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"[Updated] Achieve Striking Visuals Your Guide to Uploading at Correct Dimensions"
Achieve Striking Visuals: Your Guide to Uploading at Correct Dimensions
YouTube Video Dimensions/Size: Guide for Upload Settings
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Every social media offers a distinct range of dimensions and settings for their publication. So does YouTube.
It’s acutely important to be aware of your setting choices and choosing the right video, thumbnail and screen dimensions of a YouTube video to elevate the user experience.
Merely watching the videos on YouTube is much easier but being able to upload a video there using the right size matters a lot more than one thinks of.
But how can one master it all by himself? Here we are to guide you all along the way! So sit back and relax and enjoy your first-rated content!
You will Learn :
- The right YouTube video size for you
- Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
- What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
- What is the right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
- The correct video image and YouTube screen size
- FAQs about Youtube upload settings
- Basic terminologies that you should know
The Best Video Editor for Successful YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora
As a easy-to-use video editor, Filmora is really perfect for successful YouTubers. Filmora not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc.
Check below video to know more and download now to have a try for free.
The right YouTube video size for you
| Resolution | Equivalent Name | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 3840×2160 | 2160p | 4K |
| 2560×1440 | 1440p | 2K |
| 1920×1080 | 1080p | Highest YouTube HD video resolution |
| 1280×720 | 720p | Least YouTube HD video resolution |
| 854×480 | 480p | Standard definition |
| 640×360 | 360p | Conventional website resolution |
| 426×240 | 240p | Least YouTube video size available |
Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
| Maximum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 426 x 420p |
|---|---|
| Minimum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 3840 x 2160p |
| The right aspect ratio of a YouTube video | 16:9 |
| Maximum size of a YouTube file | 128GB |
| The maximum length of a YouTube video | 12 hours |
| Compatible YouTube video formats | avi mov mp4 (best video format for YouTube) 3GPP webM flv mpeg mpegps wmv |
In order to grasp all of the aforementioned configurations thoroughly, a pictorial depiction is a must. So here it is to give you a vivid vision.
Image from learn.g2
What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
It is recommended by professionals to use the YouTube video dimensions 1080p, or 1920 x 1080.
These ones are the ideal because it will not only facilitate the video with a professional and elite look but also consumes relatively much less data. Moreover, if you use a phone for recording your videos then using the quality higher than the ones mentioned above will cost you with ample memory.
If you are a newbie to the world of YouTube and want to up the device’s storage game then 720p would still do wonders.
What is the video aspect ratio?
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 unit wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
The aspect ratio of a video merely refers to the relationship among the width and height respectively and not the actual physical size of the image.
The most common aspect ratios used in the video are depicted below for sound understanding:
Image from learn.g2
The aspect ratio is the proportion of your video. This image displays the three most common aspect ratios.
Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of height and width although dimensions refer to two separate measurements of height and width rather than a ratio with “pixel” as its unit.
Standard aspect ratios
Below are the most common aspect ratios used for the video. There may be certain amendments to the ones mentioned below but the following formats are used mostly by the film and video makers.
Let’s review the quick breakdown of the available aspect ratio options that you can opt accordingly:
| Aspect ratio | Application |
|---|---|
| 1:1 or 1x1 | This aspect ratio will mostly be seen in the Instagram video. This 1:1 ratio gives a video a perfect square shape. |
| 4:3 or 4x3 | This aspect ratio was mostly seen few ages ago in almost the amidst 20th century on the TV. This was used to be a standard television format back then. So if you are a 90’s kid or an adult then you must be familiar with this format while watching your favorite old schooled sitcoms! |
| 16:9 or 16x9 | The format was enhanced to 16:9 aspect ratio for more HD quality and better viewing experience. This format is widely being used in televisions, theatres, DVD or high definition professional videos. |
| 21:9 or 21x9 | For more than merely an HD video quality and astonishing user experience, the formats have been upgraded to 21:9 aspect ratio. This is dominantly being used in the cinema for movie theatre releases. |
The right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
YouTube recommends using an aspect ratio of 16:9 according to the video player that YouTube uses. You are also given an option to upload your videos vertically but this will amend the aspect ratio respectively.
When you upload a video with an aspect ratio other than the one mention formerly then YouTube will automatically place the black bars on the sides. This is done to display the best quality video with the right resolution otherwise it will be displayed as distorted or cropped.
A vertical ratio with may be 4:3 video aspect ratio will be displayed like the image given below:
Image from learn.g2
The correct video image and YouTube screen size
Videos are undoubtedly the most important asset of YouTube but we cannot ignore the significance of the optimal images there! Using the right channel images will enhance the user experience and will ultimately level up your game!
The appealing and attractive cover photos, banners, thumbnails, channel icons possess equal importance as the video itself.
So don’t forget to tune your images! Just grab a cup of coffee and see how your views increase exponentially by this simple yet most important change!
Just skim through the checklist given below and you will be ready to nail it!
1. Perfect size for your YouTube profile photo
The profile photo of YouTube, often called a YouTube channel icon, is preferably a facial picture when is run by an individual and a respective logo if run by a brand or a business.
The suggested YouTube screen size of your YouTube profile picture or channel icon is 800 x800 pixels.
Image from metricool
2. Perfect size for your YouTube thumbnail photo
What is YouTube thumbnail?
A thumbnail photo is the picture of one of the frames of your video that you select to let the viewers see the quick glace or snapshot of your video while they browse YouTube.
You can choose any of the snapshots, technically known as a thumbnail, right after uploading your video on your channel. Either you can let YouTube choose any thumbnail or you choose your own.
Why is it important?
Choosing the appropriate thumbnail is one of the most important factors you cannot neglect. In order to gain views the most on your videos, a wise selection of a perfect YouTube video thumbnail dimensions will attract the viewers. Hence this will can uplift your views to a drastic extent.
A quick tip for the perfect YouTube thumbnail
Take a look at the popular you tubers and see what strategies they use when uploading their thumbnails. Usually, the video content is not as appealing as the thumbnail itself. That’s what you need to understand! Just see by yourself how large text and striking images will do wonders!
YouTube video thumbnail dimension for a perfect thumbnail image
The preferred YouTube screen size of your thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.
Similar to the YouTube video, the aspect ratio of your thumbnail is 16:9.
For even more clear understanding, look into this illustration:
Image from learn.g2
3. Perfect size for your YouTube banner
YouTube offers two main areas for image display of your channel. One is an icon image while other is what YouTube calls “Channel Art”. This is the same as Facebook’s cover photo. People often call it “YouTube banner”. It is a header image displayed at the top of your channel.
For each kind of display (mobile, desktop, and TV), channel art (or banner) dimension changes accordingly.
Either your cover photo or your YouTube banner is displayed at the top of the channel so it’s highly significant to consider what you are depicting about your channel through these images.
Hence, this being said or realized, selecting the appropriate banner resolution should be among your topmost priorities.
The recommended banner dimensions of a YouTube video as suggested by YouTube are 2560 x 1440 pixels. But the dimensions may slightly vary with the variation in the devices being used by the users.
| Displays | Banner image Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Video display | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
| Desktop display | 2560 x 423 pixels |
| Tablet display | 1855 x 423 pixels |
| Television | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
For a thorough understanding, refer to the image below:
Image from learn.g2
The right cover photo size on TV
The image displayed when accessing YouTube from TV will appear and be uploaded full or maximized. So a wise image size must be opted. So the accurate resolution would be 2560 x 1440 pixels which will cover the entire background of your channel.
The right cover photo size on desktop displays
The image size may vary to some extent as per the browser you are accessing with or the desktop itself. But generally, the suggested cover photo size for desktop displays is 2560 x 423 pixels.
The right cover photo size on Tablet displays
As per the recommendation for uploading the image while specifically considering the table display is 1855 x 423 pixels. This will cover the area appropriately.
FAQs about Youtube upload settings
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of size?
The allowed maximum video file size for uploading is 128GB at present.
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of length?
The allowed maximum video length today for uploading is 12 hours.
How the default upload setting is reset on YouTube?
Step 1: Sign In to your YouTube account using a browser.
Step 2: By clicking your profile icon on the top right corner of the pane, you’ll see the YouTube Studio option. Click on it.
Step 3: Go on settings option where a pop-up window will appear.
Step 4: Look for upload defaults and change the configurations on 2 tabs.
Step 5: Click on save button.
How is YouTube video uploaded using the mobile application?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube channel using your mobile phone.
Step 2: Tap on the video camera icon to upload a video. Grant access to your photo gallery and camera is asked by the app while uploading for the first time.
Step 3: You may “Go Live” or simply drag an already made video file to upload.
Step 4: Click “Next”.
Step 5: Enter the video name, select visibility level and then click upload.
How is YouTube video uploaded using a web browser?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube account in a web browser.
Step 2: Click on the video icon appearing on the top of the pane.
Step 3: Click on upload video in the drop-down.
Step 4: You will be redirected to the video upload page. Click “public” under “Select files to upload” option and choose visibility level (public, private or scheduled).
Step 5: Click on a large arrow for video file selection or simply drag the file onto the page.
Step 6: You may enter miscellaneous information related to the video while the video is being uploaded.
Step 7: Click on publish and you are done!
Read More to Get : Best Video Websites Like YouTube >>
Basic terminologies that you should know
Video Format
A file format is a way that is standard for the storage of information in the encoded form within the computer file. It entails how exactly the bits are used while encoding the information in a digital storage medium.
So, a video file format is basically a type of file format in order to store the digital data of a video in the computer system. Mostly, video is often stored using the lossy compression in order to reduce the file size.
Frame Rate
“Frame rate” essentially entails the frequency (rate) at which the simultaneous images display on the screen. These images or called “frames”. Frame rate is expressed in “frames per second or FPS”. The unit or term is applicable for film, cameras, motion capture, video, and computer graphics. This is also known as “frame frequency”, expressed in the unit “hertz”
Resolution
Resolution is a measure to entail the clarity and sharpness of an image and most often used as a metric to judge the quality of cameras, monitors, printers, etc.
It basically refers to the number of different pixels in each dimension which can be viewed in any display device.
File Size
File size refers to the space that a file occupies in a storage medium, like hard drive or USB. The measure of file sizes can be expressed in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and so on.
As shown in the picture below, the files listed in the Windows Explorer assorted as per the file with the largest size first. The file with the name “family-safety.jpg” occupies the largest size of 47 KB and the smallest one with 32 KB size.
Codec
Codec is a device or maybe a computer program that is used to encode or decode a stream of digital data or signal. A codec is a short form of “coder-decoder”.
The basic function of a coder is to encode the stream of data or signal for storage or transmission, usually in an encrypted form.
While, a decoder decodes the encoded (possibly encrypted) data, which is merely a reverse process of a coder. The application of codec are in streaming media, videoconferencing, and video editing applications.
Aspect ratio:
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 units wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
Need a YouTube support?
If you need any support, guidance or may face any queries related to anything regarding your YouTube channel, here’s the link of YouTube support .
Final Verdict
Hopefully, with this detailed guide, you are now ready to make a wise decision regarding customizing your videos and channel as per viewers likeliness. So get ready to see your channel grow drastically!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Every social media offers a distinct range of dimensions and settings for their publication. So does YouTube.
It’s acutely important to be aware of your setting choices and choosing the right video, thumbnail and screen dimensions of a YouTube video to elevate the user experience.
Merely watching the videos on YouTube is much easier but being able to upload a video there using the right size matters a lot more than one thinks of.
But how can one master it all by himself? Here we are to guide you all along the way! So sit back and relax and enjoy your first-rated content!
You will Learn :
- The right YouTube video size for you
- Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
- What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
- What is the right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
- The correct video image and YouTube screen size
- FAQs about Youtube upload settings
- Basic terminologies that you should know
The Best Video Editor for Successful YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora
As a easy-to-use video editor, Filmora is really perfect for successful YouTubers. Filmora not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc.
Check below video to know more and download now to have a try for free.
The right YouTube video size for you
| Resolution | Equivalent Name | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 3840×2160 | 2160p | 4K |
| 2560×1440 | 1440p | 2K |
| 1920×1080 | 1080p | Highest YouTube HD video resolution |
| 1280×720 | 720p | Least YouTube HD video resolution |
| 854×480 | 480p | Standard definition |
| 640×360 | 360p | Conventional website resolution |
| 426×240 | 240p | Least YouTube video size available |
Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
| Maximum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 426 x 420p |
|---|---|
| Minimum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 3840 x 2160p |
| The right aspect ratio of a YouTube video | 16:9 |
| Maximum size of a YouTube file | 128GB |
| The maximum length of a YouTube video | 12 hours |
| Compatible YouTube video formats | avi mov mp4 (best video format for YouTube) 3GPP webM flv mpeg mpegps wmv |
In order to grasp all of the aforementioned configurations thoroughly, a pictorial depiction is a must. So here it is to give you a vivid vision.
Image from learn.g2
What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
It is recommended by professionals to use the YouTube video dimensions 1080p, or 1920 x 1080.
These ones are the ideal because it will not only facilitate the video with a professional and elite look but also consumes relatively much less data. Moreover, if you use a phone for recording your videos then using the quality higher than the ones mentioned above will cost you with ample memory.
If you are a newbie to the world of YouTube and want to up the device’s storage game then 720p would still do wonders.
What is the video aspect ratio?
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 unit wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
The aspect ratio of a video merely refers to the relationship among the width and height respectively and not the actual physical size of the image.
The most common aspect ratios used in the video are depicted below for sound understanding:
Image from learn.g2
The aspect ratio is the proportion of your video. This image displays the three most common aspect ratios.
Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of height and width although dimensions refer to two separate measurements of height and width rather than a ratio with “pixel” as its unit.
Standard aspect ratios
Below are the most common aspect ratios used for the video. There may be certain amendments to the ones mentioned below but the following formats are used mostly by the film and video makers.
Let’s review the quick breakdown of the available aspect ratio options that you can opt accordingly:
| Aspect ratio | Application |
|---|---|
| 1:1 or 1x1 | This aspect ratio will mostly be seen in the Instagram video. This 1:1 ratio gives a video a perfect square shape. |
| 4:3 or 4x3 | This aspect ratio was mostly seen few ages ago in almost the amidst 20th century on the TV. This was used to be a standard television format back then. So if you are a 90’s kid or an adult then you must be familiar with this format while watching your favorite old schooled sitcoms! |
| 16:9 or 16x9 | The format was enhanced to 16:9 aspect ratio for more HD quality and better viewing experience. This format is widely being used in televisions, theatres, DVD or high definition professional videos. |
| 21:9 or 21x9 | For more than merely an HD video quality and astonishing user experience, the formats have been upgraded to 21:9 aspect ratio. This is dominantly being used in the cinema for movie theatre releases. |
The right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
YouTube recommends using an aspect ratio of 16:9 according to the video player that YouTube uses. You are also given an option to upload your videos vertically but this will amend the aspect ratio respectively.
When you upload a video with an aspect ratio other than the one mention formerly then YouTube will automatically place the black bars on the sides. This is done to display the best quality video with the right resolution otherwise it will be displayed as distorted or cropped.
A vertical ratio with may be 4:3 video aspect ratio will be displayed like the image given below:
Image from learn.g2
The correct video image and YouTube screen size
Videos are undoubtedly the most important asset of YouTube but we cannot ignore the significance of the optimal images there! Using the right channel images will enhance the user experience and will ultimately level up your game!
The appealing and attractive cover photos, banners, thumbnails, channel icons possess equal importance as the video itself.
So don’t forget to tune your images! Just grab a cup of coffee and see how your views increase exponentially by this simple yet most important change!
Just skim through the checklist given below and you will be ready to nail it!
1. Perfect size for your YouTube profile photo
The profile photo of YouTube, often called a YouTube channel icon, is preferably a facial picture when is run by an individual and a respective logo if run by a brand or a business.
The suggested YouTube screen size of your YouTube profile picture or channel icon is 800 x800 pixels.
Image from metricool
2. Perfect size for your YouTube thumbnail photo
What is YouTube thumbnail?
A thumbnail photo is the picture of one of the frames of your video that you select to let the viewers see the quick glace or snapshot of your video while they browse YouTube.
You can choose any of the snapshots, technically known as a thumbnail, right after uploading your video on your channel. Either you can let YouTube choose any thumbnail or you choose your own.
Why is it important?
Choosing the appropriate thumbnail is one of the most important factors you cannot neglect. In order to gain views the most on your videos, a wise selection of a perfect YouTube video thumbnail dimensions will attract the viewers. Hence this will can uplift your views to a drastic extent.
A quick tip for the perfect YouTube thumbnail
Take a look at the popular you tubers and see what strategies they use when uploading their thumbnails. Usually, the video content is not as appealing as the thumbnail itself. That’s what you need to understand! Just see by yourself how large text and striking images will do wonders!
YouTube video thumbnail dimension for a perfect thumbnail image
The preferred YouTube screen size of your thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.
Similar to the YouTube video, the aspect ratio of your thumbnail is 16:9.
For even more clear understanding, look into this illustration:
Image from learn.g2
3. Perfect size for your YouTube banner
YouTube offers two main areas for image display of your channel. One is an icon image while other is what YouTube calls “Channel Art”. This is the same as Facebook’s cover photo. People often call it “YouTube banner”. It is a header image displayed at the top of your channel.
For each kind of display (mobile, desktop, and TV), channel art (or banner) dimension changes accordingly.
Either your cover photo or your YouTube banner is displayed at the top of the channel so it’s highly significant to consider what you are depicting about your channel through these images.
Hence, this being said or realized, selecting the appropriate banner resolution should be among your topmost priorities.
The recommended banner dimensions of a YouTube video as suggested by YouTube are 2560 x 1440 pixels. But the dimensions may slightly vary with the variation in the devices being used by the users.
| Displays | Banner image Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Video display | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
| Desktop display | 2560 x 423 pixels |
| Tablet display | 1855 x 423 pixels |
| Television | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
For a thorough understanding, refer to the image below:
Image from learn.g2
The right cover photo size on TV
The image displayed when accessing YouTube from TV will appear and be uploaded full or maximized. So a wise image size must be opted. So the accurate resolution would be 2560 x 1440 pixels which will cover the entire background of your channel.
The right cover photo size on desktop displays
The image size may vary to some extent as per the browser you are accessing with or the desktop itself. But generally, the suggested cover photo size for desktop displays is 2560 x 423 pixels.
The right cover photo size on Tablet displays
As per the recommendation for uploading the image while specifically considering the table display is 1855 x 423 pixels. This will cover the area appropriately.
FAQs about Youtube upload settings
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of size?
The allowed maximum video file size for uploading is 128GB at present.
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of length?
The allowed maximum video length today for uploading is 12 hours.
How the default upload setting is reset on YouTube?
Step 1: Sign In to your YouTube account using a browser.
Step 2: By clicking your profile icon on the top right corner of the pane, you’ll see the YouTube Studio option. Click on it.
Step 3: Go on settings option where a pop-up window will appear.
Step 4: Look for upload defaults and change the configurations on 2 tabs.
Step 5: Click on save button.
How is YouTube video uploaded using the mobile application?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube channel using your mobile phone.
Step 2: Tap on the video camera icon to upload a video. Grant access to your photo gallery and camera is asked by the app while uploading for the first time.
Step 3: You may “Go Live” or simply drag an already made video file to upload.
Step 4: Click “Next”.
Step 5: Enter the video name, select visibility level and then click upload.
How is YouTube video uploaded using a web browser?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube account in a web browser.
Step 2: Click on the video icon appearing on the top of the pane.
Step 3: Click on upload video in the drop-down.
Step 4: You will be redirected to the video upload page. Click “public” under “Select files to upload” option and choose visibility level (public, private or scheduled).
Step 5: Click on a large arrow for video file selection or simply drag the file onto the page.
Step 6: You may enter miscellaneous information related to the video while the video is being uploaded.
Step 7: Click on publish and you are done!
Read More to Get : Best Video Websites Like YouTube >>
Basic terminologies that you should know
Video Format
A file format is a way that is standard for the storage of information in the encoded form within the computer file. It entails how exactly the bits are used while encoding the information in a digital storage medium.
So, a video file format is basically a type of file format in order to store the digital data of a video in the computer system. Mostly, video is often stored using the lossy compression in order to reduce the file size.
Frame Rate
“Frame rate” essentially entails the frequency (rate) at which the simultaneous images display on the screen. These images or called “frames”. Frame rate is expressed in “frames per second or FPS”. The unit or term is applicable for film, cameras, motion capture, video, and computer graphics. This is also known as “frame frequency”, expressed in the unit “hertz”
Resolution
Resolution is a measure to entail the clarity and sharpness of an image and most often used as a metric to judge the quality of cameras, monitors, printers, etc.
It basically refers to the number of different pixels in each dimension which can be viewed in any display device.
File Size
File size refers to the space that a file occupies in a storage medium, like hard drive or USB. The measure of file sizes can be expressed in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and so on.
As shown in the picture below, the files listed in the Windows Explorer assorted as per the file with the largest size first. The file with the name “family-safety.jpg” occupies the largest size of 47 KB and the smallest one with 32 KB size.
Codec
Codec is a device or maybe a computer program that is used to encode or decode a stream of digital data or signal. A codec is a short form of “coder-decoder”.
The basic function of a coder is to encode the stream of data or signal for storage or transmission, usually in an encrypted form.
While, a decoder decodes the encoded (possibly encrypted) data, which is merely a reverse process of a coder. The application of codec are in streaming media, videoconferencing, and video editing applications.
Aspect ratio:
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 units wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
Need a YouTube support?
If you need any support, guidance or may face any queries related to anything regarding your YouTube channel, here’s the link of YouTube support .
Final Verdict
Hopefully, with this detailed guide, you are now ready to make a wise decision regarding customizing your videos and channel as per viewers likeliness. So get ready to see your channel grow drastically!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Every social media offers a distinct range of dimensions and settings for their publication. So does YouTube.
It’s acutely important to be aware of your setting choices and choosing the right video, thumbnail and screen dimensions of a YouTube video to elevate the user experience.
Merely watching the videos on YouTube is much easier but being able to upload a video there using the right size matters a lot more than one thinks of.
But how can one master it all by himself? Here we are to guide you all along the way! So sit back and relax and enjoy your first-rated content!
You will Learn :
- The right YouTube video size for you
- Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
- What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
- What is the right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
- The correct video image and YouTube screen size
- FAQs about Youtube upload settings
- Basic terminologies that you should know
The Best Video Editor for Successful YouTubers - Wondershare Filmora
As a easy-to-use video editor, Filmora is really perfect for successful YouTubers. Filmora not only allows you to cut, crop, rotate, reverse videos, but also offers your advanced features like PIP, Green Screen, or audio mixing. What’s more, you can find lots of effects for Fashion, gaming, education, tutorial, sports, etc.
Check below video to know more and download now to have a try for free.
The right YouTube video size for you
| Resolution | Equivalent Name | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 3840×2160 | 2160p | 4K |
| 2560×1440 | 1440p | 2K |
| 1920×1080 | 1080p | Highest YouTube HD video resolution |
| 1280×720 | 720p | Least YouTube HD video resolution |
| 854×480 | 480p | Standard definition |
| 640×360 | 360p | Conventional website resolution |
| 426×240 | 240p | Least YouTube video size available |
Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
| Maximum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 426 x 420p |
|---|---|
| Minimum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 3840 x 2160p |
| The right aspect ratio of a YouTube video | 16:9 |
| Maximum size of a YouTube file | 128GB |
| The maximum length of a YouTube video | 12 hours |
| Compatible YouTube video formats | avi mov mp4 (best video format for YouTube) 3GPP webM flv mpeg mpegps wmv |
In order to grasp all of the aforementioned configurations thoroughly, a pictorial depiction is a must. So here it is to give you a vivid vision.
Image from learn.g2
What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
It is recommended by professionals to use the YouTube video dimensions 1080p, or 1920 x 1080.
These ones are the ideal because it will not only facilitate the video with a professional and elite look but also consumes relatively much less data. Moreover, if you use a phone for recording your videos then using the quality higher than the ones mentioned above will cost you with ample memory.
If you are a newbie to the world of YouTube and want to up the device’s storage game then 720p would still do wonders.
What is the video aspect ratio?
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 unit wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
The aspect ratio of a video merely refers to the relationship among the width and height respectively and not the actual physical size of the image.
The most common aspect ratios used in the video are depicted below for sound understanding:
Image from learn.g2
The aspect ratio is the proportion of your video. This image displays the three most common aspect ratios.
Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of height and width although dimensions refer to two separate measurements of height and width rather than a ratio with “pixel” as its unit.
Standard aspect ratios
Below are the most common aspect ratios used for the video. There may be certain amendments to the ones mentioned below but the following formats are used mostly by the film and video makers.
Let’s review the quick breakdown of the available aspect ratio options that you can opt accordingly:
| Aspect ratio | Application |
|---|---|
| 1:1 or 1x1 | This aspect ratio will mostly be seen in the Instagram video. This 1:1 ratio gives a video a perfect square shape. |
| 4:3 or 4x3 | This aspect ratio was mostly seen few ages ago in almost the amidst 20th century on the TV. This was used to be a standard television format back then. So if you are a 90’s kid or an adult then you must be familiar with this format while watching your favorite old schooled sitcoms! |
| 16:9 or 16x9 | The format was enhanced to 16:9 aspect ratio for more HD quality and better viewing experience. This format is widely being used in televisions, theatres, DVD or high definition professional videos. |
| 21:9 or 21x9 | For more than merely an HD video quality and astonishing user experience, the formats have been upgraded to 21:9 aspect ratio. This is dominantly being used in the cinema for movie theatre releases. |
The right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
YouTube recommends using an aspect ratio of 16:9 according to the video player that YouTube uses. You are also given an option to upload your videos vertically but this will amend the aspect ratio respectively.
When you upload a video with an aspect ratio other than the one mention formerly then YouTube will automatically place the black bars on the sides. This is done to display the best quality video with the right resolution otherwise it will be displayed as distorted or cropped.
A vertical ratio with may be 4:3 video aspect ratio will be displayed like the image given below:
Image from learn.g2
The correct video image and YouTube screen size
Videos are undoubtedly the most important asset of YouTube but we cannot ignore the significance of the optimal images there! Using the right channel images will enhance the user experience and will ultimately level up your game!
The appealing and attractive cover photos, banners, thumbnails, channel icons possess equal importance as the video itself.
So don’t forget to tune your images! Just grab a cup of coffee and see how your views increase exponentially by this simple yet most important change!
Just skim through the checklist given below and you will be ready to nail it!
1. Perfect size for your YouTube profile photo
The profile photo of YouTube, often called a YouTube channel icon, is preferably a facial picture when is run by an individual and a respective logo if run by a brand or a business.
The suggested YouTube screen size of your YouTube profile picture or channel icon is 800 x800 pixels.
Image from metricool
2. Perfect size for your YouTube thumbnail photo
What is YouTube thumbnail?
A thumbnail photo is the picture of one of the frames of your video that you select to let the viewers see the quick glace or snapshot of your video while they browse YouTube.
You can choose any of the snapshots, technically known as a thumbnail, right after uploading your video on your channel. Either you can let YouTube choose any thumbnail or you choose your own.
Why is it important?
Choosing the appropriate thumbnail is one of the most important factors you cannot neglect. In order to gain views the most on your videos, a wise selection of a perfect YouTube video thumbnail dimensions will attract the viewers. Hence this will can uplift your views to a drastic extent.
A quick tip for the perfect YouTube thumbnail
Take a look at the popular you tubers and see what strategies they use when uploading their thumbnails. Usually, the video content is not as appealing as the thumbnail itself. That’s what you need to understand! Just see by yourself how large text and striking images will do wonders!
YouTube video thumbnail dimension for a perfect thumbnail image
The preferred YouTube screen size of your thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.
Similar to the YouTube video, the aspect ratio of your thumbnail is 16:9.
For even more clear understanding, look into this illustration:
Image from learn.g2
3. Perfect size for your YouTube banner
YouTube offers two main areas for image display of your channel. One is an icon image while other is what YouTube calls “Channel Art”. This is the same as Facebook’s cover photo. People often call it “YouTube banner”. It is a header image displayed at the top of your channel.
For each kind of display (mobile, desktop, and TV), channel art (or banner) dimension changes accordingly.
Either your cover photo or your YouTube banner is displayed at the top of the channel so it’s highly significant to consider what you are depicting about your channel through these images.
Hence, this being said or realized, selecting the appropriate banner resolution should be among your topmost priorities.
The recommended banner dimensions of a YouTube video as suggested by YouTube are 2560 x 1440 pixels. But the dimensions may slightly vary with the variation in the devices being used by the users.
| Displays | Banner image Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Video display | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
| Desktop display | 2560 x 423 pixels |
| Tablet display | 1855 x 423 pixels |
| Television | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
For a thorough understanding, refer to the image below:
Image from learn.g2
The right cover photo size on TV
The image displayed when accessing YouTube from TV will appear and be uploaded full or maximized. So a wise image size must be opted. So the accurate resolution would be 2560 x 1440 pixels which will cover the entire background of your channel.
The right cover photo size on desktop displays
The image size may vary to some extent as per the browser you are accessing with or the desktop itself. But generally, the suggested cover photo size for desktop displays is 2560 x 423 pixels.
The right cover photo size on Tablet displays
As per the recommendation for uploading the image while specifically considering the table display is 1855 x 423 pixels. This will cover the area appropriately.
FAQs about Youtube upload settings
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of size?
The allowed maximum video file size for uploading is 128GB at present.
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of length?
The allowed maximum video length today for uploading is 12 hours.
How the default upload setting is reset on YouTube?
Step 1: Sign In to your YouTube account using a browser.
Step 2: By clicking your profile icon on the top right corner of the pane, you’ll see the YouTube Studio option. Click on it.
Step 3: Go on settings option where a pop-up window will appear.
Step 4: Look for upload defaults and change the configurations on 2 tabs.
Step 5: Click on save button.
How is YouTube video uploaded using the mobile application?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube channel using your mobile phone.
Step 2: Tap on the video camera icon to upload a video. Grant access to your photo gallery and camera is asked by the app while uploading for the first time.
Step 3: You may “Go Live” or simply drag an already made video file to upload.
Step 4: Click “Next”.
Step 5: Enter the video name, select visibility level and then click upload.
How is YouTube video uploaded using a web browser?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube account in a web browser.
Step 2: Click on the video icon appearing on the top of the pane.
Step 3: Click on upload video in the drop-down.
Step 4: You will be redirected to the video upload page. Click “public” under “Select files to upload” option and choose visibility level (public, private or scheduled).
Step 5: Click on a large arrow for video file selection or simply drag the file onto the page.
Step 6: You may enter miscellaneous information related to the video while the video is being uploaded.
Step 7: Click on publish and you are done!
Read More to Get : Best Video Websites Like YouTube >>
Basic terminologies that you should know
Video Format
A file format is a way that is standard for the storage of information in the encoded form within the computer file. It entails how exactly the bits are used while encoding the information in a digital storage medium.
So, a video file format is basically a type of file format in order to store the digital data of a video in the computer system. Mostly, video is often stored using the lossy compression in order to reduce the file size.
Frame Rate
“Frame rate” essentially entails the frequency (rate) at which the simultaneous images display on the screen. These images or called “frames”. Frame rate is expressed in “frames per second or FPS”. The unit or term is applicable for film, cameras, motion capture, video, and computer graphics. This is also known as “frame frequency”, expressed in the unit “hertz”
Resolution
Resolution is a measure to entail the clarity and sharpness of an image and most often used as a metric to judge the quality of cameras, monitors, printers, etc.
It basically refers to the number of different pixels in each dimension which can be viewed in any display device.
File Size
File size refers to the space that a file occupies in a storage medium, like hard drive or USB. The measure of file sizes can be expressed in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and so on.
As shown in the picture below, the files listed in the Windows Explorer assorted as per the file with the largest size first. The file with the name “family-safety.jpg” occupies the largest size of 47 KB and the smallest one with 32 KB size.
Codec
Codec is a device or maybe a computer program that is used to encode or decode a stream of digital data or signal. A codec is a short form of “coder-decoder”.
The basic function of a coder is to encode the stream of data or signal for storage or transmission, usually in an encrypted form.
While, a decoder decodes the encoded (possibly encrypted) data, which is merely a reverse process of a coder. The application of codec are in streaming media, videoconferencing, and video editing applications.
Aspect ratio:
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 units wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
Need a YouTube support?
If you need any support, guidance or may face any queries related to anything regarding your YouTube channel, here’s the link of YouTube support .
Final Verdict
Hopefully, with this detailed guide, you are now ready to make a wise decision regarding customizing your videos and channel as per viewers likeliness. So get ready to see your channel grow drastically!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Every social media offers a distinct range of dimensions and settings for their publication. So does YouTube.
It’s acutely important to be aware of your setting choices and choosing the right video, thumbnail and screen dimensions of a YouTube video to elevate the user experience.
Merely watching the videos on YouTube is much easier but being able to upload a video there using the right size matters a lot more than one thinks of.
But how can one master it all by himself? Here we are to guide you all along the way! So sit back and relax and enjoy your first-rated content!
You will Learn :
- The right YouTube video size for you
- Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
- What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
- What is the right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
- The correct video image and YouTube screen size
- FAQs about Youtube upload settings
- Basic terminologies that you should know
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Check below video to know more and download now to have a try for free.
The right YouTube video size for you
| Resolution | Equivalent Name | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 3840×2160 | 2160p | 4K |
| 2560×1440 | 1440p | 2K |
| 1920×1080 | 1080p | Highest YouTube HD video resolution |
| 1280×720 | 720p | Least YouTube HD video resolution |
| 854×480 | 480p | Standard definition |
| 640×360 | 360p | Conventional website resolution |
| 426×240 | 240p | Least YouTube video size available |
Important guidelines for YouTube Video dimensions
| Maximum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 426 x 420p |
|---|---|
| Minimum acceptable size of a YouTube video | 3840 x 2160p |
| The right aspect ratio of a YouTube video | 16:9 |
| Maximum size of a YouTube file | 128GB |
| The maximum length of a YouTube video | 12 hours |
| Compatible YouTube video formats | avi mov mp4 (best video format for YouTube) 3GPP webM flv mpeg mpegps wmv |
In order to grasp all of the aforementioned configurations thoroughly, a pictorial depiction is a must. So here it is to give you a vivid vision.
Image from learn.g2
What’s the best YouTube video size for you?
It is recommended by professionals to use the YouTube video dimensions 1080p, or 1920 x 1080.
These ones are the ideal because it will not only facilitate the video with a professional and elite look but also consumes relatively much less data. Moreover, if you use a phone for recording your videos then using the quality higher than the ones mentioned above will cost you with ample memory.
If you are a newbie to the world of YouTube and want to up the device’s storage game then 720p would still do wonders.
What is the video aspect ratio?
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 unit wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
The aspect ratio of a video merely refers to the relationship among the width and height respectively and not the actual physical size of the image.
The most common aspect ratios used in the video are depicted below for sound understanding:
Image from learn.g2
The aspect ratio is the proportion of your video. This image displays the three most common aspect ratios.
Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of height and width although dimensions refer to two separate measurements of height and width rather than a ratio with “pixel” as its unit.
Standard aspect ratios
Below are the most common aspect ratios used for the video. There may be certain amendments to the ones mentioned below but the following formats are used mostly by the film and video makers.
Let’s review the quick breakdown of the available aspect ratio options that you can opt accordingly:
| Aspect ratio | Application |
|---|---|
| 1:1 or 1x1 | This aspect ratio will mostly be seen in the Instagram video. This 1:1 ratio gives a video a perfect square shape. |
| 4:3 or 4x3 | This aspect ratio was mostly seen few ages ago in almost the amidst 20th century on the TV. This was used to be a standard television format back then. So if you are a 90’s kid or an adult then you must be familiar with this format while watching your favorite old schooled sitcoms! |
| 16:9 or 16x9 | The format was enhanced to 16:9 aspect ratio for more HD quality and better viewing experience. This format is widely being used in televisions, theatres, DVD or high definition professional videos. |
| 21:9 or 21x9 | For more than merely an HD video quality and astonishing user experience, the formats have been upgraded to 21:9 aspect ratio. This is dominantly being used in the cinema for movie theatre releases. |
The right aspect ratio for YouTube videos
YouTube recommends using an aspect ratio of 16:9 according to the video player that YouTube uses. You are also given an option to upload your videos vertically but this will amend the aspect ratio respectively.
When you upload a video with an aspect ratio other than the one mention formerly then YouTube will automatically place the black bars on the sides. This is done to display the best quality video with the right resolution otherwise it will be displayed as distorted or cropped.
A vertical ratio with may be 4:3 video aspect ratio will be displayed like the image given below:
Image from learn.g2
The correct video image and YouTube screen size
Videos are undoubtedly the most important asset of YouTube but we cannot ignore the significance of the optimal images there! Using the right channel images will enhance the user experience and will ultimately level up your game!
The appealing and attractive cover photos, banners, thumbnails, channel icons possess equal importance as the video itself.
So don’t forget to tune your images! Just grab a cup of coffee and see how your views increase exponentially by this simple yet most important change!
Just skim through the checklist given below and you will be ready to nail it!
1. Perfect size for your YouTube profile photo
The profile photo of YouTube, often called a YouTube channel icon, is preferably a facial picture when is run by an individual and a respective logo if run by a brand or a business.
The suggested YouTube screen size of your YouTube profile picture or channel icon is 800 x800 pixels.
Image from metricool
2. Perfect size for your YouTube thumbnail photo
What is YouTube thumbnail?
A thumbnail photo is the picture of one of the frames of your video that you select to let the viewers see the quick glace or snapshot of your video while they browse YouTube.
You can choose any of the snapshots, technically known as a thumbnail, right after uploading your video on your channel. Either you can let YouTube choose any thumbnail or you choose your own.
Why is it important?
Choosing the appropriate thumbnail is one of the most important factors you cannot neglect. In order to gain views the most on your videos, a wise selection of a perfect YouTube video thumbnail dimensions will attract the viewers. Hence this will can uplift your views to a drastic extent.
A quick tip for the perfect YouTube thumbnail
Take a look at the popular you tubers and see what strategies they use when uploading their thumbnails. Usually, the video content is not as appealing as the thumbnail itself. That’s what you need to understand! Just see by yourself how large text and striking images will do wonders!
YouTube video thumbnail dimension for a perfect thumbnail image
The preferred YouTube screen size of your thumbnail image is 1280 x 720 pixels.
Similar to the YouTube video, the aspect ratio of your thumbnail is 16:9.
For even more clear understanding, look into this illustration:
Image from learn.g2
3. Perfect size for your YouTube banner
YouTube offers two main areas for image display of your channel. One is an icon image while other is what YouTube calls “Channel Art”. This is the same as Facebook’s cover photo. People often call it “YouTube banner”. It is a header image displayed at the top of your channel.
For each kind of display (mobile, desktop, and TV), channel art (or banner) dimension changes accordingly.
Either your cover photo or your YouTube banner is displayed at the top of the channel so it’s highly significant to consider what you are depicting about your channel through these images.
Hence, this being said or realized, selecting the appropriate banner resolution should be among your topmost priorities.
The recommended banner dimensions of a YouTube video as suggested by YouTube are 2560 x 1440 pixels. But the dimensions may slightly vary with the variation in the devices being used by the users.
| Displays | Banner image Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Video display | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
| Desktop display | 2560 x 423 pixels |
| Tablet display | 1855 x 423 pixels |
| Television | 2560 x 1440 pixels |
For a thorough understanding, refer to the image below:
Image from learn.g2
The right cover photo size on TV
The image displayed when accessing YouTube from TV will appear and be uploaded full or maximized. So a wise image size must be opted. So the accurate resolution would be 2560 x 1440 pixels which will cover the entire background of your channel.
The right cover photo size on desktop displays
The image size may vary to some extent as per the browser you are accessing with or the desktop itself. But generally, the suggested cover photo size for desktop displays is 2560 x 423 pixels.
The right cover photo size on Tablet displays
As per the recommendation for uploading the image while specifically considering the table display is 1855 x 423 pixels. This will cover the area appropriately.
FAQs about Youtube upload settings
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of size?
The allowed maximum video file size for uploading is 128GB at present.
What is the maximum YouTube upload limit of length?
The allowed maximum video length today for uploading is 12 hours.
How the default upload setting is reset on YouTube?
Step 1: Sign In to your YouTube account using a browser.
Step 2: By clicking your profile icon on the top right corner of the pane, you’ll see the YouTube Studio option. Click on it.
Step 3: Go on settings option where a pop-up window will appear.
Step 4: Look for upload defaults and change the configurations on 2 tabs.
Step 5: Click on save button.
How is YouTube video uploaded using the mobile application?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube channel using your mobile phone.
Step 2: Tap on the video camera icon to upload a video. Grant access to your photo gallery and camera is asked by the app while uploading for the first time.
Step 3: You may “Go Live” or simply drag an already made video file to upload.
Step 4: Click “Next”.
Step 5: Enter the video name, select visibility level and then click upload.
How is YouTube video uploaded using a web browser?
Step 1: Sign in to your YouTube account in a web browser.
Step 2: Click on the video icon appearing on the top of the pane.
Step 3: Click on upload video in the drop-down.
Step 4: You will be redirected to the video upload page. Click “public” under “Select files to upload” option and choose visibility level (public, private or scheduled).
Step 5: Click on a large arrow for video file selection or simply drag the file onto the page.
Step 6: You may enter miscellaneous information related to the video while the video is being uploaded.
Step 7: Click on publish and you are done!
Read More to Get : Best Video Websites Like YouTube >>
Basic terminologies that you should know
Video Format
A file format is a way that is standard for the storage of information in the encoded form within the computer file. It entails how exactly the bits are used while encoding the information in a digital storage medium.
So, a video file format is basically a type of file format in order to store the digital data of a video in the computer system. Mostly, video is often stored using the lossy compression in order to reduce the file size.
Frame Rate
“Frame rate” essentially entails the frequency (rate) at which the simultaneous images display on the screen. These images or called “frames”. Frame rate is expressed in “frames per second or FPS”. The unit or term is applicable for film, cameras, motion capture, video, and computer graphics. This is also known as “frame frequency”, expressed in the unit “hertz”
Resolution
Resolution is a measure to entail the clarity and sharpness of an image and most often used as a metric to judge the quality of cameras, monitors, printers, etc.
It basically refers to the number of different pixels in each dimension which can be viewed in any display device.
File Size
File size refers to the space that a file occupies in a storage medium, like hard drive or USB. The measure of file sizes can be expressed in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and so on.
As shown in the picture below, the files listed in the Windows Explorer assorted as per the file with the largest size first. The file with the name “family-safety.jpg” occupies the largest size of 47 KB and the smallest one with 32 KB size.
Codec
Codec is a device or maybe a computer program that is used to encode or decode a stream of digital data or signal. A codec is a short form of “coder-decoder”.
The basic function of a coder is to encode the stream of data or signal for storage or transmission, usually in an encrypted form.
While, a decoder decodes the encoded (possibly encrypted) data, which is merely a reverse process of a coder. The application of codec are in streaming media, videoconferencing, and video editing applications.
Aspect ratio:
This term refers to the proportion of your video. In other words, the video aspect ratio can be defined as the width or breadth (of an image or screen) with respect to its height. Such a ratio can be expressed or represented in the form of “width x height.
That means an aspect ratio of 4x3 refers to an image that is 4 units wide and 3 units high. Similarly, it can also be expressed with a colon in between the units such as 4:3 or 16:9.
Need a YouTube support?
If you need any support, guidance or may face any queries related to anything regarding your YouTube channel, here’s the link of YouTube support .
Final Verdict
Hopefully, with this detailed guide, you are now ready to make a wise decision regarding customizing your videos and channel as per viewers likeliness. So get ready to see your channel grow drastically!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
From Zero to Hero: Creating an Online Gaming Empire
The Guide to Starting a Successful YouTube Gaming Channel
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
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It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Secure Download
It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
The All-in-One Screen Recorder & Video Editor
- Record desktop screen, voiceover, and webcam simultaneously
- Edit recorded clips quickly with a wide range of professional tools
- Built-in plentiful templates and effects
- Export to MP4, MOV, MKV, GIF and multiple formats
For Win 7 or later (64-bit)
For macOS 10.12 or later
Secure Download
It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Now is the best and easiest time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel. Yet a profitable channel? That’s another story. In this article, I am going to highlight the key elements you need to become the best YouTube gamer you can be.
Table of Content:
- Have a Greater Purpose
- Create an Identity
- Type of Gaming Videos
- Have a Budget
- Optimization Matter
- Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
Starting a gaming channel today will mean that you will be a small fish in a big ocean. The amount of content on YouTube is massive, and in order to stand out, you will need three intangibles:
- Patience
- Consistency
- Creativity
If you are willing to commit to this long term, then it’s the best time in history for you to start a YouTube gaming channel.
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It’s the best time because you will have so many pioneers and successful creators to draw inspiration and knowledge from. You’ll be standing on the shoulders of giants like PewDiePie, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and CinnamonToastKen.
The trail has been blazed and you’re in the new frontier. Now, here’s what you need to know about starting a YouTube gaming channel.
1. Have a Greater Purpose
According to Tubular Insights , 15% of all content on YouTube is related to video games. That’s a lot.
Additionally, as of 2018, YouTube has a new monetization requirement. To enable monetization, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months.
If you think you can make a few videos and start making money, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disappoint you. YouTube is fun and a wonderful way to increase the social aspect of gaming and enhance your enjoyment. Approach it the same way you’ve approached gaming all along, as a fun way to spend your time.
Enjoy the journey… and what a journey it can be. Do it for the love of playing games and making videos, and not about getting subscribers or views. If you don’t change your attitude, it’s a grueling climb if all you want is to reach the finish line (which is nowhere in sight).
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you don’t have a greater purpose than simply growing subscribers and making money off YouTube, then you are going to get discouraged and give up. It’s not a get-rich-fast plan.
Here is how you find your greater purpose:
1. Give Value
You want to make good YouTube gaming content like those popular YouTubers that came before you.
But… what makes good YouTube content?
Simply put, good content should exhibit these factors:
Entertaining: Tell a story and sensationalize the emotions that come out of you when you play games.
Educational: Find hidden stages, new tricks, and talk about the lore and history that brought this game to life.
Inspiring: Encourage viewers to try new games and play along. Help people discover their next pastime and thank viewers for spending their time with you.
This is what gives your content value, and creating content with value should be your ultimate purpose. Making your viewers feel good is, in a way, better than money, no?
2. Make YouTube a Part of Your Daily/Weekly Ritual
YouTube should be a part of your regular schedule.
At first, it’ll be easy. Like anything new, your YouTube channel will have a novelty to it. It’s this exciting new project that you have.
But after the first month, that excitement will dampen. By the third month, it’ll become familiar. Here’s where you have to fight the urge to stop. This is where author, Seth Godin calls The Dip .
It’s now working. And like all work, you’ll have to schedule it into your daily life. You’ll have to prioritize YouTube above hanging out with friends, watching another movie, or playing video games without the strain of recording it and being entertaining/educating/inspiring.
However, if you are getting fulfillment from YouTube, you won’t stop even when the going gets hard. Like being a parent, it’s not always fun, but it should always be fulfilling.
Pro Tip: Mark when you are going to be working on YouTube in a calendar, so when someone asks you to hang out or go for dinner, you can check it and let them know you already have plans.
3. Have a Passion to Get Better At Every Step
There are many stages to producing a YouTube video, from pre-production to production to post-production. And within those stages are countless steps.
If YouTube is what you want to do, perhaps the greatest purpose you can have is improving on each of those skill sets along the way.
In the beginning, you will have a surplus of ideas, but once your initial stock of video ideas run dry, you will need to practice coming up with more ideas .
You’ll get better at recording your gameplay, at speaking on camera, at editing your footage, at optimizing your content, and at sharing your videos.
You will enjoy certain steps more than others, but if you are passionate, you will find comfort in striving to improve in each one, little by little.
Pro Tip:Focus on telling a great story . In every video, you should have an objective you want to accomplish. You want to beat a stage, you want to learn a new skill, etc. Once you nail that, all the other elements (screen recording, editing, and your commentary) will fall into place to guide your story from beginning to end.
2. Create an Identity
Your personality and your channel will need to go through a littlebranding exercise . You need to find what sets yourself apart from all the other gaming channels on the Internet. Ask yourself, and be honest with the answer: Why should anyone care about my channel?
1. Be Original
Take inspiration from other YouTubers and adjust it so that it’s unique. You cannot copy the ideas of popular YouTubers, because the public can see that. They can tell the difference between originality and imitation.
Being original doesn’t mean doing something that has never been done before.
Take a look at Jacksepticeye and Markiplier, both are popular YouTubers recognized for their colorful hair, mass use of profanity, and their Let’s Play style of gaming videos. But if you watch their videos, you can see that they are not copying each other but rather adjusting what has proven to be effective to suit their personality.
If something inspires you and you want to make an original version yourself, don’t think that you need to do something completely different, rather ask, how can I make that awesome thing better?
2. Focus on a Specific Aspect of Game
Odds are, you’ll end up playing the same game as other YouTubers. If you’re playing a popular game, then it’s going to be hard for you to establish an audience if your videos are broad.
Consider how your viewers will discover your videos. Are they going to find you through search? If so, what are they searching? There are many aspects to a video game: characters, glitches, stages, etc.
Find a specific aspect of the game to focus on.
Take YouTuber, NoughtPointFourLive, who instead of playing the game via a linear campaign, finds ridiculous situations, odd tricks, and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto:
3. Hook Audience With Something Funny Or Interesting — And Lead Up To It
Every video you make should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if the storyline is the one in the video game or if it’s happening to you in real life. What matters is that you are aware of where the climax is.
The climax is what your story hinges on: it’s when Mario confronts Bowser.
This is what your audience is watching for. They want to know who wins.
To hook your audience right away, open with the most exciting part. The bit leading up to the climax. But don’t give away the ending. You want to hook them. Give a promise that this video is worth watching and that eventually, it will deliver.
Check out this example from YouTuber, Lachlan playing Fortnite and landing back at Spawn Island, an artillery-filled waiting area for players before the game starts.
This structure can be applied with humor as well as climatic events. If you open with something funny, it gets the viewer engaged immediately. They want to know what led up to that humorous moment.
Take a look at this example from YouTuber, Jelly. He does a great job at injecting humor into his first few seconds of video.
3. Type of Gaming Videos
There are no rules to making gaming videos. As long as it’s worth watching and you aren’t stealing content, that is all that matters. Nevertheless, there are a few standard types of gaming videos that have been established over the years.
1. Let’s Plays
Turn the game on and start playing. Let’s Plays give you a lot of freedom to explore the game and let your personality show in the commentary. You don’t need to play with a strategy, but do have a particular goal in mind (Finishing a level, for example).
Let’s Plays are more about watching you experience the game. A demographic of people watching Let’s Plays are those that don’t have the game themselves, but still want to experience it. Let them live vicariously through you.
2. Reviews
When you’re deciding whether or not to buy a new product where do you go to research? Google and YouTube. If you have a lot of interesting insights after playing a game, making reviews videos might just be your calling. There are many games on the market, and for consumers, it can get overwhelming. Reviews help others decide whether they should invest their money and their time into that specific game or continue searching.
3. Walkthrough
Unlike Let’s Plays and reviews, walkthrough videos are mapped out and structured to help the viewers pass the game while experiencing events, side quests, and characters they would otherwise have missed.
4. Reactions
Misery or excitement, when you genuinely react to an event in a game, the audience gets to experience it along your side. Give the moment a bit of lead up, let people know what you are expecting, and then surprise yourself. Reaction videos are great because they are spontaneous and a wonderful form of presenting your personality.
5. Skills
Video games are hard to master. But if you think you are proficient in an aspect of the game, show off your moves. Is there a particular trick that you can do? Is there a stage you can beat quickly? Are you able to take down your enemy with ease? Prove it.
4. Have a Budget
When you begin your YouTube gaming journey, you are going to see a lot of established YouTubers showing off their gear. It’s easy to get carried away with equipment, but we recommend setting a budget and staying within it to start.
What’s a good budget for YouTubers? Some might say you can do it for $600 and others say $3000. That’s a big range.
What you need to ask yourself is what do you currently have.
Are you starting with nothing? Or do you have some essentials? If you have a computer, which can play the game of your choice, you don’t need to spend $2000 on a new one. Look at what you currently have before buying new stuff.
Here is what you will need to get the best results:
- Microphone (Average cost: $100)
- Webcam (Average cost: $100)
- Editing Software (Average cost: $300)
- PC that can handle recording, editing, rendering, uploading, etc. (Average cost: $2,000)
If you are starting out, all you need is a computer with a capable CPU and GPU, a webcam, a microphone, and a free encoding software, such as OBS , and you will be able to stream.
Even PewDiePie started with a basic gaming setup.
I don’t recommend blowing your life savings on all the equipment you want. Don’t have a powerful computer? There are games such as Minecraft and Roblox that are less taxing to your computer, if you don’t have a powerful one.
There are ways to work around it, if you don’t currently have the funds. Being a YouTuber is all about being resourceful and creative.
You don’t need professional editing software, there are affordable ones such as Wondershare Filmora that have all the capabilities.
1. Many Games Are Free
Here’s the great thing about starting as a video game YouTuber, you don’t need to pay for any games. I’m not only talking about the crappy Flash games on the Internet, but massively popular games such as Fortnite and DOTA are also free to start playing as well.
If you’re strapped for cash. Start your channel playing free games and work your way towards more expensive games.
2. Some Software Are Free As Well
OBS: This streaming software allows you to capture your game in top quality and broadcast it directly to YouTube. It’s a simple setup , and it’s completely free.
Audacity: This audio recording and editing software is great if you want to improve the quality of your audio by removing background noise or combining clips.
GIMP: Probably the closest free product to Photoshop you can find. GIMP will help you perform basic image manipulation. It’s not as user friendly as Photoshop, but you can learn the fundamentals here as you save up for the Creative Cloud subscription plan.
5. Optimization Matters
Gaming is arguably the most popular genre on YouTube. So, how is your little video going to be discovered in this vast sea of gaming content?
The answer: with a good optimization strategy.
1. Tags and Title
When conceptualizing your next video, consider what your viewers are going to search to find it. This will help you focus your gameplay to meet the demand of this untapped (or more specific) audience.
You can use a plugin called VidIQ to see the keyword score by simply searching for the content you think your viewers are interested in watching.
If you’re playing Fortnite, and your keyword is simply “Fortnite” you’re using a highly searched term, but the competition is very high as well. The odds of your ranking is incredibly tough as the overall keyword score is 61/100.
However, if you focus on a more specific aspect of the game to make a video around, such as a character, you can heighten your chance at being discovered.
Take the example below, where I added the keyword “Striker” to the search. Its overall keyword score is 87/100, that’s 26 points better in the keyword score, compared to just “Fortnite.”
This will help you identify the content you should be making and then use that keyword knowledge to write a good title and a list of 5-15 tags.
Few more tips to improving your titles include:
- Avoid uninspiring words like “Fun,” “Exciting,” or “Great.”
- Once you have a title do a quick search to see if it already exists. Common titles make it harder for yours to rank.
- Have the title relate to the game. If there are certain words or phrases that players are familiar with, go ahead and use it.
- Make it click-worthy by promising something unique, but don’t mislead viewers.
2. Create Awesome Thumbnails
It doesn’t matter how awesome your video is, if the thumbnail image is boring, nobody will want to click into it. And if nobody clicks into it, you won’t get any views. Simple.
What makes a good thumbnail image?
- Don’t use the random images YouTube picks for you
- Have an expressive picture of a human face (preferably of yours, because it’s your gaming channel and you’re the star)
Take a look at The Syndicate Project’s thumbnails and how it evokes an intensity that makes you want to click — or scream with excitement. Both good things.
- Don’t want to use your face? Create a character for yourself or to represent your channel. Or used the characters from the actual game.
Check out the colorful thumbnails from VanossGaming, where the owl is the mascot of their channel.
- Use readable text or emojis
If you don’t have Photoshop or don’t have strong design skills, check out Wondershare Pixstudio , a drag-and-drop design tool that makes creating thumbnails easy.
3. Engage with Other Gamers
Don’t forget that YouTube is a social media platform.
It’s all about being a part of a YouTube community, and while you can’t interact with every creator on the platform, you can find those within your niche or specific game and chat with them. Leave a comment if you like their video or have constructive feedback.
Additionally, viewer engagements such as likes and comments have shown to have an indirect effect on your video ranking. That is why you should encourage your viewers to “smash” the like button or join in a conversation by asking them a question in your video.
6. Be Cautious of Content Strike and Demonetization
1. Cause for Demonetization
The YouTube monetization landscape has changed a lot for creators in the past few years. The guidelines are always being adjusted to serve both creators and advertisers. If you’re thinking of making money from YouTube ads, you have to be aware that there are types of content that turn advertisers off, and YouTube knows it. Here are some reasons that YouTube will choose to demonetize your videos:
- Excessive or gratuitous violence
- Hateful content: promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates and individual or group of people (race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)
- Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters
- Incendiary and demeaning content: disrespectful languages that shame or insult an individual or group
2. Avoiding Copyright Strike
Thanks to the fair use doctrine, you’re allowed to take video game content and make videos from it without acquiring permission from the people who made the game.
However, if you step across the fair use line, you can be penalized for violating copyright infringement.
If you get three strikes from YouTube in 90 days, your account and videos will be removed and you won’t be allowed to create a new channel.
Before you publish your video ask yourself these questions, if you answer yes to any of them then you have met fair use standards:
- Is your content creative or educational?
- Is there more original content than copyrighted content?
- Is your video benefiting the original content?
I recommend that you learn more about YouTube copyright , and how to build your content so that it doesn’t get flagged.
Beyond all that, it’s about playing games, having a good time, and meeting awesome people like yourself. Enjoy the journey and take pleasure in every little achievement, be it in the game or on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t go into YouTube gaming for the money, but rather to improve your skills and other people’s lives.
- Find something special about your channel that people can’t find anywhere else.
- YouTube gaming can be as cheap and as expensive as you want, create a budget to stay within your limits.
- Understand optimization to improve your chances of viewers finding your content.
- Don’t be hateful or advertisers will avoid you, and don’t steal other people’s content without crediting the original creator.
- Give yourself a unique YouTube gaming channel name .
What’s stopping you from starting your YouTube gaming channel? Let us know in the comment box below!
Best Screen Recorder & Video Editor for Gamers
If you want to record the gameplay and edit it with some text and titles, or creative transitions and effects, I highly recommend you try Wondershare Filmora , which is easy to use yet powerful enough with its editing tools and effects templates. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
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- Title: "[Updated] Achieve Striking Visuals Your Guide to Uploading at Correct Dimensions"
- Author: Steven
- Created at : 2024-05-25 20:43:57
- Updated at : 2024-05-26 20:43:57
- Link: https://youtube-clips.techidaily.com/updated-achieve-striking-visuals-your-guide-to-uploading-at-correct-dimensions/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
