Elevate Your Channels’ Image for Boosted YouTube Subscriptions

How to Brand Your YouTube Channel to Get More Subscribers

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Probing Into Prominent User Speeches

What Is the YouTube Highlighted Comment?

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Did you just come across a comment tagged with Highlight on YouTube and wondering what it means? In our guide, you will find an answer to this, along with related queries like how YouTube highlighted comment works, the removal process, its benefits, and more.

If you own a YouTube channel or are starting one, even you can do this. Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the core of YouTube’s highlighted comments. We’ve categorized this article into a total of 8 parts for simple and better understanding.

• Part 1: What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?
• Part 2: What Does Highlighted Comments Look Like on YouTube?
• Part 3: How to Make Comment Highlighted?
• Part 4: How to Highlighted Comments URL?
• Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?
• Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?
• Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment
• Part 8: Benefits of Highlighted Comments

Part 1: What Does The Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

Before you get on with highlighting your comments, you must understand what it means exactly. You may follow comments on the videos posted by several YouTubers, but the highlighted ones are always making it to the top of the list.

Having said that, neither the content creator nor users or moderators choose to highlight YouTube comments to begin with. They are no rocket science, but only a tad bit more than what you know as a bookmarking feature.

Think of highlighted comments as a “tag”. You might notice this in the form of a ‘new activity YouTube notification’ link you receive on your registered email. Only you can see this tag when you click the notification and arrive at Youtube.com to either view or reply to a comment.

Highlighting comments (HC’s) are an automatic feature generated by YouTube. It draws the YouTuber’s & viewer’s attention to relevant activities. Don’t fail to notice that the highlight disappears once you are done interacting in the tagged comment thread. However, they are reloadable by tapping the comment timestamp.

For instance, you may want to check the following links. The 2 URLs lead you to the same video, but only one of them shows a highlighted comment.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

Notice the name “lc” in the first URL- that stands for linked comment. YouTube might include this additional parameter. If a reply comment (HR) gets highlighted, the parent comment gets raised to the top.

Part 2: What Does The Highlighted Comment Look Like?

YouTube has been working on improving the navigation of the comment section for videos, and highlighted comments are one of them. These comments appear even above the pinned comments on a video. The label of a highlighted comment is displayed above the commentator’s name in a light grey shade.

YouTube labels comment replies as well and call it “Highlighted Reply.” You can see this tag above the replier’s name in the same color tone.

Part 3: How to Make My Comment Highlighted?

Now, making YouTube highlight your comment on a popular video is nothing less than an art. YouTube doesn’t make it easy for you. The advantage of getting your comment highlighted on YouTube is limitless.

Thus, anybody who wants to get their YouTube comment an HC tag has to follow a few simple steps, which we will discuss below in another section. Finding the correct or relevant video content that can benefit your channel from such a comment is an excellent place to start.

For example, if you are a YouTuber who deals in tech information, you need to look for a popular video or channel with a similar genre, in this case, technical knowledge. The more popular the channel is, the more is the chance of a viewer checking the comments on its videos. You will only benefit if you’re comment is highlighted on pages of Youtuber’s who are huge.

Part 4: How to Get the URL of Highlighted Comments?

The ways to acquire the URL or link for a highlighted comment are different for both parties- viewer and host.

Suppose you are a viewer who is going through the comments section of a video. If you want to get the highlighted URL for the comment, simply click on the timestamp (e.g., 2 weeks ago) beside the commentator’s username.

On the other hand, for a YouTuber, getting access to the comment URL is relatively straightforward. The host will get a notification on his or her registered email-id when a viewer publishes a comment on their posted video. You will find the link to the highlighted comment in the notification

Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?

Replying to “highlighted comments” on your YouTube channel is pretty easy since this feature was developed, keeping the user’s convenience in mind. If you want to follow up or reply to such comments, you can do so from your email or YouTube Dashboard.

If you click the notification bell icon, whenever a viewer drops a new comment on one of your videos, YouTube will send you a notification via email. On opening the email, you will find a clickable “Reply” option. Or else, if you follow the comment section in the YouTube Dashboard, you can directly view or reply to highlighted comments from here as well.

Have you ever wondered why a highlighted comment always shows at the top of the comment list? Both the above options will lead you to the comment thread on YouTube. To help you find the new activity easily, it appears with the highlight tag on it. The purpose is to remind you that you are here for that specific comment.

Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?

Can you, as a video maker, remove highlighted comments on YouTube? The direct answer to this would be a ‘No.’ It is because based on how you have opened the specific video, YouTube does it automatically.

Alternatively, you can try out a few temporary solutions.

1. You can edit the particular URL of the video where the highlighted tag is showing. Remove the red part of the URL (example given below) starting with “&”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg After removing the above parameter, reload the original video link (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

1. Try logging out from your Google Account and browse YouTube (anonymously). Doing this will ensure that you no longer see any highlighted comments. However, at the same time, this will restrict you from interacting in any way with that video, let alone leaving a comment.

Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment that will be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment?

Many frequently inquire on the internet about how they can improve the chances of getting their comment pinned, as highlighted on YouTube. The secret lies in how you write the statement. We’ve listed a few pro tips below that can help:

• First, go through all the posted comments under the video. It will help you identify what is missing. You can comment or write the missing point in comprehendible and straightforward words. Also, never forget to acknowledge the YouTuber’s talent.
• Remember, no one has the time to read long comments. So, when you know what you want to write, try to shorten your sentences. A short and crisp comment draws more attention.
• After you have framed your comment, make sure that it is grammatically correct. YouTube and Google hate grammatical errors.
• Do not hit the post option already. Before publishing it, you must cross-check that your comment has all the above points in place.
• Lastly, you have to wait after publishing on the video’s comment section. YouTube will highlight your comment if it passes according to the YouTube policy and if the search engine finds it unique.

Part 8: Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Being a convenience feature, a highlighted comment on YouTube is 100% beneficial. That is especially true if you are looking for ways to optimize your channel.

YouTube is undeniably the second largest search engine on the web. Highlight comments can potentially increase the outreach of your content and, consequently, your brand presence.

As said earlier, these comments always show first on the comment section. Needless to say, many people who watch the videos also scroll down to the comments section to start a conversation or see what other viewers are saying about this video.

In the process, alongside the interaction, they also check out the channels or profiles of the commentators. Viewers often visit the pages of these channels, and if they happen to enjoy the video content, they will subscribe to the YouTuber’s channel. If your comment gets highlighted, your YouTube channel can be one of them.

Conclusion

YouTube can be an intimidating tool for marketing and more so for newcomers. Every YouTuber wishes that their channel performs better than the previous day. Even though the highlighted comment or highlighted reply feature doesn’t have any direct benefits, it can indeed help in optimizing your YouTube channel.

It can connect you with potential viewers and increase the number of people that visit your channel regularly. However, how many of them stay and hit the “Subscribe” button is a different story altogether and is wholly based on whether they like what you share through your videos.

In this article, we have shared facts on YouTube’s commonly seen highlighted comment feature. Yet, the term is a heavily misleading one, as far as viewers and Youtuber’s are concerned. We have also covered all other aspects and queries related to this term. Here’s hoping they clarify all your doubts.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Did you just come across a comment tagged with Highlight on YouTube and wondering what it means? In our guide, you will find an answer to this, along with related queries like how YouTube highlighted comment works, the removal process, its benefits, and more.

If you own a YouTube channel or are starting one, even you can do this. Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the core of YouTube’s highlighted comments. We’ve categorized this article into a total of 8 parts for simple and better understanding.

• Part 1: What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?
• Part 2: What Does Highlighted Comments Look Like on YouTube?
• Part 3: How to Make Comment Highlighted?
• Part 4: How to Highlighted Comments URL?
• Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?
• Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?
• Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment
• Part 8: Benefits of Highlighted Comments

Part 1: What Does The Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

Before you get on with highlighting your comments, you must understand what it means exactly. You may follow comments on the videos posted by several YouTubers, but the highlighted ones are always making it to the top of the list.

Having said that, neither the content creator nor users or moderators choose to highlight YouTube comments to begin with. They are no rocket science, but only a tad bit more than what you know as a bookmarking feature.

Think of highlighted comments as a “tag”. You might notice this in the form of a ‘new activity YouTube notification’ link you receive on your registered email. Only you can see this tag when you click the notification and arrive at Youtube.com to either view or reply to a comment.

Highlighting comments (HC’s) are an automatic feature generated by YouTube. It draws the YouTuber’s & viewer’s attention to relevant activities. Don’t fail to notice that the highlight disappears once you are done interacting in the tagged comment thread. However, they are reloadable by tapping the comment timestamp.

For instance, you may want to check the following links. The 2 URLs lead you to the same video, but only one of them shows a highlighted comment.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

Notice the name “lc” in the first URL- that stands for linked comment. YouTube might include this additional parameter. If a reply comment (HR) gets highlighted, the parent comment gets raised to the top.

Part 2: What Does The Highlighted Comment Look Like?

YouTube has been working on improving the navigation of the comment section for videos, and highlighted comments are one of them. These comments appear even above the pinned comments on a video. The label of a highlighted comment is displayed above the commentator’s name in a light grey shade.

YouTube labels comment replies as well and call it “Highlighted Reply.” You can see this tag above the replier’s name in the same color tone.

Part 3: How to Make My Comment Highlighted?

Now, making YouTube highlight your comment on a popular video is nothing less than an art. YouTube doesn’t make it easy for you. The advantage of getting your comment highlighted on YouTube is limitless.

Thus, anybody who wants to get their YouTube comment an HC tag has to follow a few simple steps, which we will discuss below in another section. Finding the correct or relevant video content that can benefit your channel from such a comment is an excellent place to start.

For example, if you are a YouTuber who deals in tech information, you need to look for a popular video or channel with a similar genre, in this case, technical knowledge. The more popular the channel is, the more is the chance of a viewer checking the comments on its videos. You will only benefit if you’re comment is highlighted on pages of Youtuber’s who are huge.

Part 4: How to Get the URL of Highlighted Comments?

The ways to acquire the URL or link for a highlighted comment are different for both parties- viewer and host.

Suppose you are a viewer who is going through the comments section of a video. If you want to get the highlighted URL for the comment, simply click on the timestamp (e.g., 2 weeks ago) beside the commentator’s username.

On the other hand, for a YouTuber, getting access to the comment URL is relatively straightforward. The host will get a notification on his or her registered email-id when a viewer publishes a comment on their posted video. You will find the link to the highlighted comment in the notification

Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?

Replying to “highlighted comments” on your YouTube channel is pretty easy since this feature was developed, keeping the user’s convenience in mind. If you want to follow up or reply to such comments, you can do so from your email or YouTube Dashboard.

If you click the notification bell icon, whenever a viewer drops a new comment on one of your videos, YouTube will send you a notification via email. On opening the email, you will find a clickable “Reply” option. Or else, if you follow the comment section in the YouTube Dashboard, you can directly view or reply to highlighted comments from here as well.

Have you ever wondered why a highlighted comment always shows at the top of the comment list? Both the above options will lead you to the comment thread on YouTube. To help you find the new activity easily, it appears with the highlight tag on it. The purpose is to remind you that you are here for that specific comment.

Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?

Can you, as a video maker, remove highlighted comments on YouTube? The direct answer to this would be a ‘No.’ It is because based on how you have opened the specific video, YouTube does it automatically.

Alternatively, you can try out a few temporary solutions.

1. You can edit the particular URL of the video where the highlighted tag is showing. Remove the red part of the URL (example given below) starting with “&”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg After removing the above parameter, reload the original video link (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

1. Try logging out from your Google Account and browse YouTube (anonymously). Doing this will ensure that you no longer see any highlighted comments. However, at the same time, this will restrict you from interacting in any way with that video, let alone leaving a comment.

Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment that will be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment?

Many frequently inquire on the internet about how they can improve the chances of getting their comment pinned, as highlighted on YouTube. The secret lies in how you write the statement. We’ve listed a few pro tips below that can help:

• First, go through all the posted comments under the video. It will help you identify what is missing. You can comment or write the missing point in comprehendible and straightforward words. Also, never forget to acknowledge the YouTuber’s talent.
• Remember, no one has the time to read long comments. So, when you know what you want to write, try to shorten your sentences. A short and crisp comment draws more attention.
• After you have framed your comment, make sure that it is grammatically correct. YouTube and Google hate grammatical errors.
• Do not hit the post option already. Before publishing it, you must cross-check that your comment has all the above points in place.
• Lastly, you have to wait after publishing on the video’s comment section. YouTube will highlight your comment if it passes according to the YouTube policy and if the search engine finds it unique.

Part 8: Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Being a convenience feature, a highlighted comment on YouTube is 100% beneficial. That is especially true if you are looking for ways to optimize your channel.

YouTube is undeniably the second largest search engine on the web. Highlight comments can potentially increase the outreach of your content and, consequently, your brand presence.

As said earlier, these comments always show first on the comment section. Needless to say, many people who watch the videos also scroll down to the comments section to start a conversation or see what other viewers are saying about this video.

In the process, alongside the interaction, they also check out the channels or profiles of the commentators. Viewers often visit the pages of these channels, and if they happen to enjoy the video content, they will subscribe to the YouTuber’s channel. If your comment gets highlighted, your YouTube channel can be one of them.

Conclusion

YouTube can be an intimidating tool for marketing and more so for newcomers. Every YouTuber wishes that their channel performs better than the previous day. Even though the highlighted comment or highlighted reply feature doesn’t have any direct benefits, it can indeed help in optimizing your YouTube channel.

It can connect you with potential viewers and increase the number of people that visit your channel regularly. However, how many of them stay and hit the “Subscribe” button is a different story altogether and is wholly based on whether they like what you share through your videos.

In this article, we have shared facts on YouTube’s commonly seen highlighted comment feature. Yet, the term is a heavily misleading one, as far as viewers and Youtuber’s are concerned. We have also covered all other aspects and queries related to this term. Here’s hoping they clarify all your doubts.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Did you just come across a comment tagged with Highlight on YouTube and wondering what it means? In our guide, you will find an answer to this, along with related queries like how YouTube highlighted comment works, the removal process, its benefits, and more.

If you own a YouTube channel or are starting one, even you can do this. Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the core of YouTube’s highlighted comments. We’ve categorized this article into a total of 8 parts for simple and better understanding.

• Part 1: What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?
• Part 2: What Does Highlighted Comments Look Like on YouTube?
• Part 3: How to Make Comment Highlighted?
• Part 4: How to Highlighted Comments URL?
• Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?
• Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?
• Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment
• Part 8: Benefits of Highlighted Comments

Part 1: What Does The Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

Before you get on with highlighting your comments, you must understand what it means exactly. You may follow comments on the videos posted by several YouTubers, but the highlighted ones are always making it to the top of the list.

Having said that, neither the content creator nor users or moderators choose to highlight YouTube comments to begin with. They are no rocket science, but only a tad bit more than what you know as a bookmarking feature.

Think of highlighted comments as a “tag”. You might notice this in the form of a ‘new activity YouTube notification’ link you receive on your registered email. Only you can see this tag when you click the notification and arrive at Youtube.com to either view or reply to a comment.

Highlighting comments (HC’s) are an automatic feature generated by YouTube. It draws the YouTuber’s & viewer’s attention to relevant activities. Don’t fail to notice that the highlight disappears once you are done interacting in the tagged comment thread. However, they are reloadable by tapping the comment timestamp.

For instance, you may want to check the following links. The 2 URLs lead you to the same video, but only one of them shows a highlighted comment.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

Notice the name “lc” in the first URL- that stands for linked comment. YouTube might include this additional parameter. If a reply comment (HR) gets highlighted, the parent comment gets raised to the top.

Part 2: What Does The Highlighted Comment Look Like?

YouTube has been working on improving the navigation of the comment section for videos, and highlighted comments are one of them. These comments appear even above the pinned comments on a video. The label of a highlighted comment is displayed above the commentator’s name in a light grey shade.

YouTube labels comment replies as well and call it “Highlighted Reply.” You can see this tag above the replier’s name in the same color tone.

Part 3: How to Make My Comment Highlighted?

Now, making YouTube highlight your comment on a popular video is nothing less than an art. YouTube doesn’t make it easy for you. The advantage of getting your comment highlighted on YouTube is limitless.

Thus, anybody who wants to get their YouTube comment an HC tag has to follow a few simple steps, which we will discuss below in another section. Finding the correct or relevant video content that can benefit your channel from such a comment is an excellent place to start.

For example, if you are a YouTuber who deals in tech information, you need to look for a popular video or channel with a similar genre, in this case, technical knowledge. The more popular the channel is, the more is the chance of a viewer checking the comments on its videos. You will only benefit if you’re comment is highlighted on pages of Youtuber’s who are huge.

Part 4: How to Get the URL of Highlighted Comments?

The ways to acquire the URL or link for a highlighted comment are different for both parties- viewer and host.

Suppose you are a viewer who is going through the comments section of a video. If you want to get the highlighted URL for the comment, simply click on the timestamp (e.g., 2 weeks ago) beside the commentator’s username.

On the other hand, for a YouTuber, getting access to the comment URL is relatively straightforward. The host will get a notification on his or her registered email-id when a viewer publishes a comment on their posted video. You will find the link to the highlighted comment in the notification

Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?

Replying to “highlighted comments” on your YouTube channel is pretty easy since this feature was developed, keeping the user’s convenience in mind. If you want to follow up or reply to such comments, you can do so from your email or YouTube Dashboard.

If you click the notification bell icon, whenever a viewer drops a new comment on one of your videos, YouTube will send you a notification via email. On opening the email, you will find a clickable “Reply” option. Or else, if you follow the comment section in the YouTube Dashboard, you can directly view or reply to highlighted comments from here as well.

Have you ever wondered why a highlighted comment always shows at the top of the comment list? Both the above options will lead you to the comment thread on YouTube. To help you find the new activity easily, it appears with the highlight tag on it. The purpose is to remind you that you are here for that specific comment.

Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?

Can you, as a video maker, remove highlighted comments on YouTube? The direct answer to this would be a ‘No.’ It is because based on how you have opened the specific video, YouTube does it automatically.

Alternatively, you can try out a few temporary solutions.

1. You can edit the particular URL of the video where the highlighted tag is showing. Remove the red part of the URL (example given below) starting with “&”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg After removing the above parameter, reload the original video link (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

1. Try logging out from your Google Account and browse YouTube (anonymously). Doing this will ensure that you no longer see any highlighted comments. However, at the same time, this will restrict you from interacting in any way with that video, let alone leaving a comment.

Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment that will be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment?

Many frequently inquire on the internet about how they can improve the chances of getting their comment pinned, as highlighted on YouTube. The secret lies in how you write the statement. We’ve listed a few pro tips below that can help:

• First, go through all the posted comments under the video. It will help you identify what is missing. You can comment or write the missing point in comprehendible and straightforward words. Also, never forget to acknowledge the YouTuber’s talent.
• Remember, no one has the time to read long comments. So, when you know what you want to write, try to shorten your sentences. A short and crisp comment draws more attention.
• After you have framed your comment, make sure that it is grammatically correct. YouTube and Google hate grammatical errors.
• Do not hit the post option already. Before publishing it, you must cross-check that your comment has all the above points in place.
• Lastly, you have to wait after publishing on the video’s comment section. YouTube will highlight your comment if it passes according to the YouTube policy and if the search engine finds it unique.

Part 8: Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Being a convenience feature, a highlighted comment on YouTube is 100% beneficial. That is especially true if you are looking for ways to optimize your channel.

YouTube is undeniably the second largest search engine on the web. Highlight comments can potentially increase the outreach of your content and, consequently, your brand presence.

As said earlier, these comments always show first on the comment section. Needless to say, many people who watch the videos also scroll down to the comments section to start a conversation or see what other viewers are saying about this video.

In the process, alongside the interaction, they also check out the channels or profiles of the commentators. Viewers often visit the pages of these channels, and if they happen to enjoy the video content, they will subscribe to the YouTuber’s channel. If your comment gets highlighted, your YouTube channel can be one of them.

Conclusion

YouTube can be an intimidating tool for marketing and more so for newcomers. Every YouTuber wishes that their channel performs better than the previous day. Even though the highlighted comment or highlighted reply feature doesn’t have any direct benefits, it can indeed help in optimizing your YouTube channel.

It can connect you with potential viewers and increase the number of people that visit your channel regularly. However, how many of them stay and hit the “Subscribe” button is a different story altogether and is wholly based on whether they like what you share through your videos.

In this article, we have shared facts on YouTube’s commonly seen highlighted comment feature. Yet, the term is a heavily misleading one, as far as viewers and Youtuber’s are concerned. We have also covered all other aspects and queries related to this term. Here’s hoping they clarify all your doubts.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

Liza Brown

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Did you just come across a comment tagged with Highlight on YouTube and wondering what it means? In our guide, you will find an answer to this, along with related queries like how YouTube highlighted comment works, the removal process, its benefits, and more.

If you own a YouTube channel or are starting one, even you can do this. Without further ado, let’s jump straight into the core of YouTube’s highlighted comments. We’ve categorized this article into a total of 8 parts for simple and better understanding.

• Part 1: What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?
• Part 2: What Does Highlighted Comments Look Like on YouTube?
• Part 3: How to Make Comment Highlighted?
• Part 4: How to Highlighted Comments URL?
• Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?
• Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?
• Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment
• Part 8: Benefits of Highlighted Comments

Part 1: What Does The Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

Before you get on with highlighting your comments, you must understand what it means exactly. You may follow comments on the videos posted by several YouTubers, but the highlighted ones are always making it to the top of the list.

Having said that, neither the content creator nor users or moderators choose to highlight YouTube comments to begin with. They are no rocket science, but only a tad bit more than what you know as a bookmarking feature.

Think of highlighted comments as a “tag”. You might notice this in the form of a ‘new activity YouTube notification’ link you receive on your registered email. Only you can see this tag when you click the notification and arrive at Youtube.com to either view or reply to a comment.

Highlighting comments (HC’s) are an automatic feature generated by YouTube. It draws the YouTuber’s & viewer’s attention to relevant activities. Don’t fail to notice that the highlight disappears once you are done interacting in the tagged comment thread. However, they are reloadable by tapping the comment timestamp.

For instance, you may want to check the following links. The 2 URLs lead you to the same video, but only one of them shows a highlighted comment.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

Notice the name “lc” in the first URL- that stands for linked comment. YouTube might include this additional parameter. If a reply comment (HR) gets highlighted, the parent comment gets raised to the top.

Part 2: What Does The Highlighted Comment Look Like?

YouTube has been working on improving the navigation of the comment section for videos, and highlighted comments are one of them. These comments appear even above the pinned comments on a video. The label of a highlighted comment is displayed above the commentator’s name in a light grey shade.

YouTube labels comment replies as well and call it “Highlighted Reply.” You can see this tag above the replier’s name in the same color tone.

Part 3: How to Make My Comment Highlighted?

Now, making YouTube highlight your comment on a popular video is nothing less than an art. YouTube doesn’t make it easy for you. The advantage of getting your comment highlighted on YouTube is limitless.

Thus, anybody who wants to get their YouTube comment an HC tag has to follow a few simple steps, which we will discuss below in another section. Finding the correct or relevant video content that can benefit your channel from such a comment is an excellent place to start.

For example, if you are a YouTuber who deals in tech information, you need to look for a popular video or channel with a similar genre, in this case, technical knowledge. The more popular the channel is, the more is the chance of a viewer checking the comments on its videos. You will only benefit if you’re comment is highlighted on pages of Youtuber’s who are huge.

Part 4: How to Get the URL of Highlighted Comments?

The ways to acquire the URL or link for a highlighted comment are different for both parties- viewer and host.

Suppose you are a viewer who is going through the comments section of a video. If you want to get the highlighted URL for the comment, simply click on the timestamp (e.g., 2 weeks ago) beside the commentator’s username.

On the other hand, for a YouTuber, getting access to the comment URL is relatively straightforward. The host will get a notification on his or her registered email-id when a viewer publishes a comment on their posted video. You will find the link to the highlighted comment in the notification

Part 5: How to Reply to Highlighted Comments?

Replying to “highlighted comments” on your YouTube channel is pretty easy since this feature was developed, keeping the user’s convenience in mind. If you want to follow up or reply to such comments, you can do so from your email or YouTube Dashboard.

If you click the notification bell icon, whenever a viewer drops a new comment on one of your videos, YouTube will send you a notification via email. On opening the email, you will find a clickable “Reply” option. Or else, if you follow the comment section in the YouTube Dashboard, you can directly view or reply to highlighted comments from here as well.

Have you ever wondered why a highlighted comment always shows at the top of the comment list? Both the above options will lead you to the comment thread on YouTube. To help you find the new activity easily, it appears with the highlight tag on it. The purpose is to remind you that you are here for that specific comment.

Part 6: How to Remove Highlighted Comments?

Can you, as a video maker, remove highlighted comments on YouTube? The direct answer to this would be a ‘No.’ It is because based on how you have opened the specific video, YouTube does it automatically.

Alternatively, you can try out a few temporary solutions.

1. You can edit the particular URL of the video where the highlighted tag is showing. Remove the red part of the URL (example given below) starting with “&”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA&lc=Ugya-89WYAlutJurKGh4AaABAg After removing the above parameter, reload the original video link (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA

1. Try logging out from your Google Account and browse YouTube (anonymously). Doing this will ensure that you no longer see any highlighted comments. However, at the same time, this will restrict you from interacting in any way with that video, let alone leaving a comment.

Part 7: Tips for Writing a Comment that will be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment?

Many frequently inquire on the internet about how they can improve the chances of getting their comment pinned, as highlighted on YouTube. The secret lies in how you write the statement. We’ve listed a few pro tips below that can help:

• First, go through all the posted comments under the video. It will help you identify what is missing. You can comment or write the missing point in comprehendible and straightforward words. Also, never forget to acknowledge the YouTuber’s talent.
• Remember, no one has the time to read long comments. So, when you know what you want to write, try to shorten your sentences. A short and crisp comment draws more attention.
• After you have framed your comment, make sure that it is grammatically correct. YouTube and Google hate grammatical errors.
• Do not hit the post option already. Before publishing it, you must cross-check that your comment has all the above points in place.
• Lastly, you have to wait after publishing on the video’s comment section. YouTube will highlight your comment if it passes according to the YouTube policy and if the search engine finds it unique.

Part 8: Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Being a convenience feature, a highlighted comment on YouTube is 100% beneficial. That is especially true if you are looking for ways to optimize your channel.

YouTube is undeniably the second largest search engine on the web. Highlight comments can potentially increase the outreach of your content and, consequently, your brand presence.

As said earlier, these comments always show first on the comment section. Needless to say, many people who watch the videos also scroll down to the comments section to start a conversation or see what other viewers are saying about this video.

In the process, alongside the interaction, they also check out the channels or profiles of the commentators. Viewers often visit the pages of these channels, and if they happen to enjoy the video content, they will subscribe to the YouTuber’s channel. If your comment gets highlighted, your YouTube channel can be one of them.

Conclusion

YouTube can be an intimidating tool for marketing and more so for newcomers. Every YouTuber wishes that their channel performs better than the previous day. Even though the highlighted comment or highlighted reply feature doesn’t have any direct benefits, it can indeed help in optimizing your YouTube channel.

It can connect you with potential viewers and increase the number of people that visit your channel regularly. However, how many of them stay and hit the “Subscribe” button is a different story altogether and is wholly based on whether they like what you share through your videos.

In this article, we have shared facts on YouTube’s commonly seen highlighted comment feature. Yet, the term is a heavily misleading one, as far as viewers and Youtuber’s are concerned. We have also covered all other aspects and queries related to this term. Here’s hoping they clarify all your doubts.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown

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