t like what the DJ’s playing, just scan to the next station (if that’s still a thing). In the same way, if you don’t like a certain post on social, just keep scrolling down the feed.

But YouTube is different. It’s both: a search engine AND a social network.

(**Technically speaking, the parts that make YouTube somewhat like a social network versus a just standalone search engine include its Home and Subscription feeds plus its Suggested Videos boxes on sidebars and end-screens.**)

What’s more, it the second-most popular website on the planet, runner-up to its parent company, Google—beating out the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Zoom, and more.

So, consequently, it’s important to properly configure your channel and video-uploads to be seen by the largest possible viewer audience. Here’s what to know and do:

How to Setup Your YouTube Channel:

1. Utilize the YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com) to optimize your channel. Start in the main Settings tab, in which you should specify Channel Keywords and link to your Google Ads account.

2. While still in the YouTube Studio, click the Customization tab to format your channel. In the Branding section:

   • A. Attach your Channel Icon image (i.e., your profile pic). Ideally, it’s your headshot.
     

   • B. Upload Channel Art (i.e., the Banner Image spanning across the top of your page). YouTube recommends using an image that’s at least 2048 x 1152 pixels and 6MB or less. Here’s a link to more info about Channel Customization.
     

   • C. Insert your business logo as a branded Watermark (i.e., YouTube will overlay your logo in the lower-right of all your videos, no matter where they’re viewed).
     
     In the event another channel adds your video(s) to a playlist of their own, if users discover your content via YouTube’s browse features, and/or if your video is watched outside of YouTube, perhaps embedded into a blog, the branded watermark acts as a name tag of sorts, symbolizing that the content belongs to your channel.
     
     Some YouTubers attach a custom-designed “subscribe” button instead of their business logo. That’s fine, only, when it’s clicked, it doesn’t deep-link to your channel’s subscribe URL, just to its homepage. Granted, from there, it’s only one more click to actually Subscribe—so, to each their own, I suppose.
     
     

3. Navigate to Basic Info (still in the Customization tab) and compose a Channel Description (probably just using your bio), add Links, which will turn into little icons on the lower-right of your Channel Art, and, once you’ve surpassed 100 subscribers, create a custom URL for yourself.
   

4. In the Layout section of the Customization tab, specify a Featured video for returning subscribers and/or link-up a Channel Trailer (i.e., a video that gives non-subscribers a glance at what your channel is all about).
   

5. Still in the Layout section of the Customization tab, scroll down to the Featured Sections portion of the page and customize to your liking. The Sections are the “shelves” of videos on the homepage of your channel, arrayed from left-to-right (on desktop). For instance, you can feature a single playlist, add multiple playlists to a single row, specify where to position a livestream in the event you start a broadcast, feature other channels, or even showcase a playlist of other channels’ videos (e.g. the “guest appearances” playlist on my channel).
   
   If you don’t add sections to the homepage of your channel, your page will, by default, only have a single section (i.e., just one row) containing all your uploads. In other words, it’ll make your channel look like it’s void of content even when you may have a ton of it!
   

6. In the Studio, tap Playlists in the menu and navigate to the “New Playlist” link in the top right. Create playlists to organize your videos.
   
   If you’re producing, for instance, a weekly show of sorts—whereby all the videos belong together—you can mark the playlist as an “official series.” Note: a video can only be included in one series—though it can be in as many “regular playlists” as you’d like.
   
   The major benefit of playlists is that they help encourage viewers to consume your videos in succession versus just one-and-done.your videos in succession versus just one-and-done. From an algorithmic standpoint, this is huge! Group your videos into topic-specific playlists to encourage binge-watching.

The YouTube Algorithm:

The YouTube algorithm considers two primary variables: A. Click-Through Rate (CTR) and B. Watch Time (aka, “Audience Retention”).

CLICK-THROUGH RATE:
The Click-Through Rate means, that when a prospective viewer is shown your video—in search results, as a recommended next video, or in YouTube’s browse features, for instance—YouTube monitors how often viewers click to watch. If they do click to watch, that signals YouTube to keep distributing your video far and wide. If they don’t click, then YouTube stops, pure and simple.

Your video’s thumbnail (i.e., the preview image attached to the upload) and its title are the top factors influencing the CTR of your videos.

WATCH TIME:
Watch Time is what it sounds like: the total amount of time viewers spend watching a given video—or better yet, a channel’s videos combined together. You can think about Watch Time through a couple of different lenses:

• Qualitatively. Create and share videos that hold viewers attention AND fulfill on the implied promise(s) of the video’s thumbnail and title Otherwise, if your video suggests one topic but covers another, that’s a bait-and-switch. As a result, the viewer is likely to bounce pretty quick. And it’s just simple logic—from YouTube’s POV, the longer a person watches a video, the more opportunities there are to show ads.

• Quantitatively. The more videos a channel has to show its viewers and subscribers, the greater YouTube’s willingness to display said channel’s videos in its browse features and/or in search results.
  
  Consider this: you could make the world’s greatest video, however, if it’s the only upload on your channel, there’s no video for that user to “watch next”—at least not on your channel. I call that, a “cul-de-sac channel”—it’s a dead-end for YouTube. There’s a network effect component at work—a greater number of videos increases Watch Time, which motivates the algorithm to start working on your behalf.

7. Optimize each and every video you upload. Watch my video above for detailed instructions and best-practices for crafting a search-ready title, specifying your video tags, and composing the description. Consider using a tool like TubeBuddy to aid you in your optimization efforts.

8. Leverage YouTube features to the hilt! Try incorporating hashtags, video chapters, adding CTA links in the description, end-screens, cards, and more. Do every little thing you can to get one big result: MORE VIEWS!

Whether by a mechanism of search or social, it’s mission-critical to setup your YouTube channel and your video-uploads properly to maximize your viewership and dominate on YouTube. The goal is for your videos flourish over time, attract business, and enable you to win in the game of content. Stop waiting; start creating!