Setting Up YouTube
The video file we give you will be in an mp4 format, but because video files are fairly large you wouldn't want to send people the actual file. Instead we use a video hosting platform like YouTube. We recommend YouTube because it’s the easiest to get set up, it’s free, and you get the added benefit of the search engine which is actually part of Google.
Go to YouTube.com and sign in using your Google account. If you don’t have one, go ahead and create a new one.
Once you are logged in and on YouTube.com click the little profile icon circle in the upper right corner and click “create a channel”. If you already have a channel then make sure it’s on the one you want to use (you might want to make a new one for business). You can have more than one channel per account.
When you get the final video link from us, click to download it to your computer. Then from YouTube you just click the little camera icon that says create, and you upload your video from your computer.
Here is more info from Google on creating channels
If you get stuck you can also reach out to us at team@amptekproductions.com
There’s more to setting up your YouTube channel - things like adding a cover image and a description - just like setting up a Facebook page or a LinkedIn profile, but you don’t need to do that right away. For now, you’ll mostly just be sharing the individual video link. We’ll be sending out more tips in the coming weeks to help you customize your YouTube channel itself.
Optimizing & Titling Your Video
YouTube is as much a search engine as it is a video hosting platform. Many people use it when they have a question or are looking for something, the same way they use Google. Think about what you want to be found for, beyond just your name and company. These words need to be incorporated into your video title. There’s a lot to this, but here is a simple formula to get you started.
Part 1: First, figure out your main keywords. What do you do and where do you do it? It’s good to be somewhat specific. If you sell insurance, you might focus on “commercial insurance” or “insurance for small businesses”. Try searching for different ideas and see if one phrase gets better results than another. If you see your competitors and a bunch of ads on that results page, that’s a good sign. Now add in a location if it’s relevant. “Insurance for small businesses in Nashville” might be a good keyword phrase.
Part 2: Next, try to briefly summarize what you talk about in your video. Do you answer any questions? Is there a good line in it that you can quote? This is the part that should be written to intrigue the viewer, to entice them to watch. But it should not be sensational or a lie. It needs to be relevant to the actual video. If you manage to get someone to click on the video, and then they immediately hit the back button, that tells the algorithm not to show that video again. Some examples might be: “The question everyone forgets to ask” or “Why I love working for this company” or “High deductibles aren’t always bad”. if nothing stands out you can just go with something like “Meet Joe Brown at ABC Insurance”.
Once you have part 1 and 2, put them together to make your title, like this:
“Insurance For Small Businesses in Nashville | The Question Everyone Forgets to Ask”
When it's time to upload your video to YouTube, there are many options and tabs - and it can be a bit confusing. There are really only 3 things to focus on. The title, the description and the thumbnail (the image that shows before the video plays).
The title is what what we just put together with part 1 and part 2.
The description should start with your website or a link to your LinkedIn page. Make sure it’s the full link starting with https:// or http://. This makes it clickable when it shows up under the video on YouTube. Then you can describe what’s in the video more or just copy/paste your about section from LinkedIn or your website. Just make sure you end with your contact info and then the website again.
For the thumbnail, they give you 3 randomly generated options pulled from the video. Pick the one that you like the best, although you may want to create your own. In order to do that, you need to go into your YouTube settings and verify your account. That’s just a matter of associating your account with a phone number, and it unlocks additional features. After that you’ll be able to upload any image you want to use as your thumbnail. There are many tools to create the thumbnail image, and many opinions about what works the best. Again, you don’t want to use something shocking just to get clicks, if it's completely irrelevant to what the video is about. Typically we recommend a still image from the video, possibly with text over it (not too much text). One of the places we recommend placing this video is in your email signature, so keep that in mind when choosing an image. It makes sense to use an image of you so people know this is a personal video.
Once you have everything entered in and you publish the video, copy the link to the actual video (not the channel). That’s what you’ll be using when sharing. More on that soon!
