Page 201 - SKU-000506274_TEXT.indd

180 P a r t I I I Managing Your YouTube Videos

Understanding YouTube Channels

Every user on YouTube has his or her own channel, which is just a fancy name for
what you might otherwise call a profile page. A YouTube channel is like a broadcast
or cable television channel, in that it’s where all your programming (all your
uploaded videos) appears.

As soon as you post your first video, YouTube automatically creates your channel.
At that point, users can access your channel to see all the videos you’ve uploaded;
users can also subscribe to your channel to be notified when you upload new
videos to the YouTube site.

Because your channel page is your de facto home on YouTube, it’s this URL that you
want to publicize. Yes, each video you upload has its own unique URL, but the one
address that stays constant is the one for your channel page. When you’re referenc-
ing your YouTube videos, in general, in other media, display the URL for your
YouTube channel page. Viewers can access all your other videos from there.

Viewing a Channel Page

YouTube viewers access your channel page to learn more about you and to connect
with your business. A viewer accesses your channel by clicking your business’s
name wherever it appears on the YouTube site.

Although each profile page is unique, all pages contain the same major elements, as
shown in Figure 16.1:

• Information about the user, including a link to subscribe to this channel

• Videos uploaded by this user

• Links to connect to the user, via email, comments, and so on—includ-
ing a link to the user’s non-YouTube website

• Links to the user’s favorite videos, playlists, groups, friends, and the like

• Subscribers to the user’s channel

• Comments on this user’s channel

• The user’s favorite videos

• Channels the user is watching

If a viewer likes what he sees on your channel page, he can subscribe to that chan-
nel. When a viewer subscribes to your channel, he is automatically notified (via
email) when you upload new videos.