YouTube Channel Checklist: 13 Things You Need To Do To Grow YouTube Channel & Gain Views

Last year, we gained 3.1K followers on the Respect The Hustle YouTube Channel.
Here's some tips on how we did it!

Build Your Brand (How Do People Recognize You?)

1. Choose a name for your channel: Don't spend too much time on this. Choose a name that represents your brand and what you're doing. If you need help use this AI name generator for ideas!

2. Create a logo for your profile picture: Canva for all my quick creative needs. It's super easy to use and great for making content on-the-go. Use the following dimensions for profile pictures & logos: 500px x 500px

3. Create a banner for your channel: I also use Canva for making channel banners. Canva comes with plenty of templates and free content you can use, so at the very least, you can use this as a powerful tool to start building a brand. Use the following dimensions for banners: 2560px x 1440px

4. Add a paragraph and Call-To-Action to your About Section: The "About" section is your personal billboard. This is where your audience can learn more about you and what you offer on this channel. It also allows you to post various social media links, so take this opportunity to link your page to your platforms outside of YouTube.

Create a Library of Content (How Consistent Do You Post?)

5. Find a content format you can stick to: I like to make my content simple and easy to digest. But find what works for you! The template I use on YouTube took 42 posts before going viral (my first 200k view video). Before that, I had a couple videos reaching for 1000 views.

Once I had my first 1000 view video I knew we had a format that people could appreciate. So try different templates and when you find ones that work, keep using them!

6. Create thumbnails for your content: Thumbnails play a major part in getting new viewers to click your video. I also use Canva (I use this a lot) to create my thumbnail templates. If ever you make a new video, all you need to do is change the title text and background image on your template. Here’s an article explaining how important YouTube Thumbnails are for traffic. Use the following dimensions for your thumbnails: 1280px x 720px

7. Organize your videos into playlists: If you have a niche, separate your videos by topic or by series. Get creative, this is a way you can organize your content and make it easier for people to find what they're looking for and also redirect new subscribers to your more popular content. Since starting, I've organized all of my videos into various categories so people can find the content they're looking for.

8. Add playlists and "most popular" videos to your channel's page: Every day new potential subscribers are visiting your YouTube Channel. When they visit, you aren't just a YouTuber you're a source of entertainment. Treat your channel as such by being intentional with your video placement. So one go-to is to include your most popular videos on your YouTube channel.

9. Remember to post daily or weekly: The way the algorith works, the newest content gets pushed out to consumers on a daily and weekly basis. The videos getting pushed out the most are either posted within 24 hours or have gotten lots of engagement and continue to do so. So post everyday or post every week with intention! Here's an article explaining YouTube's Algorithm in 2023.

Make Your Videos Easy To Find (Quality SEO)

10. Place key search terms in your video title: To give you the best chance of showing up in the search results, you need to be INTENTIONAL with your key words. If you post a video about "Hogwarts Legacy", then that should be somewhere in your video title. The closer it resembles the exact search terms, the more likely you are to show up!

11. Find key words using the search bar: A good way to find different key words is to type the term into the search bar. As you type, YouTube will show you multiple related suggestions. Use these to get an idea of the best terms to use in your title & descriptions. You can also use other tools to find the top keywords on your topic!

12. Add tags to each video with target keywords/search terms: In the YouTube dashboards, you can edit videos and add specific keywords in the "tags" section. These tags activate when people search for content. So if you are making those "Hogwarts Legacy" videos, try to find the best keywords people are currently using and add them to your video.

The point is to help your content get recommended to the right audience. People watching content with similar tags & keywords will be recommended to yours.

13. Try hashtags in your title. See which draws the most traffic: Similar as above, placing hashtags in your title or description will get your content recommended to viewers that watched content with the same hashtags. So always remember to add keywords, hashtags, and search terms to your videos. This is how you get noticed and get recommended to viewers.