YouTube is essential to the ever evolving digital music landscape. And the Orchard is happy to provide our 2024 YouTube Best Practices, where you can learn about new features, branding tips, and how to reach your goals successfully.
In the ever-evolving digital music landscape, YouTube remains a pivotal platform for artists and creators and The Daily Rind’s “2024 YouTube Best Practices” guide, authored by Jasmin Hardison, offers a comprehensive look into optimizing your YouTube presence through strategic branding, channel features, and video optimizations.
Here’s a detailed summary to help you navigate and leverage these insights for your blog:
Channel Features & Optimizations
- Overview and Branding: It’s crucial to introduce your channel effectively, highlighting who you are and the content you offer. Strong branding, including a clear icon and an engaging banner, sets the stage for audience connection.
- Official Artist Channels (OACs) vs. Verified Channels: OACs consolidate content and subscriber counts across various artist channels into one, enhancing content discoverability and subscriber engagement. Verification, on the other hand, is for channels (label and non-artist) reaching 100K subscribers, marking them as official.
- Channel Art: Utilize channel art to connect with your audience on a personal level. Recommendations include using high-resolution images for icons and banners, ensuring clarity across different devices.
- Channel Trailer and Shelves: The trailer serves as an elevator pitch to potential subscribers, while shelves organize your content effectively on your homepage.
- Playlists: Curate playlists to increase watch-time and visibility in search results and suggested videos. YouTube now allows turning playlists into podcasts, broadening your content’s reach.
Video Optimizations & Features
- Metadata for Discovery: Titles, tags, and descriptions play a significant role in video discovery. They should be crafted to include relevant keywords and information, enhancing SEO and viewer engagement.
- Interactive Elements: Utilize cards, end screens, and branding watermarks to make your videos more interactive and to drive viewer action, such as subscribing or visiting your merch store.
- Accessibility Features: Subtitles and video chapters improve accessibility and viewer engagement, breaking down barriers and enhancing the viewing experience.
Engaging With Viewers
- Community Tab: This feature acts as YouTube’s social media feed, allowing for direct engagement with your audience through various post types, including polls and Q&As.
- YouTube Premiere and Afterparty: These features offer live interaction opportunities, creating a real-time viewing experience that fosters community and engagement.
- Super Chat & Super Stickers: Enable viewers to highlight their messages during live streams, increasing interaction and potentially revenue.
- YouTube Giving: This feature allows creators to support charitable causes directly through their videos and live streams.
YouTube Live and Studio Mobile App
- Live Streaming Best Practices: Before, during, and after a live stream, there are strategies to enhance viewer engagement and content visibility, from promoting the event beforehand to incorporating it into playlists afterwards.
- YouTube Studio Mobile App: Manage your channel on-the-go, from editing video information to monitoring analytics and engaging with your audience directly.
YouTube Shorts
- Short-Form Content: YouTube Shorts provides a platform for creating and sharing short-form content, offering another avenue to engage with your audience and expand your reach.
This guide underscores the importance of a strategic approach to YouTube content creation, from channel branding and video optimization to viewer engagement and live streaming. Implementing these best practices can significantly enhance your channel’s visibility, subscriber engagement, and overall success on the platform.
