HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN YOUTUBE CHANNEL

It's easy to make your own YouTube channel

 to start sharing videos online or even just to use YouTube as a storage container for your private videos. No matter what you'll use it for, it doesn't take long at all to get your channel live.

Once it's up and running, you can make changes to how your channel appears, edit your videos to make them perfect for your audience, and even organize your content into playlists.

Tip: If you want to make a YouTube account for your business or brand, follow the steps as shown below and then see how to make a YouTube brand/business account.

Create a Google Account

YouTube works through a Google account, so you might already have one. Google accounts are used to access Google products like Google Play, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, and even to save custom maps in Google Maps.

If you've ever done one of those things, then you don't have to worry about making a Google account. Otherwise, make sure to start by creating your own Google account.

Keep in mind that by default, your Google username will become your username on YouTube and will be what everyone sees when you upload videos. However, you can always change the channel name once you're on YouTube.

Already Have a Google Account?

If you sign on to YouTube from a Google account you already have, but it has yet to be used on YouTube, you'll be asked one simple question when you get there: to provide the first and last name that you want to be identified as on YouTube.

If this is your actual first and last name, then so be it, otherwise, you can pick a different name.

Type something in both text fields and then choose CREATE CHANNEL.

Customize the Channel's Appearance

Apart from your video content, the way your channel looks can sometimes make or break someone from subscribing to your channel or even liking your videos.

It's the first impression for anyone who visits your channel directly, so it's important to spend some quality time making it look nice.

Some of the more basic things you can change are routine settings that anyone with a channel should customize. This includes the channel icon, channel art, and channel description. From your channel, just click the edit button next to those areas that you want to change.

Once those are finished, you can think about adding a trailer to your YouTube channel, change how videos are laid out, and more. Click the settings icon next to the "Subscribe" button on your channel, and then enable the Customize the layout of your channel option.

That will open up some other areas of your channel that weren't previously seen, such as the Featured Channels section and the option to enable channel comments under the Discussion section.

Upload Videos to YouTube

A YouTube account isn't very complete without some videos. At any time, when you're logged in, just click the Upload button at the top of the YouTube website to access the upload page.

Drag videos to the upload page or click the large upload area to browse for videos to put on YouTube. You can also click Import next to the IMPORT VIDEOS area on the right of the upload page, to grab videos you've backed up to Google Photos.

Yet another option is to make a photo slideshow for YouTube; that option is also on the right side of the upload page.

If you're loading videos from your computer, be sure to choose Public, Unlisted, Private, or Scheduled to choose how the upload should complete. Public videos are of course available to the public, but unlisted videos are not searchable; you have to know the direct link to the video in order to view it. Private videos are seen only by you when you're logged in, and scheduled videos can be configured to go public at a set time.

Video Limitations

The maximum video size you can upload to YouTube is 128 GB, or 20 GB if you have an outdated web browser.

YouTube videos can not exceed 15 minutes in length unless you verify your YouTube account, after which that cap is removed.

Acceptable Video File Formats

You will get an "invalid file format" error on YouTube if you don't abide by the rules for which video file formats are allowed.

Popular formats that are not allowed include anything that isn't video, like MP3 or JPG files. You can't upload a single audio file or a still image.

These are the formats that are currently supported for YouTube videos:

MOV

MPEG4

MP4

AVI

WMV

MPEGPS

FLV

3GPP

WEBM

How to Convert Videos for YouTube

If your video is not in one of the above file formats, you can most likely run it through a free video file converter to put it into the correct format.

For example, instead of trying to upload an MKV file to YouTube (which isn't allowed), convert it to MP4 (which is allowed) and then upload that MP4 file.

Edit the YouTube Video

YouTube provides a free online video editor, called Video Editor, that lets you make changes to your video once it's been uploaded. You can do things like adding a title and captions, split up the video into clips, include photos, import audio from a large collection of free songs, and make video transitions.

You can also put your videos into custom playlists to make it not only easier for you to manage but also for visitors to have a simpler time following along with related videos.

Free YouTube Resources

If you need additional help with YouTube, feel free to browse through the YouTube Help Center for answers to lots of common questions.

Also be sure to check out the official YouTube Blog and YouTube's Creator Academy.