Adam Wescott

Article / Updated 09-13-2023

One phenomenon created by the Internet is the spread of viral video. Just like a virus (except that it’s the good kind that won’t make you sick), a viral video spreads rapidly online and can garner a million views in a relatively short time. On the opposite side of the spectrum lies the evergreen video: As its name implies, videos with this distinction usually remain fresh and vibrant for longer periods, providing a timeless quality to the content. Your channel’s objective depends on being able to bring as many viewers as possible to your content. Sometimes that comes from a single, albeit extremely popular video, whereas at other times it’s more about having a healthy lineup of relevant content. Creating a single viral video can bring a great deal of attention to your channel, and those visits can quickly monetize into big bucks, especially with a video that garners a couple of million views. On the other hand, evergreen videos (see below) lend themselves to less dynamic, though more steady buildup through a variety of content that keeps people coming back. Don’t bet your YouTube strategy trying to create a viral video. When it comes to viral videos, there’s a random element to their success that cannot always be duplicated the next time around. Nevertheless, you can do some things to make success just a tad less random. Viral content Viral videos usually consist of some trendy or contemporary aspect that allows it to build a huge audience quite quickly. For example, a new dance craze or music video sometimes makes for the most watched video, but it can also consist of a dramatic news event or wild stunt that people can’t stop talking about. Sometimes it fades away as quickly as it started, whereas at other times it sticks around. Evergreen content Like a tree of shrubbery that never turns brown, the evergreen video remains popular with its niche audience for a long time. That’s because it consists of content that people are going to search for often and over an extended period. If YouTube were a refrigerator, comparing the two, a viral video would have a shorter expiration date to more evergreen content. Though there’s less pressure to creating a successful evergreen video, it still requires a lot of work to gain a following. You have to let people know that it’s out there while keeping it relevant for them to venture out and find you. The types of content that may have (potential) evergreen value include Instructional videos Educational videos Travel videos Overviews of holiday traditions Biographies of famous people Most evergreen content — instructional videos or content associated with a historical event, for example — doesn’t usually go viral but can enjoy a longer run of popularity because the content will continue to attract a steady stream of viewers.

Article / Updated 10-19-2022

When someone infringes on copyright — whether it’s someone doing it to you or you doing it to someone else — there will be consequences. YouTube takes the breach seriously and will take down the infringing video. It also penalizes the offender with a strike. And as in baseball, if you get three strikes, you’re outta there! YouTube boots you and your channel if it gets to this point. To ensure that it doesn’t happen to you, follow this advice: Remember who owns the copyright It’s fairly simple: If you created the video, the copyright belongs to you; if you upload content created by someone else, the copyright belongs to that person, and you better get their permission before you upload it it. As soon as the work is created, so is the copyright, and since 1992, there’s no longer a renewal process. Copyright lives with the creator — and even lives on for a period after the death of the creator. Attribution does not absolve a copyright violation Some people steal other people’s work and claim it as their own, and that’s blatant infringement. But it’s no less of an offense when you use content and then add a line saying, “Created by so‐and‐so," or "No copyright infringement intended," or "All rights belong to their respective owners." It’s still a breach that can earn a strike and a block of the video. If you use someone else’s work in your video without that person’s permission, it doesn’t make it less of an offense just because you give the person credit. You’re still in violation because attributing the creator doesn’t absolve you if you don’t get permission. Know the consequences Two things can happen if you commit a copyright violation, and though they sound similar, they’re completely different: Takedown notice: If someone spots content they’ve created being used without their permission, they can send YouTube a complaint. If it’s a breach, YouTube takes down the video and issues the offender a copyright strike. If you feel compelled to lodge a complaint, just be extra sure that it’s your content and that the breach is accurate, because you’re initiating a legal process. Content ID match: Content ID is a system YouTube uses to automatically match content that violates copyright against the millions of videos uploaded every month to the site. For Content ID to work properly, copyright owners have to upload so‐called reference files — original versions of their work that prove they own the rights. Normally, record labels, movie studios, or TV stations go through this process for all the work they publish, so individual artists don’t have to worry about it. Every new video uploaded to YouTube is checked against this huge library of reference files, and if there is a match, YouTube automatically files a copyright claim for the owner of the work. No matter how a copyright violation may have been discovered, if you breach another content creator’s copyright, that creator is in a position to have YouTube take down your content. In the event of a mistake, you can send YouTube a notice saying that an error occurred, but you had better be darn sure about it. If the claim ends up being proven correct, or if you were untruthful in any way, you may find yourself in much bigger trouble, including legal action. The profit motive is irrelevant Some folks will say, “Hey, it’s all right if I use someone else’s content, because I’m not looking to make any money.” Say that before the judge and the verdict will still be “Guilty of copyright infringement!” Whether you intend to make money from the video or you simply want to share your masterpiece with the world, it still doesn’t mean that you can violate copyright law. You need to get permission from the copyright holder. Getting permission for using copyrighted material Getting permission to use someone else’s copyrighted material is often well within the realm of the possible. A nicely written note explaining how you would use the content usually is enough for a rights holder to grant permission. Just remember that it can get dicey, because sometimes permission comes with the caveat that you cannot monetize the overall video. That restriction can hurt big‐time if your intention is to quit your day job, but it may end up being a bittersweet solution if you’re merely looking to add flavor to your video. Fair use is complicated Albert Einstein never failed math, unicorns don’t exist, and fair use is anything but easy — or fair — to understand. Debunking the first two of these myths is easy. All right, maybe the first is, but when it comes to fair use, that’s a single‐horned horse of a different color. Many misconceptions exist surrounding fair use, among them the notion that you can use anything you want as long as you don’t go beyond some arbitrary time constraint. But it’s much more complicated. In some editorial situations, you can use copyrighted material without permission, but you must fully understand those situations to avoid future trouble. If you feel the need to exercise fair use, and the use is for nonprofit and educational purpose, here a few acceptable uses to consider: Criticism: Reviewing a movie or some form of music makes it perfectly acceptable to use copyrighted material without permission, for example short clips on the work you critique. Parody: If you’re poking fun at something, it’s acceptable to use content without first gaining permission. Commentary: This one depends on how you use the material. If it’s used just enough to illustrate your point, it’s acceptable. For instance, gamers on YouTube often record themselves playing a new video game and offer funny observations. This is, within limits, fair use. Academic: If you're creating educational content, it's considered fair to use to reference other works in certain situations. And now for the misconceptions: You can use 40 seconds of anything: It’s completely untrue. You can’t use even 4 seconds if it doesn’t comply with the circumstances in the preceding list. As a best practice, use the least amount of copyrighted material to get your point across, and always credit the original copyright owner. The notion that you can decide fair use for yourself: Fair use is complicated for many situations, so you may not be sure exactly what you’re allowed to do. The thing is, if you stretch the limits of fair use too far, and harm the original copyright owner's ability to profit from their work, you can be sanctioned by YouTube. That’s why a copyright attorney should decide any serious question over fair use. Don’t let copyright issues on YouTube lead to a strikeout Three strikes and you’re out is a common understanding when playing baseball. But in baseball, you get another chance after another eight batters have had their try. YouTube doesn’t share this benevolence, so if they give you three strikes — especially for copyright issues — that means a lifetime ban from its partnership program. That’s something you don’t want on your record; worse yet, once that happens to you, you won’t be able to recover any of your videos. So, you want to avoid getting strikes at all costs. There are two types of YouTube strikes: Community guideline strike: This type can result from a variety of causes, ranging from uploading objectionable content to having a misleading thumbnail or caption. You can learn more about these guidelines on YouTube's Community Guidelines page. Copyright strike: If some part of your video includes content from another creator and that creator did not grant you permission, you can get a copyright strike. You can appeal it or take down the video to avoid a possible strike. Other things you should know: Mandatory copyright school must be completed: After your first strike, YouTube requires that you take an online course and take a little quiz to be sure you’re up to speed on copyright regulations. Strikes come down, eventually: As long as you haven’t struck out, community guideline strikes and copyright strikes disappear after 90 days from the time they’re issued. At that point, YouTube restores any channel privileges you lost while you waited out the strike. If you draw three community guideline strikes or three copyright strikes over a 90-day period, your YouTube channel will be terminated. Your fate usually lies with the copyright holder: That person can decide whether the video you uploaded should be removed, flagged in certain regions, or even monetized. Yes, that’s right: Even though the video may contain only a small portion of the person’s material, they're entitled to all monetization proceeds. They can even put ads on your video, if you haven’t added monetization. Wipe the slate clean If you get a copyright strike from YouTube and you’re positive that you’re in the right, go ahead and appeal the strike with a copyright counter-notification. If you’re not sure whether you can win, maybe it’s better to wait it out until the strike expires. You see, after you appeal the strike, your personal information goes to the copyright holder and that person can possibly sue you for copyright infringement. If the situation gets to this level, you still can work out an agreement directly with the copyright holder and see whether they will file an appeal with YouTube on your behalf if you both agree that you were within your rights to use the copyrighted material. It’s worth a shot. YouTube’s robots are good at finding copyright infringements Whether intentional or inadvertent, sometimes the content of other creators gets used in a YouTube video. Sometimes the breach is noticed, and at other times it goes undetected by the original creator. But as YouTube continues to refine its copyright detection system, the system will find infringements more quickly than ever. Part of those refinements to YouTube’s copyright detection system include sophisticated algorithms that scan every uploaded video and compare it to similar uploaded content, looking for matches with music, video, or pictures. It seems music gets detected the most. Even if it’s background music, you may get sanctioned. Usually, YouTube blocks the video, and you must submit a dispute form. Copyright is not forever, but it’s forever enough for YouTube Copyright lasts for 70 years past the death of the author; after that point, the copyrighted content enters the public domain. When that happens, the content is no longer protected by intellectual property laws, and anyone can use it without permission. Of course, for many people on YouTube, that content isn’t available to use without permission until we near the next century. Of course, if the creator (or the creator's heirs) files a copyright extension, they can hold on to the rights — that way, the video of your dog dressed as a spider can stay in the family for as long as possible.

Article / Updated 10-19-2022

As a YouTube channel manager or content creator, your work may well be done when you’ve uploaded your videos and set the metadata. The last step when uploading a video is to publish it. Publishing is all about configuring the privacy settings that are most appropriate for your users and clicking Save during the upload process or by selecting a video on the YouTube Studio Video tab. For most channel managers, that means specifying one of the following: Private: Only you and people you choose can watch the video. You can manually send an invitation, or YouTube can send it to the email addresses you specify. Once you select Private, the Share Video Privately link appears. Click the link and enter the email addresses of your recipients. After you enter the addresses, click the "Notify via email" checkbox. When invitees get the invitation via email, they must log into their Google account to view the video. Unlisted: Anyone with the video link can watch the video. The difference between this setting and Private, is that anyone who has the link can share it with others. Public: The video will be available for anyone on YouTube that finds your video from the search engine, or stumbles upon it. When you choose this setting, you have the option to Set as instant Premiere, which means you and your viewers can watch it at the same time. Schedule: Choose this option and a dialog appears enabling you to set the date and time for when the video will be available on YouTube. When you schedule a video, you also have the option to set it as a Premiere. After choosing an option, you save, publish or schedule the video. If you choose the make the video Private or Unlisted, click the Save button. If you choose Public, click the Publish button. If you choose Schedule, click the Schedule button. Be sure to keep YouTube's copyright rules in mind, and follow them carefully. YouTube takes copyright infringement very seriously and there will be consequences if you violate the rules. After you publish videos, you have the option to unpublish them or delete tone or more videos To accomplish either task, log into YouTube, click your avatar and then choose Your Channel from the drop-down menu. Click Your Videos to display the Channel content page, which lists all your videos starting with the most recently published. To unpublish a video: Double-click the video thumbnail. The Video Details page appears. In the Visibility section, click the down-pointing arrow to the right of current visibility state. The Visibility options appear. To delete a video: Open the Channel content page as outlined previously. Click the Options icon. It’s the three dots to the right of the video thumbnail. Choose Delete Forever from the drop-down menu, as shown in the Figure below. YouTube displays a warning dialog that this action is undoable. Click the checkbox to acknowledge that deletion is permanent can cannot be undone. Before you delete a video from YouTube, you have the option to download it. Click Delete Forever. Poof. The video disappears in a cloud of virtual smoke. To delete multiple videos: Open the Channel content page as outlined previously. To select videos for deletion, click the check box to the left of any video you want to delete. You can select contiguous or non-contiguous videos. Click the More Actions link. A drop-down menu appears with the option to delete forever. If you choose one video, you also have the option to download the video. Choose Delete Forever. After choosing this option, YouTube displays a warning that you are about to delete (the dialog lists the number of videos you are about to delete) forever. Click the checkbox to acknowledge that deletion is permanent can cannot be undone. Your only other option is Cancel. Click Delete Forever. The videos are lost in cyberspace.

Article / Updated 01-24-2022

Take a reflective pause before you choose a YouTube channel name, username, or other identifying criteria you want as your public face for the whole YouTube world. An overhasty decision here could end up being one that you regret later. Many a creator has made the mistake of beginning to upload videos to what they thought would remain a low‐key, personal channel, only to have that channel take off in popularity, at which point they begin to feel trapped in a channel named after their cat. (Okay, just to be clear, this wouldn’t be a problem if the channel is actually about your cat). The Google+ integration actually makes changing the channel name on the fly pretty easy and painless, even after the fact. The channel URL, however, is a different story. Advice for choosing a channel name Keep the following advice in mind when making your reflections: Don’t rush into anything. You should think hard about this decision. Though it seems like a light one, it really can impact the success of your channel in the long run if you choose a bad name. Try to relate the name to your content. Are you creating a channel about video games? Try to work a gaming term into your title. If you plan to create fitness‐related content, try to integrate workout or sports terms. Avoid profanity, vulgarity, and inside jokes. Though you may find it hilarious to name your channel Dadfarts, a name like that will necessarily limit your market. It’s hard to predict what path your videos might take on their way out into the world, and a sophomoric name (or a downright obscene one) might deter your viewers from sharing your video. Note: You want people to share your videos! Make the name catchy. Your channel name needs to be memorable. People love puns, rhyming, and alliteration, but don’t try to integrate all three. That might be a little much. Make it easy to spell. People need to be able to find your channel, and choosing a word that’s difficult to spell can prevent people from finding you. Do not see this as a felicitous opportunity to create a recondite channel name thronged with abstruse vocabulary that will confuse and confound your potential viewers. Make it easy for people to talk about. When you think you’ve hit on the perfect name, try reading it aloud a few times and make sure you can pronounce it. You want to have a channel name that people can talk about and make themselves understood. The best test for this is to call a friend on the phone and direct her to your channel. If you can tell your friend the channel name and she can get there without your having to spell it, you’ve got a usable name on your hands. Make sure the name is available and that you won’t be confused with another business on YouTube or elsewhere. You should search the web in general and YouTube specifically to make sure your brilliant channel name isn’t already in use elsewhere. You should also ensure that the URL you prefer is available. YouTube’s allocation of URLs is not automatic, and you choose your custom URL in a later step. So, even if your channel name is available, your custom URL may not be available. Check this in advance, or else it can turn into a real problem.

Step by Step / Updated 01-06-2022

You can do the work to establish your YouTube channel after you’ve logged in to YouTube with a Google account. After that’s done, follow these steps to get your channel off the ground:

Article / Updated 01-06-2022

Whether you are creating your first YouTube channel or starting your fifth channel the process is the same. YouTube is simple right? Everybody who has a Gmail account already has a channel. If it does seem that simple to you, stick to these guidelines. Define what your channel focus will be. This is the very first step and the most important. This means choosing a topic or area of expertise to focus your channel content on. Use beautiful channel art that is illustrative of the type of content you’ll be focusing on. Create device agnostic art, meaning art that will look good on any kind of device. Take advantage of the YouTube templates so that the viewing experience is good on a mobile device, smart TV or desktop. Think about the viewer journey. You want to make content discoverability on your channel easy for new viewers. Carefully consider your target audience, then organize your content in such a way that extended viewing sessions are pleasurable for all viewers within that audience. Whether you are bringing viewers closer to your brand story or the niche topics that your channel covers, you want to make sure it is fun and easy to discover new content on your channel. Create playlists of similar videos. Think of a playlist as a daisy chain that will keep viewers on your channel. Create a strong content calendar. Be sure to tell your viewers when to expect what types of content from your channel. Utilize the channel trailer and the About channel section to inform viewers and subscribers of your content calendar. And stick to it. Create good content! This isn’t the first step on purpose; this comes after careful consideration of your channel focus, content strategy, and calendar. You’ll need to establish a cadence for content creation that is realistic for your personal goals or brand budget and timeline. Good video takes time. Create outlines and scripts for your videos; don’t make videos off the cuff when you start. Some creators can get away with unedited content, but you should create content that comes from a solid content and creative strategy. Create authentic content that aligns with your channel, your point of view, and your audience. Engage with your audience. Get to know them. Each video is like a date, they can stay after the first course and if they really like you they will comment on the video and share it with their friends. When that happens, be sure to comment back — reciprocity is the way to win on YouTube. Nurture your audience and your biggest fans; they will love you back, we promise. Nothing is easy in life, but lots of things are fun. Take advantage of the amazing ecosystem that YouTube provides, create, share and engage with your audience and you’ll be the real winner in the end. Good content, good friends and good times can be had on YouTube. Combine all those and you might even make good money.

Article / Updated 12-30-2021

Your YouTube channel showcases something you’re passionate about. What drives you to create a YouTube channel and content isn’t so different from what motivates you to do other things in life, such as Host a fundraiser Write a blog Support a cause Give something back to society Earn some income Learn a new hobby The reason that YouTube is such a great place for you to share your passion is because video is a supremely effective medium for getting your audience to engage with you. Learn to put that medium to use for you. Though building your channel is one major goal, you’ll likely have additional goals. Here are some other reasons for creating your YouTube channel and the content it contains: Build a brand. There’s no better way to show who you are, either as an independent creator or as an organization, than by way of a video or series of videos on your channel. The content might include different types of videos — something you’ve created, straight news, information about you, or a combination. Your motivation for brand building could be to obtain a new job, attract attention from industry luminaries, or make people feel good about your products. Educate your target audience. Most people love to learn, and much of the successful content on YouTube revolves around education and tutorials. Educational content includes home repair, product configuration, justification for social causes, and many more topics. Educational content also helps drive brand awareness. Entertain the crowd. People love to laugh, enjoy music, and get engrossed in a good story. These genres are all forms of entertainment, and all work especially well on YouTube. Many forms of entertainment are highly subjective, so be sure to tailor your content so that it connects with the specific audience you’re trying to reach. Sell something. It doesn’t matter whether you have a product to sell, a subscription to offer, or a candidate to elect, your YouTube channel is a great way to demonstrate to your audience that they want what you’re offering. People are turning to YouTube to make buying decisions about future purchases. Make sure you understand that YouTube is now a primary source of information used to influence a sale. According to Tubular Lab, 64 percent of consumers use YouTube to review electronics when making a purchase decision. Earn a living. We’ve explained that your videos can make money by driving and influencing sales. You can also earn a living from people watching your YouTube videos by monetizing your channel. Don’t quit your day job — at least not yet. Making money from YouTube takes time, creativity, and persistence. Even the best‐laid plans can’t guarantee results if you don’t (or your content doesn’t) resonate with your target audience. Don’t fret: Your YouTube channel may be a nice source of supplemental income, eventually. Don’t feel that you have to keep your goals separate. Donut Media’s popular automotive channel does a great job of combining educational goals with entertainment to keep its audience (almost 3 million subscribers) coming back for more.

Article / Updated 12-30-2021

Just like a web browser, YouTube channels also have tabs. Tabs are helpful for viewers looking to navigate your channel quickly and efficiently. Each tab has a different functionality intended to help the viewing experience. The following tabs appear below your channel banner: Home: A viewer sees this tab by default when they click on your channel from a YouTube search or if they manually type in your channel address in their web browser. If you've created one, your Channel Trailer and Sections all appear here on the Home tab. Videos: The Videos tab contains exactly what you’d expect — all public videos on the channel. The default view is Newest Videos First — the videos that were added to the channel most recently. The viewer can always sort by Oldest Videos First or Most Popular as well. Playlists: The Playlist tab is where all your channel’s public playlists can be found. As a creator, you can fill up playlists with your own content. You can also curate content from other YouTube channels for your ­playlists. Playlists also come up in YouTube search results, so be sure to always use descriptive thumbnails for your videos, as well as compelling playlist descriptions. Playlists are a great way to extend your viewers’ session time on your channel. Session time directly supports your channel ranking and discoverability on YouTube search. Community: This feature, available only to channels with more than 1,000 subscribers, replaces the Discussion tab. If it's unlocked, you're able to use this tab to post images, videos, and polls. Channels: If you have partnerships, this tab is the place to add all ofthose channels that you associate with. If you are a brand that owns many channels, you’ll want to make sure all of your channels are listed here for easy discoverability and reference for the viewers. This is a quick way to get interested viewers to consume more related content. Discussion: Viewers are sure to comment on your channel and videos if you are creating engaging content. You can follow along with all the channel comments here on this tab. When logged in, you can remove inappropriate comments or report spam comments directly. About: This tab acts as your opportunity to tell your viewers all about yourself and/or your business. You can include an email address for viewers to contact you outside of YouTube. You can also include any relevant social network sites that you might be active on. Your viewers can come here to see some quick stats on your channel, such as your total view count, number of subscribers, and the date you created your YouTube channel.

Article / Updated 12-30-2021

After you log into your YouTube account, the left sidebar contains a plethora of information. Click the Subscriptions link to see the most recent uploads for all of the channels you’ve subscribed to, from most recent to oldest. If your channel is new and you haven’t subscribed to anyone yet, this listing displays suggested genres and creators to get you started. Subscriptions are a good way to keep track of the channels you like on YouTube. On the Subscriptions page, you have the following tools for managing your subscriptions: Manage: Clicking this link takes you to a separate page listing all of your subscriptions. Here, you’re given the option to unsubscribe from any channels as well as alter their notification settings. (Notifications are denoted by the Bell icon in the top right of the screen.) You have the choice of All, Personalized, or None. All notifies you of any and all upload activity. Personalized notifies you of only certain uploads, based on a variety of variables, including your watch history. Finally, None turns off all notifications, if you really just don’t want to be bothered (or if you just like surprises). Arrangement: To the right of Manage are two icons. The leftmost icon, featuring a cluster of six boxes, reconfigures the page to display as a grid, showing only thumbnails, titles, and views. The icon to the right, with three squares and three lines, lists all uploads instead, allowing you to view the first part of the video description without having to click the actual video. Keeping an eye on more than video uploads might be a good idea in some cases, especially as you’re learning about building your audience. For example, seeing how often a channel you admire is commenting on videos and interacting with other creators can give you some insight into how successful creators behave on YouTube. You might learn something about how to interact with your own potential audience.

Article / Updated 12-30-2021

The value of making your YouTube channel look really good can’t be overestimated. Though your videos are ultimately the most important tool you have for attracting viewers and subscribers, the look of your channel is a big deal, too. YouTube wants viewers to spend more time watching content. What better way to do this than by giving content creators like you the tools to make an awesome YouTube channel experience. When you’re logged in on YouTube, clicking the circular icon in the top right with the avatar of your account (or your picture, if you added it while setting up your Google account) reveals a dropdown menu. Selecting the Your Channel menu item at the top of the list brings you straight to your channel. Click the Customize Channel button to enter Edit mode. When you enter Edit mode, you see the Channel Customization dialog window. It has three tabs: Layout, Branding, and Basic Info, circled in the figure below. In the Layout section you have the following options: Channel trailer for people who haven’t subscribed: A channel trailer is a short video that shows people who haven’t subscribed, what your channel is all about. Click Add to open the Choose A Specific Video page and you can specify a video from those you’ve uploaded to be the channel trailer. We suggest you upload a special video for your channel trailer. When you create a channel trailer, pull out all the stops and give potential subscribers something to “ooh” and “ah” about. Featured video for returning subscribers: This video will be shown at the top of your page for returning subscribers unless they’ve already watched the video. Click Add to open the Choose A Specific Video page and you can specify a video from those you’ve uploaded to be the featured video. Featured Sections: In this section of your channel, you can organize your videos into sections of similar videos. To create a Featured Section, click the Add Section link to open a drop-down menu. You can choose to create a featured section of Uploads, Popular Uploads, Single Playlist and so on. If you choose one of the options like Single Playlist or Created Playlist, a dialog window opens showing a list of playlists you’ve already created. You can also create a featured section of Subscriptions or Featured Channels. You can have up to 12 featured sections on your channel. Branding options After customizing the channel layout, click the Branding link. In the Branding section, you have three options: Picture, Banner Image, and Watermark. To get the lowdown for each option, read on. Picture: This is your avatar. You can upload a company logo, or a picture of yourself. The picture must be at least 98 pixels by 98 pixels with a file size of less than 4MB. We suggest you upload a video that is 400 pixels by 400 pixels. The picture can be a .png or .gif file (no animated GIFs). To make sure you comply with YouTube’s rules and regulations and learn more about customizing your channel, click the Learn More link.If your channel does not have a picture, click Upload, which enables you to upload a picture. If you currently have a picture on your channel, you have two options: Change which enables you to replace the current picture, or Remove, which replaces the current picture with the default YouTube picture. Banner: This piece of artwork should grab the viewer’s attention. As of this writing, the banner must be at least 2048 pixels by 1152 pixels with a file size of 6MB or less. The .png file format works well for the banner, especially if your banner has text. To find out more about banners and channel customization, click the Learn More link.If your channel does not have a banner, click Upload, which enables you to upload a banner. If your channel currently has a banner, you have two options: Change which enables you to replace the default channel banner, or Remove, which replaces the current banner with the default YouTube banner. Watermarking: This option allows you to add a watermark at the start or end of a channel video, or gives you the option of displaying the watermark for the duration of a channel video. Your watermark must be square with a minimum dimension of 150 pixels by 150 pixels and less than 1MB in file size. The .png format works well for watermarks. To find out more about watermarks and channel customization, click the Learn More link.If your videos do not have a watermark, you have the option to Upload. If your videos currently have a watermark, your options are to Change the watermark or Remove it. Adding essential information to your channel After making your channel look super cool with a custom picture, banner and watermark, your next option is Basic Info. This is where you get a chance to flaunt your channel with text. To finish the final step of channel customization, click Basic Info. You have the following options: Description: This tells viewers and potential subscribers what your channel is all about. Wax poetic. But remember, less is more. Your limit is 1,000 characters. Use them wisely. Channel URL: This is the standard URL for your channel. You can copy it and use it where you need to add a link from social media or a website to your YouTube channel. Custom URL: In this section, you can create an easy to remember URL for your YouTube channel. YouTube will suggest a custom URL based on your channel name. You can append the URL with numbers to make your custom URL unique. To qualify for a custom URL, your channel must have at least 100 subscribers and be at least 30 days old. In addition, your channel must have a picture and a custom banner. In other words, you’ve got to have a sharply dressed channel to qualify. Links: You can add a maximum of five links to other websites and choose how many will display on the banner. The name of the first link as entered in this section displays on your banner. Icons appear for the other links. Each link leads a channel visitor to the specified website. Contact Info: Enter an email address so channel visitors can contact you. This link is displayed in the About section of your channel. You can view your edits at any time by clicking the View Channel button. This displays your channel and current edits in another browser tab. To return to editing, click the Channel Customization tab. You’re almost done with the customization of your channel. What a long, strange trip it’s been. To make your changes live, click the Publish button.